How_Can_the_Way_in_Which_We_Organise_Our_Thinking_by_Using_Mental_Images,_Concepts_and_Schemas_Help_Us_Improve_Our_Memory_

TMA 01 - Task 1 Part B How Can The Way In Which We Organise Our Thinking By Using Mental Images, Concepts And Schemas Help Us Improve Our Memory' Introduction To answer this question, I will be looking at each organisational method in turn. I will be describing each of these terms, then, I will explain how they can help improve memory, and follow that up with evidence in the form of case studies. Finally I will draw up a conclusion summarising the main points that I have made. Mental Images A mental image is a picture created within the mind, it can be of a person, an object or a location. Mental images can be used to recall information in several ways. The idea is that we usually think with words, the extra effort of associating a related image to the information you want to remember, increases your concentration on the information, helps implant it in your mind, and gives you extra cues to remember the information by. The image is more likely to be remembered if it is big and colourful. A mnemonic is a method of remembering information, it is commonly in the forms of rhyme, or an easy phrase to remember. However in 500bc the Greek poet Simonides developed the ‘method of loci’. The idea is when trying to remember a list of items, to try and picture each item within a sequence of familiar settings. Mental imaging can improve the recall of foreign words and their meanings using the key word technique. This is where you take the foreign word, and associate the meaning with words that sound similar in English. So “poubelle” is French for bin, and it sounds like pooh and bell. So you could create a mental image of a bin, and combine it with images of pooh (or rather your reaction to it) and bells. Michael Raugh and Richard Atkinson carried out an experiment to see if using this technique could improve the recall of foreign words. They took two groups of subjects, and asked them to memorise sixty Spanish words. The independent variable was that one group was taught the key word technique. The dependent variable was the average amount of words each group could remember. (Atkinson et al., 1975, cited in Starting With Psychology, p.45, 2011) The participants who were taught the key word technique remembered an average of 88% of the words, whilst the ones who weren’t only remembered an average of 28%. Concepts A concept is a set of defining features that helps to categorise an object or animal. For example the concept of a door is that it is usually rectangular, attached to a frame by hinges and has a handle that opens and closes it. Concepts are not rigid however, as we can see when we look at a round door which is not rectangular, or an automatic door with no handle. Concepts can help the recall of information by categorising it. By taking a list of objects and sorting them into different concepts, such as furniture, clothing items etc., we can remember other things from the list within the concept. Weston Bousfield asked participants to learn a list of sixty words, which could all be divided into one of four categories. The words themselves were in a random order. Participants showed that they tended to remember in these four concepts. So if they remembered the table from the furniture concept, they tended to then be able to remember other items in the list within the same concept. (Bousfield, 1953, cited in Starting With Psychology, p. 53, 2011) George Mandler also did a similar experiment in which he found evidence to suggest that this is an automatic process. In this experiment he took two groups who were given a pack of 100 cards each. Printed on the cards were words from a variety of concepts. The participants were asked to categorise the cards into groups. The independent variable was that one group was asked to memorise the information on the cards as they sorted them. When both groups were later told to write down all the words they could remember, both groups did equally well. (Mandler, 1967, cited in Starting With Psychology, p. 53, 2011) Schema A schema is a framework, by which you associate certain actions and features. A schema is based on past experiences, and can help us to tackle new situations that are similar to our experience. An example of a schema is a visit to a shop. In our schema of our shop we will generally have a list of the things that are expected of us, you go in, you choose what you want to buy, take it to the cashier, and exchange it for money and leave. Once you have the schema set in place you can then visit any other shop and using your schema, know what is expected of you. Schemata essentially categorises information and so gives you cues to remember the information by. As shown in the following example, giving information a context can help us access it. In the following example, it is shown that it is easier to understand and therefore remember it, if you know the context it relates to Specifically in this example, the passage relates to doing laundry. John Bransford and Marcia Johnson carried out a number of experiments on this. Participants were read a passage. One group of participants were given the title of the passage, whilst the other was not. The group that was not given the title, had great difficulty in understanding the passage, and found it even more difficult to recall the information. The group given the title were found to understand the passage easily, and to be able to recall more, additionally the former group were able to understand the passage once they were given the title, as they had a schema to relate the information too. (Bransford et al., 1972, as cited in Starting With Psychology, p.55, 2011) Conclusion In conclusion there are many methods of improving recall using mental images, schema and concepts. There seems to be a common theme wherein these methods help associate information, give extra cues to remember it by and categorise information. Total: 1008 Words References Atkinson et al., (1975), cited in Starting With Psychology, p.45, (2011) Bousfield, (1953), cited in Starting With Psychology, p. 53, (2011) Bransford et al., (1972), as cited in Starting With Psychology, p.55, (2011) Mandler, (1967), cited in Starting With Psychology, p. 53, (2011) (2011) Starting With Psychology, Milton Keynes, The Open University