Human Memory Encoding and Storage Discussion Post
Introduction
The human memory can retain a certain amount of information. However, the brain may lack the potential to recall all details of a past event. According to Brady, Konkle, Alvarez, and Oliva (2008), the impacts on one’s memory arise from interferences within and around an individual. The scholars seek to explain the relationship between memory and visual images.
Hypothesis
The scholars argue that the human brain’s long-term memory has the capability of storing large quantities of data with details from the visual images (Brady et al., 2008). For example, one may vividly recall scenes from a movie watched in the past. However, the researchers are yet to confirm whether the long-term memory of images applies equally to everyone.
Methods
Brady et al. (2008) used a quantitative research method. The researchers used fourteen adult participants between age 20 and 35. Each participant was tested with 2,500 distinct images, novel, exemplar, and state. The experiment involved viewing images for 20 minutes in 10 study blocks. Participants would be allowed to take a 5-minute break between blocks without permission to discuss the images seen.
Results
Participants had a relatively high performance regarding the memory of novel images. The participants recalled the appearance of images on 92.5% of the trials. Similarly, they had a good memory of exemplar and state images at a rate of 87.6% and 87.2% respectively (Brady et al., 2008). However, the two latter categories of images were relatively harder to recall than the former,novel images.
Discussion
The best way to encode information so that one will remember later is through visual recognition of objects. The research above shows that the brain records visual images and stores the pictures as memories for retrieval in future. Brady et al. (2008) affirm that the human brain can recall details of visual stimuli even after a single observation. Therefore, visual memory is useful in future memory needs.
References
Brady, T. F., Konkle, T., Alvarez, G. A., & Oliva, A. (2008). Visual long-term memory has a massive storage capacity for object details. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(38), 14325-14329. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0803390105
