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Page 4 THE ALTON HILLS HOMESTYLE Saturday October 13 Basic elementary skill Unconscious memory system allows brain to prepare By LORRAINE BROWN University of Toronto psychology professor Dr Tulving says the human brain may have a separate primitive type of memory that allows us to quickly recognize and understand objects or words weve seen before This unconscious memory system is called referring to the brains ability to prepare or prime itself so that it can process with a minimum of effort informa tion it has already taken in before Knowledge of how the system works may be helpful in assessing and treating certain perceptual disorders for example reading In children and some amnesia patients Priming has been a subject of in tensive research since 1970 when British researchers reported that people with amnesia could recognize lists of words they had seen a few moments before providing they were given some visual cues in the form of a few letters from the words Normally amnesiacs have no recall of recent events Even though these people could not remember that they had been shown the word they showed a perfectly normal ability to identify it when given a visual cue This ability remained even in pco- STYLISH KITCHEN SINKS no look good bul hard pie who suffered organic amnesia a permanent amnesia caused by brain damage as well as people with functional amnesia caused by psychologicalemotional trauma and usually temporary On the basis of the work with victims researchers began devising simple tests to measure priming in people with normal memories For example testees were shown a list of words then ask ed to recall them as well as other words that had not bee on the list some time later The subjects were given a few letters from each word as clues The researchers found the sub jects were far more likely to recognize the words that had been on he earlier list This simple test was a demonstration of priming The whole point of pnming is that it comes about by virtue of a person s having seen a word or shape once before said Dr Tulv It is entirely independent of the person ability to remember the word It as if the two types of memory come from two parts of the brain working independently Priming is present in the very young and the very old Unlike other forms of it is unaffected by the use of alcohol or other drugs A basic elementary skill it develops both in species and in individuals either before or simultaneously with higher forms of learning which would be impossible without it Tht identification of words is an important example or priming in children who are learning to read A better understanding of priming ARTHUR JOHNSON ASSOCIATES realtor 247GUELPHST GEORGETOWN L7G IRIS IRWIN Sales Representative Res- 8777494 8775165 ERIN 519 OPEN HOUSE SUN OCT 14 pm Rd PERFECT HOME FOR THE GROWING FAMILY lG B lG bedroom Master bedroom has finished basement new cupboard doors tn kitchen new PT fence Aug 90 new sidewalks 1989 tn sparkling complex Parking right behind house playground close by safe for children Call Ins for further details Asking TAKE THE LANDLORD OFF YOUR PAYROLL by owning this cosy detached brick bungalow on extra large lot bedrooms on main floor 3rd in basement along with another WR New FAG furnace fall of new shingles and July 000first mortgage at 1 till July Asking CLASSIC COUNTRY Just take a look at this gorgeous custom Viceroy 2 ft set on acres ust west of mins from Gourmet kitchen sunken family room with fireplace LR Master with Jacuzzi ensuite much more 30x48 metal clad horse barn 2 paddocks trout stream Reduced to could lead to new ways to treat reading disorders The reading process is very com plex with priming being only one facet of it says But now we know that there are different types of memory a child who is hav ing trouble learning to read could be given priming tests to determine more exactly where the learning disorder exists He adds that a former colleague of his in Arizona is now using as the key in a new system for teaching basic life skills to organic amnesia victims Who dont retain what they ve been taught by any con vent Pnming is also called the Percep tion Recognition System because it is so closely tied to the sense of vi thinks that the pnming mechanism may be located in the brains occipital lobes the portions responsible for processing visual in formation from the optic nerve But similar effects also almost certainly occur in the other senses such as heanng and smell he adds Priming probably evolved before higher forms of memory There is evidence that it occurs in other mammals and also in lower vertebrate animals such as birds reptiles and fish Pnming may have developed out of animals need to be able to react to dangerous situations without ing the entire picture in their brain For example an antelope that has been because it has run away from a tiger in the past will react much more quickly the next time it sees stripes moving in the grass For it to see the whole tiger is not 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