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Discuss the extent to which research on atypical memory function can help our understanding of how memory works. Memory is a fundamental part of us. It helps us learn, function, develop personality and contributes greatly to our on-going experience of life. Our memories make us what we are. It is therefore easy to see why psychologists study many different theories of memory, what it is, where it is and how it works. It is studied both from in insider viewpoint and an outsider viewpoint using a wide variety of research methods. Research into memory processes and structures was based on behaviour, using data that was observed, collected, measured and recorded. Early pioneers in the field explored memory processing, storage and retrieval. And this information processing theory stimulated many avenues of research within cognitive psychology. Broca And Wernike in the 19th century identified the value of research into atypical memory function. They studied people with brain lesions and formed a theory about the localisation of activity in the brain’s functions by associating the brain injuries with the area of the brain that controls language.. Neuropsychological case studies have provided material data on where in the brain the memory functions, through a process of double dissociation. Warrington and Shallice (1969) and Scoville and Milner(1957). KF damaged his parietal and occipital lobe in a motorbike accident and could only remember one or two items in his short term memory (STM) but had no problems with his long term memory. Another patient HM had both his hippocampus and temporal cortex in each hemisphere removed and he was unable to form any new long term memories. His STM was intact and he could remember things from before the operation but could not remember or retain new information or experiences for more than a few seconds. These studies provided evidence that when comparisons are made between opposing debility in memory function and the areas of the brain that are damaged it is possible to assume that the damaged areas of the brain relate to specific tasks in memory function. This localisation of function theory is further supported by the research of Vargha-Khadem et al (1997), Warrington (1975), Hodges and Graham(1998) and Bozeat et al (2000). Comparing cases where the hippocampus was damaged and the adjacent temporal cortex intact with mirrored cases of a damaged temporal cortex and complete hippocampus. The subjects with damage to the hippocampus had difficulty with episodic memory and those with temporal cortex injury had difficulty with semantic memory. This is also evidence that would appear to support Tulving(1972). This type of neuropsychological research has greatly influenced our knowledge of where memory works but has limitations. Damage to the brain is not chosen or controlled. It can affect more than one area and because memory uses different parts of the brain working together an injury can cause a knock on effect. There is also evidence of plasticity where the brain compensates for injury by making new connections which allow for some recovery of memory as can happen to stroke victims. These limitations make it complicated to link specific brain areas to specific memory functions. Case studies of exceptional atypical memory have also found evidence of how memories work. In his ‘S’ case study Luria (1969) studied a gifted man with an unlimited memory. The thirty year study consisted of laboratory experiments and verbal examination of the subjects’ views and experiences. Luria found that ‘S’ used a variety of techniques when remembering, “Semanticisation: converting meaningless information into something that is meaningful for the individual. Association: forming associations between the presented information and something which is memorable for the individual. Imagery: forming an image which somehow reinforces the information to be remembered.” Luria (1969) Luria believed that the memory strategies of ‘S’ worked together with a natural biological talent coupled with a historical and motivational learning culture within the family. Ericsson and Polsen observed waiters at work noting that they could remember orders from many tables at the same time and recall who ordered what when delivering the food. Their study featured “JC, who had the useful skill of retaining up to 17 different orders in memory without writing anything down. When tested experimentally, he remembered eight orders, each consisting of a main course (eight alternatives with directions about how cooked), a starch (three alternatives) and a salad with a dressing (five alternatives).” Ericsson and Polsen(1988) They were investigating whether exceptional memory was something we are born with or we learn over time. This was also the subject of a study by Wilding and Valentine (1994) through a process of comprehensive testing in different areas of memory processing, storage and retrieval, coupled with questions about family history, upbringing and strategies, the ten memory experts tested showed that the participants excelled in different areas and only some excelled in them all. They theorised that some people had developed a natural strategy to a high level in one type of performance whilst others had generalised these strategies to excel in a range of tasks and another group began with a natural talent for memory and then improved it with techniques or strategies. These case studies of exceptional memory proved the diversity in the way memory works. It has shown ways we can all use strategies to improve memory skills. It also supports the work of Bower, Clark, Lesgold and Winzenz (1969) and Stevens (1988) on using mental organising and