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Memory Techniquesfor Interpreters
Memory Techniquesfor Interpreters
Mayo Clinic Workshop II
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Objectives of Workshop IIObjectives of Workshop II The participant should be able to: Review/identify the three stages involved in memory Describe the four phases of memory tasks Discuss general properties of memory Explain the Stroop Effect Apply techniques and mnemonic devices for memory
enhancement in interpreting:– Association– Visualization– Chaining– Method of Loci– Acronyms and Acrostics
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Message Relay Situation & RolesMessage Relay Situation & Roles
You are all part of a large corporation. One of your divisions manufactures parts for aircraft. Your group consists of the following chain of command.
Divide into groups of 5-6 and assign your own roles. Do not take notes nor ask for clarification or repetition!
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Vice-President
Division Manager
Production Manager
Supervisor
Factory Worker
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Discussion Questions:Discussion Questions:
1.How did listening skills and memory skills affect the accuracy of the message?
2.What types of information were retained?
3.What was omitted?4.What types of errors were
encountered: omissions or deletions, omissions or deletions, additions, substitutions and message additions, substitutions and message inaccuracy.inaccuracy.
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Power of the human mind:Power of the human mind:
The paomnnehil pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig eh?
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Memory Flow ChartMemory Flow Chart
The flowchart for the theory of memory discussed in the first session indicates that all
incoming information first passes through Sensory Memory (SM) before it enters Short
Term Memory (STM). There it can be maintained by rehearsal and either
successfully encoded for storage in Long Term Memory (LTM) or forgotten. In retrieval, the information passes from LTM back to STM,
where it enters our consciousness. A summary of the characteristics of each stage of memory
follows.
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Three Stages of Memory
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Characteristics of the Three Memory StagesCharacteristics of the Three Memory Stages
SM STM LTMCapacity Very large 7 +/- 2 chunks Unlimited
Maximum Duration ¼ - 2 sec. 30 sec. Permanent
Maintain Information
Not possible Maintenance rehearsal
Elaborative rehearsal/org.
Retrieve Information
Perception Serial, exhaustive search
Search with retrieval cues
Chief Cause of Forgetting
Decay Decay and interference
Interference
Major Information Code
Sensory Acoustic Semantic
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Types of MemoryTypes of Memory
Short Term Memory- Where sensory data is first transmitted to for processing and evaluation- Aging impacts the depth of processing that occurs in STM, sending less to LTM
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Types of MemoryTypes of Memory
Long Term Memory- Where STM is encoded for long-term storage and future retrieval
How quickly and reliably we recall it depends on:
Activation: How long since we last used the information.
Strength: How well we have practiced it Archival Memory (a type of LTM)
- Used in the ultra-long term storage of memories
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Long Term MemoryLong Term Memory
V a rie tie s o f L on g T erm M e m o ry
E p isod ic S e m an tic
D ec la ra tive
C og n it ive M otor
P roced ura l
R e tro sp e ctive[p e r ta in s to th e pa s t]
P rospe ctive[fu tu re e v en ts]
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Working Memory Working Memory
Here we address why we can rehearse only limited information at a time.
Articulatory Loop Rehearsal limitations are due to
limits in how long it takes verbal material to decay, not how many items we can store. Hence, the faster we can rehearse, the more we can store (Baddeley, 1986).
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Memory termsMemory terms
Complex mental function having four distinct phases: (1) encoding or learning, (2) retention, (3) recall/retrieval, and (4) recognition. Clinically, it is usually subdivided into immediate, recent, and remote memory.
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RetentionRetention
The persistence to perform a learned behavior (facts or experiences) after an interval has elapsed in which there has been no performance or practice of the behavior.
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Memory TheoryMemory Theory
Recognition vs. Recall Issues- Recognition - seeing something and knowing what it is- Recall - very construction oriented; requires making connections– The process whereby a representation of
past experience is elicited. - As we age, our recognition abilities get stronger while recall weakens- Recognition scenarios (like multiple choice exams) are better for older learners
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MnemonicMnemonic
'Mnemonic' is another word for memory tool. Mnemonics are methods for remembering information that is otherwise quite difficult to recall. The basic principle of mnemonics is to use as many of the best functions of your brain as possible to store information.
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Use Your Whole Mind To RememberUse Your Whole Mind To Remember
By coding language and numbers in striking images, you can reliably code both information and the structure of information. You can then easily recall these later.
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You can do the following things to make your mnemonics more memorable:
You can do the following things to make your mnemonics more memorable:
Use positive, pleasant images. The brain often blocks out unpleasant ones
Use vivid, colorful, sense-laden images - these are easier to remember than drab ones
Use all your senses to code information or dress up an image. Remember that your mnemonic can contain sounds, smells, tastes, touch, movements and feelings as well as pictures.
