This assignment will be based on theories of thinking. The area I want to concentrate on is thought organisation and its different forms which can aid our memory. I am going to cover three ways of organising information, which are: using mental images, forming concepts and developing schemas. I will describe each of them individually, starting with short definition, fallowed by an explanation of how can we use them to improve recall. Finally I will refer to experiments to endorse the claim. Before I will go onto analysing ways we organise our thoughts I roughly describe the way we think.
As we read in Spoors et al. (2010), psychologists distinguish three ways of thinking: • Semantic thinking (thinking in words) • Iconic thinking (based on mental images-thinking in pictures) • Enactive thought (based on impression of actions) Adults use mainly semantic thinking, thinking in words. Nevertheless evidence shows that using iconic as well as semantic thinking can improve our memory. In other words, supporting our thinking in words by creating mental images of the information we acquire can help us to memorise it.
Using mental images is the first method of organising information I want to concentrate on. By mental images we understand mental representation of physical objects or events. There were numerous experiments carried out to research how mental images can lead to better recall. As we read in Spoors et al. (2010) it has been established that mental images provide an additional cue which aids the recollection. Researchers noticed that imagining big, colourful or unusual objects works best as human brain tent to retain uncommon and unique ideas rather than typical.
Also, the effort we make to create the image helps to establish it in our memory. Spoors et al. (2010) give us an example of how creating mental images can be used in practice. Authors refer to key word technique, as a method which can be successfully used in learning a foreign language. The key word technique is based on association of a new word with something we already know and creating its mental representation. Author used as an example French word “poubell” which in English means “bin”. When applying this technique we look for an English word which sounds similar to the French word or its part.
This will give us a key word. Next we need to generate a mental image of the key word with its English translation. In this example we could picture ourselves standing by the bin which looks like a bell and holding nose because of the “pooh”. To back this theory I am going to introduce an experiment carried out by Michael Raugh and Richard Atkinson (1975) cited in Spoors et al. (2010). Raugh and Atkinson asked a group of participants to memorise a list of 60 Spanish words. Only half of the participants were thought to use the key word technique.
The results showed that participants using the key word approach could recall on average 88% of words, in contrast to 28% for participants who did not use this method. This experiment demonstrates that using mental images can significantly improve our memory. Second way of organising information noticeably improving recall is concept formation. Spoors et al. (2010, p. 40) defines concept formation as “a process of making a mental representation of a group of objects or events that share similar properties. ” In other words, it is a method used by people to sort specific experiences into general classes; developing categories.
When we implement our concepts we tend to use a number of characteristics. For example concept “bird” includes robins, sparrows, etc. To know which objects fall into this category we use a series of defining features, like feathers, wings and flying. However in real-life concepts those attributes are not applied strictly and are treated rather as characteristics than defining features. That would explain how people recognise penguins or ostriches as birds even though they do not fly. The definitions of our concepts are not described precisely and definitely.
Often the classification of certain object depends on how we expect to use it, not on its definition. For instance, in an unfurnished room we could treat a box as a stool or a table, even though it is not its original function. Concepts help us deal with an enormous amount of information surrounding us. Forming concepts and organising information can be a very useful and efficient tool for people who need to retain vast amount of data. When we recall information which we previously organised each fragment gives us a cue to the next one.
The reason being is that we stored it in a logical manner rather than an erratic one. Some research suggests that by organising information we are already assimilating it. Here I would like to adduce a research carried out by George Mandler (1967) cited in Spoors et al. (2010). Mandler conducted an experiment where he gave two groups of participants 100 cards each. On each card there was written one word. Mandler asked the participants to sort out the cards into groups. Only one group was instructed to try to memorise the words.
Later both groups were asked to write down the words they could remember; both groups remembered same number of words. This experiment validates the notion that organising information has got a profound effect on our memory. Third and final way of organising thoughts, which I am going to present is using schemas. Schema is a mental framework based on which people organise their general knowledge. Using schemas is very similar to forming concepts; although it is far more comprehensive. Concepts tell us which class certain object belongs to.
Schema includes all the information about certain object, person or situation which is associated with the subject. Schemas help us to efficiently deal with newly encountered situations. They allow us to implement our knowledge from similar past experiences to help us behave appropriately. John Bransford and Marcia Johnson (1972) cited in Spoors et al. (2010) investigated the role of schemas in our understanding and ability to memorise information. In one of experiments researchers read a fragment of a text to two groups of participants.
Only one group was given a title for the passage. All the participants were then asked to recall it as accurately as possible. Most of the people who did not know the title of the text reported difficulty with understanding it, not to mention remembering the details. This experiment shows that we need schemas in order to manage new information, understand reality and use acquired knowledge appropriately. The title suggests the schema. That allows information to be correctly stored, easily accessed and recalled.
Schemas provide a framework thanks to which information is stored in organised fashion. This organisation provides cues to prompt our memory and recall information accurately. To sum up, I devoted this assignment to familiarise the reader with methods we use to organise our thoughts. I have described ways we use thought organisation to improve our memory and presented experiments which demonstrate that awareness of those processes and knowledge on how to skilfully implement them provide a powerful aid to our memory.
References
Spoors, P., Dyer, E.W. and Finlay, L. (2010) Starting with psychology, Milton Keynes, The Open University
