This week’s reading looked at recognition vs. recall. Like the people described in the text, I have always felt that recognition is easier than recall. This is a misconception that many of us have and this chapter tries to explain that it all depends on the test setting. Some of the factors that affect our ability to recognized an item include having prior knowledge of being tested (knowing about test increases recall), the frequency of a the word (high frequency produced better recall and low frequency produced better recognition), the quality of the cues presented, the context that is used during test, and the items itself (we tend to remember pictures better but we tend to know words better). The authors also try to explain that recognition is not a simple process because it includes at least two processes: recollection and familiarity. In order to recognize something we first have to see if we actually have a conscious recollection of the item being tested and then we need to evaluate the level of familiarity of the item.
The part of the chapter that I found the most interesting was the section on face recognition. This is something that is of great importance in law. When a witness has to identify a suspect it is obviously crucial that they identify the correct suspect but many times witness identify the wrong person. This inaccuracy could be caused by differences the in race of the suspect relative to the race of the witness. It has been proven that we recognize faces of our own race more accurately than faces from a different race. This section of the chapter also discussed how we commonly cannot put a name to a face but can describe things about the person such as their occupation. When this happens to me, I get so frustrated and I cannot stop thinking about it. I have always thought that it was caused by a faulty storage of information about the person. This led me to do some research on the areas of the brain that are involved in the processing of faces.
Research done at the University of London has shown that a face is processed by three brain areas. The subjects of this study were shown pictures of two known icons: former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and actor Marilyn Monroe. They were shown a pair of pictures that were identical, a pair that the physical features were different but Marilyn or Margaret could still be recognized, and a pair that differed by the same degree in physical features(only one was still recognizable). The subjects viewed these pictures while they were undergoing an fMRI scan. One area that showed activation was the inferior occipital gyri, which is a pair of structures located in the posterior region of the brain. This area is responsible for processing physical characteristics. The researchers found increased activation in this area when the physical features in the two pictures were different. A second brain region that was active was the right fusiform gyrus, which is located behind our ears. This area was most active while the subjects were shown different pictures: Marilyn vs. Thatcher. It can be inferred by this activity that this area is involved in distinguishing between faces. It is likely that this area of the brain becomes active while we are trying to find a friend in a crowed room. The third brain region that showed activation was the anterior temporal cortex. This area seems to hold the knowledge we have about the face. This area showed increased activity when subjects were very familiar with the face. The reason why we do not remember a person’s name could be because the person’s name might be absent in our anterior temporal cortex.
This research can be very helpful in finding out what parts of brains might be defective in people with prosopagnosia (face blindness). It can also help us discover ways that we can more effectively remember people.
The complete article can be found here:
http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=1439
The part of the chapter that I found the most interesting was the section on face recognition. This is something that is of great importance in law. When a witness has to identify a suspect it is obviously crucial that they identify the correct suspect but many times witness identify the wrong person. This inaccuracy could be caused by differences the in race of the suspect relative to the race of the witness. It has been proven that we recognize faces of our own race more accurately than faces from a different race. This section of the chapter also discussed how we commonly cannot put a name to a face but can describe things about the person such as their occupation. When this happens to me, I get so frustrated and I cannot stop thinking about it. I have always thought that it was caused by a faulty storage of information about the person. This led me to do some research on the areas of the brain that are involved in the processing of faces.
Research done at the University of London has shown that a face is processed by three brain areas. The subjects of this study were shown pictures of two known icons: former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and actor Marilyn Monroe. They were shown a pair of pictures that were identical, a pair that the physical features were different but Marilyn or Margaret could still be recognized, and a pair that differed by the same degree in physical features(only one was still recognizable). The subjects viewed these pictures while they were undergoing an fMRI scan. One area that showed activation was the inferior occipital gyri, which is a pair of structures located in the posterior region of the brain. This area is responsible for processing physical characteristics. The researchers found increased activation in this area when the physical features in the two pictures were different. A second brain region that was active was the right fusiform gyrus, which is located behind our ears. This area was most active while the subjects were shown different pictures: Marilyn vs. Thatcher. It can be inferred by this activity that this area is involved in distinguishing between faces. It is likely that this area of the brain becomes active while we are trying to find a friend in a crowed room. The third brain region that showed activation was the anterior temporal cortex. This area seems to hold the knowledge we have about the face. This area showed increased activity when subjects were very familiar with the face. The reason why we do not remember a person’s name could be because the person’s name might be absent in our anterior temporal cortex.
This research can be very helpful in finding out what parts of brains might be defective in people with prosopagnosia (face blindness). It can also help us discover ways that we can more effectively remember people.
The complete article can be found here:
http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=1439
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