Activity 5.2 (Long Term Memory and Retrieval)

           While viewing the PowerPoint lecture for this week I stumbled upon something that I began to question. In the tenets of encoding specificity it mentions the “first being that all learning takes place in a particular context and the last being that the more the context changes, the greater the retrieval difficulty” (PowerPoint Lecture). Before diving into the readings and watching my selected video I would have completely supported these tenets, believing that state-dependent and mood-dependent learning was relevant if not necessary. However, in the video “The Mind Is a Storehouse” Dr. Bjork mentions that quite a bit of research  contradicts these notions, indicating that information studied in different contexts was actually remembered better. In James’ chapter on memory he talks about how cramming is an ineffective way to study because minimal associations can be made.  He then goes on to say, “the same thing recurring on different days, in different contexts, read, recited on, referred to again and again, related to other things and reviewed, gets well wrought into mental structures”(James, 1899/2011, pg 64.). So the question remains, which is it, state-dependent learning or various contexts that poses to be more effective at retaining and later recalling stored information? I’m leaning towards James but would like to know others thoughts on this.

                One of the topics discussed by James in the chapter on memory was about verbal recitation and how “learning things by heart is now probably somewhat too much despised” (pg. 64-65). I’m getting the impression that he is an advocate for verbal memorization, that it helps us to adequately tell a story, accurately recall a quotation, and retain valuable information that aids us conversationally. He says that “constant exercise in verbal memorizing must still be an indispensable feature in all sound education” and that this should not come in the form of “hammering in” but “to analyze and think” (pg. 65). This sounds a lot like critical thinking. Not just taking something at face value or parroting back what you think the other person wants to hear, but dissecting the information or message for what it really is and attaching meaning to it.

                “In almost any subject your passion for the subject will save you. If you only care enough for a result, you will almost certainly attain it” (pg. 67). This passage spoke volumes to me, especially when he used the example “if you wish to be learned, you will be learned”. I immediately thought of my own progress in understanding James' talks. At first I really struggled with his language and examples, which affected my ability to make meaning out of it. However, I want to understand him, and have come to realize that he is the foundation of most things psychology related. I care enough to want to learn from him, so much so that I can spend hours dissecting each chapter.  I am learning in leaps and bounds, in just a few short weeks, about the impact he’s made on education and psychology.  The great thing is that I’ve only scratched the surface!

                I underlined several passages in this chapter; James has a way with words that I find rather fascinating (poetic really), and yes at times difficult to understand. For example when he said, “…some brains are ‘wax to receive and marble to retain’” (pg. 60). Since associations are huge in the world of learning I related this passage to my husband’s amazing memory. I talked to Brandon about this chapter and specifically this section because I thought it related well to him. Long story short, he can remember things from when he was 4 or 5 years old in such detail, as if it just happened today. Several of his teachers have commented on how well he does at remembering facts, and information or details that no one else retained. His memory isn’t quite like the video clips in the PowerPoint slides of individuals that can’t forget or can recite mathematical solutions, but it is different than most. He is at times what James referred to as “a walking cyclopedia of information”; it makes slipping things past him difficult. Not that I try of course. Brandon found his love for technology, or rather it found him, at the early age of 6 and ever since then he has immersed himself in that world. His colleagues are in awe of his ability to make connections that most cannot. When I read this passage to him his reaction was priceless, a huge smile. James said, “When both memory and philosophy combine together in one person, then indeed we have the highest sort of intellectual efficiency” (pg. 60).