Visual Memory

VDL Categories: Vision- and Perception, Art & Design

link to "instructor" page (some more readings, discussion points)

Project type

In-class activity

Source

Common type of exercise in visual thinking courses.

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Background materials

Readings

• "Did You See the Gorilla?"
  An entertaining article summarizes research showing that it's possible to see something without observing it. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fconnected%2F2004%2F05%2F05%2Fecfgorilla05.xml
• The Straight Dope. Is there such a thing as "photographic memory"?
• Investigating Minds course by Elizabeth Johnston, Department of Psychology, Sarah Lawrence College Fall 1997. Lesson 7: Reconstructive Memory (course syllabus at http://pages.slc.edu/~ebj/IM_97/syllabus.html)
  Notes for a course lecture on theories of memory permanence.
• Eyewitness Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1999. Especially pp29-39, Composing Lineups.

Skill set being developed

• Observational skills
• Awareness of visual complexity
• Awareness of both the potential power and weakness of visual memory

Relevance to Visual Digital Literacy

Because much visual processing is preconscious and little of it is explicitly learned unless one studies art or design, most people do not realize how selective their (conscious) visual memory is.

Interactive multimedia software

Flash-based program that delivers the activity, with instructions for completion. (See Activities below.)

Run Flash-based exercise

Materials Needed

None if flash software is used. Instructors can easily substitute their own images and questions and conduct the lesson without the software.

Examples of relevant applications of the module content

• Observing images in a critical context
• Observing real-life visual phenomena for the purpose of scientific, art and design, or many other possible purposes.
• Observation skills necessary for drawing and general design projects

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Activities

• An image is observed for 15 seconds, after which a series of questions is posed. Answers can be compared to instructor's answers or assessed by further viewing of the original image. The Flash software shows the full image for 15 seconds, the answers (with appropriate image croppings), and then presents the image again, with information on its authorship and content.
• The activity is repeated with a different image.

Assessment

1. How many of the questions for each image were answered correctly?
2. What types of questions were correct and what types were not?
3. Were problems due to lack of memory of detail or integration of misleading cues?