visual association to develop memory skills. Cognitive research through case studies has helped us to understand the processes and structure of memory through making theories, testing the theory and then choosing evidence to support the theory but new technology has brought more material evidence to support these theories. Cognitive neuroscience allows brain imaging case studies of brain function during memory tasks. Brain activity during the test is compared with control (normal) brain activity. This type of research means we can explore memory functions within the brain on microscopic scale. Studies of Taxi drivers with exceptional memory and recall for routes, places and place names showed scans with intense activity Maguire et al(1997) and an increase in the size of the hippocampus Maguire et al(2000) when compared with control participants. Carter in 1988 using these brain scanning methods tried to develop a neuropsychological model of how memory works. He identified that individual experiences registered as activity in the cortical areas of the brain that register sensory information and perceptual experience. This then travels to the hippocampus which replays them to the temporal cortex until they become semantic memories. This study was not conclusive and the work of Vargha-Khadem et al (1997) contradicted it because despite damage to the hippocampus of their participants they still had semantic memory that could not have come through the hippocampus. This contradiction is on-going and because of the possibility of placticity has not yet been explained. Further brain scanning of participants with exceptional memory was carried out at Irvine University, California, in 2006. James McGaugh, Larry Cahill and Elizabeth Parker tested the exceptional autobiographical memory of Jill Price. Their many tests indicated that no memory tricks or strategies were being used. Their research generated a great deal of public interest and many people contacted them claiming to have the same skills. They subsequently tested hundreds of people and found 33 who also have a highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM). This led them to use fMRI to investigate the brain structure of 11 of their study’s participants. They found “multiple areas in the temporal and the parietal lobes tied to autobiographical memory are significantly larger than the same regions in a control group. At the same time, another area, the lentiform nucleus, linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder, is also bigger. Some of the study participants, in fact, have a tendency to hoard things or avoid germs, though none have been diagnosed with OCD”. Aurora Leport et al 2011 This research showed some kind of natural organisation in the brain without using learned strategies. The participants did not demonstrate enhanced memory in other areas and when tested on short term memory with a control group performed no better at remembering lists of numbers. Research into atypical memory function is broad and complimentary with only minor conflicts in specific areas that are often resolved as new research findings come to the fore. Memory can’t be accessed directly but we know it’s there because we use it or it fails and we can’t use it. We can improve it and we know some people have natural skills to enhance memory. Research into atypical memory functions, both for impaired memory and enhanced memory have given material evidence that forms part of a collective learning process giving more questions that need to be answered with new research. There are also exciting developments in brain scanning technology including the work at Harvard University where fluorescent genes are used to make the neurons glow so that studies in living animals can map the activity of the brain. Combining many methods of research gives a wide range of data both material and behavioural from which we can assess the evidence and make assumptions about memory to develop more questions to answer. 1,509 words. References Brace and Roth: Mapping Psychology Edited by Dorothy Miell, Ann Phoenix and Kerry Thomas. Chapter 8: Memory: structures, processes and skills, Open University 2013 Helmuth. Laura, March 2011 Smithsonian Magazine Hodges, J.R. and Graham, K.S. (1998) ‘A reversal of the temporal gradient for famous person knowledge in semantic dementia: implicated for the neural organization of long-term memory’, Neuropsychologia, Chapters 36–8, pp.803–25. Leport et al 2011 The journal Neurobiology of Learning & Memory's July 2011 http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/people-with-exceptional-memory-recall-have-different-brains-112073100476_1.html Luria, A. (1969) Mind of the Mnemonist, London, Jonathon Cape. Maguire, E.A., Frackowiak, R.S.J., and Frith, C.D. (1997) ‘Recalling routes around London: activation of the right hippocampus in taxi drivers’ ,Journal of Neuroscience,vol.17,pp.7103–10 Miller, Greg. May 2010 How Our Brains Make Memories, Smithsonian magazine, May 2010, Scoville, W.B. and Milner, B. (1957) ‘Loss of recent memory after bilateral hippocampal lesions’, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry,vol.20, pp.11–21. Tulving, E. (1972) ‘Episodic and semantic memory’, in Tulving, E. and Donaldson, W. (eds) The Organization of Memory, pp.382–403, New York,Academic Press. Vargha-Khadem, E., Gadian, D.G., Watkins, K.E., Connelly A., Vann Paesschon, W. and Mishkin, M. (1997) ‘Differential effects of early hippocampal pathology on episodic and semantic memory’, Science,vol.277, pp.376–9. Tulving, E. (1985) ‘How many memory systems are there'’, American Psychologist, vol.40, pp.385–98. Wilding, J. and Valentine, E. (1994) ‘Memory champions’, British Journal of Psychology, vol.85, pp.231–44.