Blog Post 2
Donald Shaffer
Visual Imagery:
To fully understand how a person uses visual imagery, one must understand how the memory process and information processing works. Beginning with sensory memory (a brief recording of sensory information), the encoding process takes places moving this information into the working memory. This is where we obtain the information we use and apply it to the outside world. Within working memory, information is either stored in or retrieved from the long-term memory. More specifically, visual imagery plays a big role in the storage and retrieval of memories. Visual imagery is the practice of using mental pictures as a powerful tool to help in effortful processing. However, even though visual imaging helps mainly in the retrieval process of long-term memory, it works best when used with semantic encoding. This means that when information is in our sensory memory, it is best to connect the meaning of that information with a past mental image that’s already embedded in your long-term memory. Visual Imagery has played a large role in my college life. To be more specific, I truly struggled with the learning of a different language last year and I needed to find the best way to memorize Spanish vocabulary. I spent countless hours staring at flash cards trying to force hundreds of foreign words into my long-term memory, but it just was not working. After communicating with my instructor and doing some research, I began to use visual imagery. With every new vocabulary word I encountered (as it just entered my sensory memory), I would stop and try to connect the word with a past event, picture or just any memory that could be connected with the definition of that word. For example, take the word “el pastel” meaning cake in Spanish. When I first encountered this word, I pictured colorful pastels being used to draw a delicious looking cake with marvelous colors that really makes the icing stand out. I continued to use this process and it greatly helped my effortful processing.
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Matt Silver
Blog Comment 2:
Visual imagery plays a prominent role in the way we see and remember things. The way that you can use visual imagery to study for subjects in school or even just remember a memory that happened in your past is why it is so important. Everyone at some point or another uses visual imagery when trying to remember a certain topic. The truth is, I believe people are so caught up on the information that they cannot retain that they do not even think that they could possibly use visual imagery to try and keep it stored in their memory. There is no question, visual imagery is one of the most effective ways to get information from your sensory memory to your STM and even past that to your LTM. The way that you explained your story with learning your foreign language is the perfect example of that. My question is, why do more people not try this tactic when trying to learn tough material? Do they think its ineffective or is it possible that they do not even know what it is?