I loosely suspect this has to do with how you’ve conditioned your use of working memory and your amount of it. I’ve heard of a study where they found that some people with high IQ and high WM do poorly on standardized tests, because the situation narrowed and shrunk their WM temporarily. High IQ/low WMers did not appear to suffer this effect.
The analogy given was that you’re used to working on a nice executive desk, and suddenly you have to do the same tasks but with a clipboard and sheet of paper. Whereas if you have low WM, you’re already used to working with little space. In this crowd monitor size is probably a better analogy.
The chunking strategy puts more of your skills on autopilot, allowing you to do more higher level function rather than stalling out (see Sian Beilock’s new book Choke). I don’t really know what to think of those who are TOO open to stimuli, though.
As for my own experiences:
The most relevant situation I can think of is when I was in my first and only car accident. It was a two lane road, and in the opposite lane, a car was intending to turn left. Just before we would pass it that car was hit from behind and propelled into our car. Things went spinning; the car stopped. I was in the passenger seat and both my dad and I were dazed from the impact.
I had the strangest experience of being absolutely clear and focused—which I would kill to be able to activate at will, by the way. I was not able to move very fast, being slightly injured and whiplashed, and had lost my glasses. But my mind went clicking—even though I felt like I was moving through molasses, I saw smoke in the car and assessed it as dangerous to stay, roused my dad from semi-consciousness, unbuckled him and myself, pried open my door, got out and around and dragged my dad out to the opposite curb. Just no hesitation, one step after another, boom boom boom. This held for the rest of the day and allowed me to coordinate logistics before going off in the ambulance with my dad.
Like I said, strange, as if some ‘alert and analytical’ switch in my brain had been jammed for a few hours.
According to a test we did in my first-year psych course, I have a very poor short-term memory (and an excellent long-term memory, partly because I intuitively use word and image associations to memorize things.) I’ve always done well in school pretty easily, possibly because my learning style is well suited to the most common teaching styles.
Your car accident story is fascinating. I’ve never been put into a situation like that before, and I tend to worry how I would react–would my brain be able to rise above the immediate shock to reach the ‘alert and analytical’ level that you reached, or would I freeze and be useless?
Well, let’s hope you never have to. I didn’t think I’d have a situation like that, either.
That experience itself is similar to the hyperfocus state of ADD/ADHD—can anyone corroborate? I have had that diagnosis, then had it revoked. I have my own self-theories, including having low WM (which is why I recall that study), but I should really go try something like http://www.cambridgebrainsciences.com/
May I ask what you plan on studying? School was extremely easy for me once, and then extremely difficult (to complete).
I have difficulty classifying my different kinds of memory as good or bad, and am often confused when others classify their own memories. I have poor verbal recall, short or long-term. I find it very difficult to remember poetry, unless it’s sung. but, I never had a problem memorizing poetry when that was assigned in school—I just practiced saying it for a few days, and I had it. After I stopped saying it to myself all the time, I forgot it again.
I try never to argue with someone about what specific words were used in a conversation a year ago, the previous day (or often even an hour ago). However, I have very good short-term aural memory—whatever the last few moments of sound I heard have been, if I need to recall them, usually can sort of play them back, even if I wasn’t paying much attention. This means I am often able to identify the exact words that have just been spoken, even when the speaker doesn’t realize they’ve misspoken. I have good linguistic memory, and good spelling memory, but my ability to recall something that could just as well be one thing as another (like exact words versus my interpretation of general meaning) is I think below average.
So, do you have a generally poor short-term memory, or are there some things you can repeat or recognize perfectly shortly after seeing or hearing or feeling them?
I loosely suspect this has to do with how you’ve conditioned your use of working memory and your amount of it. I’ve heard of a study where they found that some people with high IQ and high WM do poorly on standardized tests, because the situation narrowed and shrunk their WM temporarily. High IQ/low WMers did not appear to suffer this effect.
The analogy given was that you’re used to working on a nice executive desk, and suddenly you have to do the same tasks but with a clipboard and sheet of paper. Whereas if you have low WM, you’re already used to working with little space. In this crowd monitor size is probably a better analogy.
The chunking strategy puts more of your skills on autopilot, allowing you to do more higher level function rather than stalling out (see Sian Beilock’s new book Choke). I don’t really know what to think of those who are TOO open to stimuli, though.
As for my own experiences:
The most relevant situation I can think of is when I was in my first and only car accident. It was a two lane road, and in the opposite lane, a car was intending to turn left. Just before we would pass it that car was hit from behind and propelled into our car. Things went spinning; the car stopped. I was in the passenger seat and both my dad and I were dazed from the impact.
I had the strangest experience of being absolutely clear and focused—which I would kill to be able to activate at will, by the way. I was not able to move very fast, being slightly injured and whiplashed, and had lost my glasses. But my mind went clicking—even though I felt like I was moving through molasses, I saw smoke in the car and assessed it as dangerous to stay, roused my dad from semi-consciousness, unbuckled him and myself, pried open my door, got out and around and dragged my dad out to the opposite curb. Just no hesitation, one step after another, boom boom boom. This held for the rest of the day and allowed me to coordinate logistics before going off in the ambulance with my dad.
Like I said, strange, as if some ‘alert and analytical’ switch in my brain had been jammed for a few hours.
Thank you for the well-thought-out comment.
According to a test we did in my first-year psych course, I have a very poor short-term memory (and an excellent long-term memory, partly because I intuitively use word and image associations to memorize things.) I’ve always done well in school pretty easily, possibly because my learning style is well suited to the most common teaching styles.
Your car accident story is fascinating. I’ve never been put into a situation like that before, and I tend to worry how I would react–would my brain be able to rise above the immediate shock to reach the ‘alert and analytical’ level that you reached, or would I freeze and be useless?
Well, let’s hope you never have to. I didn’t think I’d have a situation like that, either.
That experience itself is similar to the hyperfocus state of ADD/ADHD—can anyone corroborate? I have had that diagnosis, then had it revoked. I have my own self-theories, including having low WM (which is why I recall that study), but I should really go try something like http://www.cambridgebrainsciences.com/
May I ask what you plan on studying? School was extremely easy for me once, and then extremely difficult (to complete).
I have difficulty classifying my different kinds of memory as good or bad, and am often confused when others classify their own memories. I have poor verbal recall, short or long-term. I find it very difficult to remember poetry, unless it’s sung. but, I never had a problem memorizing poetry when that was assigned in school—I just practiced saying it for a few days, and I had it. After I stopped saying it to myself all the time, I forgot it again.
I try never to argue with someone about what specific words were used in a conversation a year ago, the previous day (or often even an hour ago). However, I have very good short-term aural memory—whatever the last few moments of sound I heard have been, if I need to recall them, usually can sort of play them back, even if I wasn’t paying much attention. This means I am often able to identify the exact words that have just been spoken, even when the speaker doesn’t realize they’ve misspoken. I have good linguistic memory, and good spelling memory, but my ability to recall something that could just as well be one thing as another (like exact words versus my interpretation of general meaning) is I think below average.
So, do you have a generally poor short-term memory, or are there some things you can repeat or recognize perfectly shortly after seeing or hearing or feeling them?