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alexa09's picture

procedural memory

I am not sure where certain functions such as walking are pre-written, but there is a name for memories like learning how to walk: procedural memory. Procedural memory is a type of implicit memory, in which past experiences help in the performance of the task without conscious awareness of these previous experiences. Procedural memory allows people to remember how to ride a bike without consciously aware of the execution of the procedure. We can use that example with walking. Most people (except for the man that Prof. Grobstein said could not hold himself up in the dark) do not have to consciously think about where their legs are and what motion they would have to perform next. Procedural memory is very interesting because it is separates our declarative memory in which people store facts and experiences. An experiment was done with amnesiacs with extremely impaired short term memory, where they were taught how to solve the puzzle of Hanoi. They improved the same amount after each try as did the control group although the patients said they don’t remember ever seeing the puzzle before.

 

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