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Mnemonics continued . . . Mnemonics continued . . .
Give your image three dimensions, movement and space to make it more vivid. You can use movement either to maintain the flow of association, or to help you to remember actions.
Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image
Use humor! Funny or peculiar things are easier to remember than normal ones.
Similarly rude rhymes are very difficult to forget! Symbols (red traffic lights, pointing fingers, road
signs, etc.) can code quite complex messages quickly and effectively.
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How does our memory work?How does our memory work?
We remember things by association. Every piece of information in our memory is connected to other pieces in some way or another. For example, if you are given the word "apple", what do you think of? Perhaps something like this:
APPLE: red, round, sweet, teacher, tree, fruit But it's unlikely that we might see "apple" and think
of "dog". And what if you were asked what the 7th letter of the alphabet was? Chances are, you wouldn't know that "G = 7," but you could easily think to yourself, "A B C D E F G," and then say "G". You used association to get to the letter G, because you knew A was the first letter, then you kept choosing the next letter in the sequence until you got to the right one.
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AssociationAssociation
If memory works by association, we actively work to create an association between two bits of information. For example, for the plane that we need to catch at 2 P.M., we can imagine the plane in our mind, and notice that it has 2 wings. Two wings, 2 P.M. There's an association by means of a visualization. We are now ten times more likely to remember the take-off time long after it has faded from our short-term memory.
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AssociationAssociation When pieces of information are not obviously
related in any way, however, we have to be a bit more creative in linking things together. But it isn't as hard as it seems. Most of us learned rhymes and acronyms in school that helped us remember things. Do any of the following look familiar to you?
i before e except after c, or when sounded like a as in neighbor and weigh (rule for remembering ei or ie)
ROY G. BIV (colors of the rainbow) All Cows Eat Grass; Every Good Boy Does Fine
(notes of musical scale) Never Eat Sour Watermelons (directions on a
compass)
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Association exerciseAssociation exercise
To demonstrate how effectively this works, look at the following list of words, and try to come up with an association between the left word and the right word of each row. Some will be easy; others may be harder. As an example, for the first pair, you might want to imagine a mouse that has a long, wavy tail that is in the shape of the letter S.
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Association exerciseAssociation exercise
mouse S fur R train bridge moat boat popcorn chair elephant pancake toothbrush canal umbrella triangle
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Association exerciseAssociation exercise
After you have formed the associations, cover up the right side of the list and then try to name the word associated with each word on the left. If you formed vivid, clear associations, you may be surprised at how quickly and easily you were able to remember everything!
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Association exerciseAssociation exercise
mouse fur train moat popcorn elephant toothbrush umbrella
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Other properties of memory: Other properties of memory:
Law of Recency: We are more likely to remember
things that happened recently than those that happened a long time ago. You can probably remember what you had for dinner yesterday, but not what you ate for dinner two weeks ago today.
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Law of RecencyLaw of Recency
A list of 20 words will be read. Your job is to remember as many of the words as possible. Write down the words that you can remember immediately after reading the list.
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List of wordsList of words
cat apple ball tree square head house door box car king hammer milk fish book tape arrow flower key shoe
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Law of Recency . . . and PrimacyLaw of Recency . . . and Primacy
This type of experiment provides evidence that there are 2 types of memory processes. It is thought that memory is good for the words read last because they are still in short term memory - this is the recency effect. Memory is good for the words read first because they made it into long term memory - this is the primacy effect.
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Memory propertiesMemory properties
Law of Vividness: We tend to remember the most
spectacular or striking impressions rather than those that are more ordinary. You can probably remember what you did on your last birthday, or perhaps the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, but not what happened on the previous day of those occasions (unless, that too, was a "special" occasion).
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Law of Vividness:Law of Vividness:
We are much better at remembering pictures than we are at remembering words and names. There are probably biological and evolutionary reasons for that. When subjects are asked to recognize a small set of photos that they saw the previous day from a larger set, they typically recognize around 97%.
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The Method of LociThe Method of Loci
Devised during the Roman Empire, the method of loci uses the chaining method with a twist. Now all the items to-be-remembered are linked to specific places in the order you would visit them. For example, you might think of the route you take to work:
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Remembering by locationRemembering by location
1. Your room (you wake up) 2. Your kitchen (you have breakfast) 3. Front door of your house 4. Bus stop 5. Bus seat 6. Friend's house that you see from the
bus 7. Gas Station that you see from the bus 8. Market that you see from the bus 9. Workplace
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Method of lociMethod of loci
Now you must link the items that you want remembered to each of these places. You have to remember the places first, of course, but this should be easy. Then chain each item to the places...remember, the more wild your idea the better. Using a grocery store example: milk pouring on you in your room, bread that you can't get out of the toaster (kitchen), eggs splattered on your front door, etc.
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Concrete Words, Abstract Words and Nonsense Concrete Words, Abstract Words and Nonsense
The ability to recall a word depends on how meaningful the word is to a person. Along with the meaningfulness of a word, the "concreteness" of a word is important for memory. Concreteness refers the ability of a word to form a mental image. A word with high concreteness is easy to "see"; a word with low concreteness (an "abstract" word) is difficult to visualize.
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Concrete wordsConcrete words
Here are three lists of words: concrete words, abstract words and nonsense words. See which list is easier to memorize. You could also read these lists to other people to see how many words from each list they remember.
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Concrete wordsConcrete words
alligatorapplearrowbabybirdbookbutterflycarcornflower
hammerhouselemonmicroscopeoceanpencilrockshoestablewindow
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Abstract wordsAbstract words
angerbeliefboredomchanceconcepteffortfatefreedomgloryhappiness
honorhopeideainterestknowledgemercymoodmoraltheorytruth
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Nonsense wordsNonsense words
atorbotamcrovdifimfirapglimocgriculhilnimjolibkepwin
lumalmibnatpempeyrimrispawstiwintubivvopecyapib
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Memory propertiesMemory properties
Law of Frequency: We tend to remember things we
experience the most often, rather than those we experience only once in a while. You are much more likely to remember your name or your phone number than the square root of 3 (unless you are a mathematician).
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Memory propertiesMemory properties
With a strong emotional context, it is likely that events will be better remembered. The part of the brain responsible for autobiographical memories is called the medial temporal lobe. Researchers have hypothesized that a structure deep in this temporal lobe, called the amygdala acts together with other structures of the medial temporal lobe to enhance the ability of the brain to process, encode and retrieve emotional events.
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Short Term Memory TestShort Term Memory Test
Directions You are about do a small short term
memory test. A few letters will flash on your computer monitor for 3 seconds. Your job is to write down as many letters as you can remember after they disappear.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
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U M U M
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T Z L D T Z L D
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KXCEJO KXCEJO
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AVCYISEH AVCYISEH
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LBFQRPMAUX LBFQRPMAUX
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ZQECTBUMONRVZQECTBUMONRV
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STM exerciseSTM exercise
How did you do? Compare your results with the table on this page. How many letters from each trial did you remember? Is there a "pattern" to the letters that you remembered? For example, did you remember the first few letters better than the middle letters? Did you remember the last letters?
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STM exerciseSTM exercise
Graph your results for each set of numbers. One way to do this is to graph the number of letters you remembered as a percentage. For example, if you remembered 2 of the 4 letters presented in the second trial, then you have remembered 50% of the letters.
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STM exerciseSTM exercise
Trial #letters Total letters # your letters
% your letters
1 2 UM
2 4 TZLD
3 6 KXCEJO
4 8 AVCYISEH
5 10 LBFQRPMAUX
6 12 ZQECTBUMONRV
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Short Term Memory Test - PicturesShort Term Memory Test - Pictures
Draw a 4x4 grid of boxes.Look at the objects that you should
remember. The objects will stay on your screen for 30 seconds. Then write down the names of all the items you remember inside the appropriate boxes.
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Here are the pictures . . .Here are the pictures . . .
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Picture testPicture test
How many objects did you remember?
Were the objects that you remembered also placed correctly on
the grid? What categories of objects did you
remember: animals, food, building, animated objects, piano
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Note-taking exerciseNote-taking exercise
Participant A will be given a sheet with a series of sentences with facts and figures.
The presenter will read orally one sentence at a time.
Participant B will take notes and then repeat each sentence aloud to Participant A.
Participant A will mark any errors made by Participant B.
Discuss omissions or distortions made.
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Interference: The Stroop EffectInterference: The Stroop Effect
Don't read the words on the right--justsay the colors they're printed in, and do this aloud as fast as you can.
You're in for a surprise!
redyellowgreenblueredblue
yellowgreenbluered
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The famous "Stroop Effect" is named after J. Ridley Stroop who discovered this strange phenomenon in the 1930’s.
The famous "Stroop Effect" is named after J. Ridley Stroop who discovered this strange phenomenon in the 1930’s.
If you're like most people, your first inclination was to read the words, 'red, yellow, green...,' rather than the colors they're printed in, 'blue, green, red...'
