This book examines the nature and causal antecedents of superior memory performance. The main theme is that such performance may depend on either specific memory techniques or natural superiority in the efficiency of one or more memory processes.
Chapter 2 surveys current views about the structure of memory and discusses whether common processes can be identified which might underlie general variation in memory ability, or whether distinct memory subsystems exist, the efficiency of which varies independently of each other.
Chapter 3 provides a comprehensive survey of existing evidence on superior memory performance. It examines techniques which underlie many examples of unusual memory performance, and concludes that not all this evidence is explicable in terms of such techniques. Relations between memory ability and other cognitive processes are also discussed.
The remainder of the book describes the authors' own studies of a dozen memory experts, employing a wide variety of short- and long-term memory tasks. These studies provide a much larger body of data than previously available from studies of single individuals, usually restricted to a narrow range of tasks and rarely involving any systematic study of long-term retention.
The authors argue that in some cases unusual memory ability is not dependent on the use of special techniques. They develop some objective criteria for distinguishing between subjects who demonstrate "natural" superiority and those "strategists" who depend on techniques. Natural superiority was characterised by superior performance on a wider range of tasks and better long-term retention.
The existence of a general memory ability was further supported by a factor analysis of data from all subjects, omitting those who described highly-practised techniques. This analysis also demonstrated the independence of initial encoding and retention processes.
The monograph raises many interesting questions concerning the existence and nature of individual differences in memory ability (a previously neglected topic), their relation to other cognitive processes and implications for theories concerning the structure of memory.
Biography
John Wilding, Elizabeth Valentine
This book gives a clear and thoughtful account of a psychometric agenda for research into memory abilities that vary from person to person and, in particular, that might be especially strong in individuals who show 'superior memory'... The book starts by describing some astonishing, but well attested, feats of memory and goes on to give a full and valuable review of case studies about individuals who show exceptional accomplishments of memory...The book will interest researchers in the fields of memory and differential psychology and will be cited in research literature for a long time to come. - Ian Hunter (University of Keele)
This remarkable book carefully reviews evidence at the other extreme of the distribution of memory performance - namely, exceptionally superior memory. As any commendable book should do, Superior Memory ends with new, exciting questions about the origins of individual differences in naturally attained memory in everyday activities. - K. Anders Ericsson, Florida State University, in Contemporary Psychology
