Discuss the findings of Psychologists John Wilding and Elizabeth Valentine's research on exceptional memorizers

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that Wilding and Valentine conducted their research using contestants at the World Memory Championship held in England. These contestants at this championship must rapidly memorize long lists of unrelated words and numbers. The psychologists found that exceptional memorizers: (1) use memory strategies and techniques, such as mnemonics, (2) have specialized interests and knowledge that make certain types of information easier to encode and recall (for example, one contestant, a mathematician, was exceedingly good at memorizing numbers), (3) have naturally superior memory abilities, often including vivid mental images, and (4) did not have superior intellectual abilities or different types of brains. Wilding and Valentine also noted that several of the memory contestants were able to excel on tasks that prevented the use of learned strategies and techniques. This observation implied that superior memory ability can be a "gift" as well as a learned skill. Thus, they concluded that exceptional memory may be based on either natural ability or learned strategies, but usually requires both.