You've just experienced interference. When you look at one of the words, you see both its
color and its meaning. If those two pieces of evidence are in conflict, you have to make a choice. Because experience has taught you that word meaning is more important than ink color, interference occurs when you try to pay attention only to the ink color.
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Forgetting: Gone, or Inaccessible? Forgetting: Gone, or Inaccessible?
Do we forget because the information is gone, or do we forget because we can't access information that is still there?
It is difficult to distinguish the two. However, there is evidence that we retain more than we can retrieve.
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Forgetting: Decay or Interference? Forgetting: Decay or Interference?
Is forgetting due to decay of unused information, or to interference of new information with old information?
Power Law of Forgetting– A survey of forgetting research concluded
that the rate at which we forget information usually conforms to a power law: we forget a lot at first, but over time the rate of forgetting diminishes.
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How to Improve Your MemoryHow to Improve Your Memory
There are many things you can do to improve your memory, among them the use of certain mental techniques, as well as special care with nutrition and medicines.
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To stimulate memoryTo stimulate memory
Use your memory to the utmost. Challenge a novelty. Learn new skills. If you work in an office, learn to dance. If you are a dancer, learn to deal with a computer; if you work with sales, learn to play chess; if you are a programmer, learn to paint. This could stimulate your brain's neural circuits to grow.
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Pay attentionPay attention
Don't try to memorize all the facts that happen, but focus your attention and concentrate in what you consider more important, avoiding all other thoughts. Exercise: take any object, such as a pen, and concentrate on it. Think on its various characteristics: its material, its function, its color, its anatomy, etc. Don't allow any other thought to occupy your mind while you are concentrating on that pen.
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RelaxRelax
It is impossible to pay attention if you are tense or nervous. Exercise: hold your breath for ten seconds, then release it slowly.
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Associate facts to imagesAssociate facts to images
Learn mnemonic techniques. They are a very efficient way to memorize large quantities of information.
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Visualize imagesVisualize images
See figures with the "eyes of your mind".
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FoodsFoods
Some vitamins are essential for the proper working of memory: thiamin, folic acid, and B12 vitamin. They are found in bread and cereal, vegetables and fruits.
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WaterWater
Water helps maintain the memory systems working, specially in older persons. According to Dr. Turkington, lack of water in the body has an immediate and deep effect on memory; dehydration can generate confusion and other thought difficulties.
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SleepSleep
To be able to have a good memory, it is essential that we allow the brain to have enough sleep and rest. While sleeping, the brain disconnects from the senses, and proceeds to revising and storing memory. Insomnia would produce a chronic fatigue and would impair the ability of concentration and the storing of information.
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MedicationMedication
Some medicines can cause loss of memory: tranquilizers, muscular relaxants, sleeping pills, and anti-anxiety drugs, such as valium. Some medicine for the control of high blood pressure (hypertension) may cause memory problems and depression.
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AlcoholAlcohol
Alcohol interferes specially with short-term memory, which impairs the ability of retaining new information. Studies have shown that even the ingestion of low quantities of alcoholic beverage during one whole week will interfere with the ability of remembering.
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SmokingSmoking
Studies have shown that, when compared with non-smokers, individual smokers of one or more packs of cigarettes a day had difficulties remembering people's faces and names in a test of visual and verbal memory (Turkington, 1996).
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CaffeineCaffeine
Coffee and tea have a very positive effect to maintain attention and to end sleepiness, but the excitation promoted by these drinks may interfere with the memory function.
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Your tips?Your tips?
Other tips (such as take notes, get organized, use a diary, keep fit, regular health checks, memory aids, etc).
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PracticePractice Practice helps a lot at first, then provides
decreasing gains as you reach the limits of your performance ability.
Practice improves memory, but how you practice also affects it. The same amounts of practice, but distributed in the one case and massed in the other, lead to different outcomes. – Distributed practice is when practice is spread out over
time. For example, you may study a total of 12 hours for a test but you did so over 6 days.
– Massed practice is when practice is done all at once. For example, you study 12 hours the night before the test.
– Many studies have confirmed that the first strategy is the better one. Subjects remember more and for longer periods of time when they distribute their practice.
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OverlearningOverlearning
Overlearning is when practice is continued beyond the criterion of one error-free trial. Actors overlearn their lines. They will rehearse far beyond the time necessary for the criterion above. In the military, drills constitute overlearning. In all of the cases above, overlearning helps to negate the negative effects of stress on memory. Overlearned items can be recalled under higher levels of stress than can items that were not overlearned.
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In conclusion . . .In conclusion . . .
For the most part, memory does a magnificent job for us. Every time you spell a word, drive a car or pick up a
telephone and recognize your mother's voice, it's a wonder.
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