Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Abruptly Forgotten: Working Memory Disappears In A Blink

From Scientific American:

Certain memories die suddenly rather than fading away.

When you go from bed to bathroom on a dark night, a quick flick of the lights will leave a lingering impression on your mind’s eye. For decades evidence suggested that such visual working memories—which, even in daylight, connect the dots to create a complete scene as the eyes dart around rapidly—fade gradually over the span of several seconds. But a clever new study reported in the journal Psychological Science finds that such memories actually stay sharp until they are suddenly lost.

Read more ....

No comments: