The Memory Experiment — Session 3

How this works

You'll see List 1 for 30 seconds. Just read. Don't write.
The list disappears. You have 30 seconds to type what you remember.
You'll see List 2 for 30 seconds. Same rules.
Type what you remember.
We compare. We name the reason.

Tip: put your phone or computer in a place where you won't be distracted for the next four minutes. The experiment only works if you actually read the words.

List 1

Read for 30 seconds. Don't write.

30

seconds left

velvet

tractor

asparagus

helicopter

dawn

granite

lullaby

cinnamon

marathon

rope

periscope

syrup

Recall · List 1

Type what you remember

30

seconds left

Spelling doesn't have to be perfect. We match case-insensitively.

You got 0 out of 12.

Now — a second list. Same rules. Same 30 seconds.

List 2

Read for 30 seconds. Don't write.

30

seconds left

Pollen.

Petal. Stamen. Pistil. Sepal. Stigma.

Bee. Wing. Hover.

Nectar. Sweetness. Flight.

Recall · List 2

Type what you remember

30

seconds left

The pattern

Same 12 words. Same 30 seconds. Why?

List 1

0 / 12

No pattern. Twelve random words.

List 2

0 / 12

A pattern. Words about pollination.

The first list had nothing to hold onto. Velvet has no friends. Periscope is alone. The second list had a concept behind it — pollination — and the words clustered around it. Pollen, petal, bee, nectar all belong to the same idea. Your brain didn't have to store twelve separate items. It stored one pattern with twelve pieces inside.

Ebbinghaus measured this in 1885. Facts without a concept slide off. Facts attached to a concept stick like burrs to wool.

Concepts are the wool. Facts are the burrs. Concept first. Facts second.

The Memory Experiment: Encoding and Recall

Comments (0)

About this Experience

The Memory Experiment: Encoding and Recall

Description

Details

Engagement