I watched a "60 Minutes" episode recently, where a half dozen people who have "superior autobiographical memory" were interviewed. (The group included Marilu Henner, whom I remember fondly from a sitcom called "Taxi.") The segment was called "The Gift of Endless Memory," and Leslie Stahl interviewed five people who didn't have just "great" memories. They could remember everything that had ever happened to them, and when. Given any date, each could remember tiny details of the day, and of course, the interviewers made certain to verify these memories.
The researcher involved, Dr. James McGaugh, is a professor of neurobiology at the University of California Irvine, and he's a well-known expert on memory. He would ask these subjects (there are six known in the world), what would ordinarily be difficult or impossible for an ordinary person to recall, but could be verified by records, such as which days of a month twenty years ago, that it rained. When they showed one subject being questioned about the weather twenty years ago, she not only recalled which days it rained, but the weather for the days before!
Psychology courses often delve into how memory works. At Granite State College we have a lot of psychology courses and behavioral science classes, both online and classroom courses (the classroom courses take place in one of our nine NH state college campuses), including some we call "five-week intensives," that are accelerated courses. You'll read a lot, and become immersed in your subject, but at the end of five weeks, you'll be impressed with yourself, to realize that you've completed a whole college course! And the only shortcut is the length of time it took to finish the course. You'll still be learning the same things you'd learn in a full-length course! (But we can't promise that, like the people I've described, you'll remember everything for as long as you live!!!)
At Granite State College, we find ourselves emphasizing "adult learning," but once you finish high school, it's true that all college learning is "adult learning." And our learners range from just out of high school to senior citizens! (The oldest student I've had so far was 71 years "young" and the youngest was 17!)
Oh, and back to that fascinating segment on "60 Minutes": I loved when Marilu Henner said, "You know what I love? I love when people get so flattered, Like they go, 'Wow, I must've really made an impression on you.' And I go, 'No, no, believe me - I remember everything' '" And the fact that these people seem to have just a little bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder): they like to keep things in order and to collect things.
But the thing that's also stuck in my mind over the last week is that of the five subjects on the show, only one - Marilu Henner - had ever been married. (And she'd been married three times.) Is it possible that being able to remember everything (including arguments and hurt feelings) might make a long-term relationship more tenuous? Maybe it's important for our social "grease" to be able to actually forget details. (Ah, that's something that I should bring up in Social Psychology course, one of the online adult education classes that's coming up!)
So, I'm wondering if maybe that not-so-great memory of mine may have contributed to the longevity of my marriage. (We just celebrated our 42nd anniversary.) Well, there certainly aren't any proven "magic pills," but you never know...
Here's a link if you want to watch the "60 Minutes" segment.
The researcher involved, Dr. James McGaugh, is a professor of neurobiology at the University of California Irvine, and he's a well-known expert on memory. He would ask these subjects (there are six known in the world), what would ordinarily be difficult or impossible for an ordinary person to recall, but could be verified by records, such as which days of a month twenty years ago, that it rained. When they showed one subject being questioned about the weather twenty years ago, she not only recalled which days it rained, but the weather for the days before!
Psychology courses often delve into how memory works. At Granite State College we have a lot of psychology courses and behavioral science classes, both online and classroom courses (the classroom courses take place in one of our nine NH state college campuses), including some we call "five-week intensives," that are accelerated courses. You'll read a lot, and become immersed in your subject, but at the end of five weeks, you'll be impressed with yourself, to realize that you've completed a whole college course! And the only shortcut is the length of time it took to finish the course. You'll still be learning the same things you'd learn in a full-length course! (But we can't promise that, like the people I've described, you'll remember everything for as long as you live!!!)
At Granite State College, we find ourselves emphasizing "adult learning," but once you finish high school, it's true that all college learning is "adult learning." And our learners range from just out of high school to senior citizens! (The oldest student I've had so far was 71 years "young" and the youngest was 17!)
Oh, and back to that fascinating segment on "60 Minutes": I loved when Marilu Henner said, "You know what I love? I love when people get so flattered, Like they go, 'Wow, I must've really made an impression on you.' And I go, 'No, no, believe me - I remember everything' '" And the fact that these people seem to have just a little bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder): they like to keep things in order and to collect things.
But the thing that's also stuck in my mind over the last week is that of the five subjects on the show, only one - Marilu Henner - had ever been married. (And she'd been married three times.) Is it possible that being able to remember everything (including arguments and hurt feelings) might make a long-term relationship more tenuous? Maybe it's important for our social "grease" to be able to actually forget details. (Ah, that's something that I should bring up in Social Psychology course, one of the online adult education classes that's coming up!)
So, I'm wondering if maybe that not-so-great memory of mine may have contributed to the longevity of my marriage. (We just celebrated our 42nd anniversary.) Well, there certainly aren't any proven "magic pills," but you never know...
Here's a link if you want to watch the "60 Minutes" segment.
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