Blog Post 2

http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/dont_forget/playing_games_2.html

• Go to the webpage above and complete the activity (the first one, you don’t need to click Continue and do the second on the next page). Make sure to write down your story.

• Next, share your story with us as a blog entry (we should all be working from the same 20 objects, so it will be interesting to compare the different ways that we encoded).

You can watch TV and see a buck getting hunted...BULLSEYE on the Target! Cows produce milk. Doughnuts and cake are dairy products. There is a sleepy bear next to a bed. Clowns and elephants are at the circus. The circus is a happy event, and so are birthdays because you get presents. You need scissors and a comb to cut hair. Lobsters are fish. The mouse avoided the mouse trap. The gentleman left his top hat on the chair.

• Describe your experience in trying this activity. Was it surprising? Difficult?

I got all 20 items! That was really hard to believe. My roommate only got 16, but she didn't sort them like I did. I had trouble after the first 14. I had to remember that a lobster is a fish, the mouse avoided the mouse trap, and that the gentleman forgot his top hat on the chair.

I put the second experiment in my room like it said. The duck, eggs, bannana, and corn are all food, so they went in the fridge. The trumpet and wrench get tucked away in my closet since I don't need them much so they need to be out of the way, but they also need to be handy in case I need them. THe Crown and diamond ring go in my jewlry section of my desk. The Jack-O-Lantern goes on my desk since I really like to decorate my room. I would hang the plane from my desk. (The plane didn't really fit anywhere else.)

I got all 10 items.

• Explain HOW this activity (or another form of elaboration) influences memory. How does it connect to working memory capacity? Will this storytelling strategy affect sensory or long term memory? Why?
• The activity works because you put the items into your own perspective. You use your experiences/previous knowledge to tie the items together into something you know. You are placing these items where/how you want to. I had to repeat the list/story quite a few times, so I was working to remember the information because I knew that I would be quizzed. I was concious of what I was seeing and thinking. This process relates to my long term memory because I had to remember it without seeing the pictures. I had to create cues for myself so I could retrieve the information. I didn't really think of these items too much with any sense but my eyes.