PSYCH AND MEMORY

JOSEPH S. BRIGGS

MEMORYMemory is the brains way of remembering information that it may need to use again later in similar situations. Can be divided into three different sections. Sensory, Working, and Long-Term.

SENSORY MEMORYSensory Memory is described as “Memory lasting no more than a few seconds in which the impression of a sensory stimulus is stored.” Basically it’s the area of the brain that the memory of the five senses Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch and Smell.

WORKING MEMORYWorking Memory defined as, “Memory in which information for short-term use is stored.”, is the next step in the memory process. A strong example would be numeracy. The ability to remember numbers in a problem so you can call on them again when you need them for another part of the problem.

LONG-TERM MEMORYLong-Term memory is the memory that important material gets stored in. It’s defined as “Memory in which information that can last a lifetime is stored.” It would be like remembering Pi is about 3.14. You get that stored in your memory so that you can use it when ever you need it.

HOW MEMORY IS CREATED AND STORED AND RETRIEVED• Encoding: The process of

taking one of the sensory inputs and changing it into something the brain can understand and store

• Storage: A process that over time buries the memory to use later in life

• Retrieval: The act of getting an old memory out of storage in the brain to be used.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SENSORY MEMORY• Iconic Memory: A memory that include visual stimuli

such as remembering a face or the cycle of Simon Says.

• Echoic Memory: A memory that includes sounds. It could be a memory that’s triggered by hearing an old song you haven’t heard in years or someone's voice.

• Eidetic Memory: An ability to remember a picture or scene with near flawless detail even if you haven’t seen it recently or didn’t see it for long.

MEDIA CONNECTION

OVERVIEW OF PSYCHPsych is the story of a man named Shawn Spencer who, after seeing news of crimes, picks up details about the crimes that the police missed. When he brings this to the police the think that he’s getting his information from inside and arrest him. To get out of being arrested Sawn convinces the police that he’s a psychic by using his memory. The chief of police warns him that if his powers are fake he will be arrested. This is the start of Shawn consulting for the police throughout the TV series.

CONNECTION THROUGH QUOTESQuote

• Shawn Spencer: So, we've got five stacks going across. You figure four going longways. Ten stacks in each pile based on the wear and the indentation. I don't know, depending on the denomination, this could easily be five million dollars.

• Gus: You're kidding.

• Shawn Spencer: Yeah, give or take.

• Gus: You got that from a groove on the side?

• Shawn Spencer: Oh, come on Gus. Any small child could've figured that out.

CONNECTION THROUGH QUOTES (CONT.)

Explanation: While looking for the lost money in the episode the question came up of how much money was missing. Shawn (pretending to be a psychic) used his memory to see a groove left in the ground at the scene of the crime and rattled off the dimensions of the stack of money adding it up to get the total.

CONNECTIONS THROUGH QUOTES (CONT.)

Shawn Spencer: I got the information because... I'm psychic.Carlton Lassiter: Get him out of here!Shawn Spencer: Oh boy![leans against the door, looks at the desk sergeant]Shawn Spencer: Your grandmother would be so proud.Desk Sergeant: You spoke to her?Shawn Spencer: I did. She's safe, comfortable. She wants you to stop spending

all your money on those charlatans.Desk Sergeant: The palm readers?Shawn Spencer: The palm readers.Lucinda: Okay, just to be clear, um, you're claiming to be a psychic, Mr. Spencer.Shawn Spencer: [moves his hands around until one is pointing at Lassiter and the other at Lucinda] How else would I know that you two are sleeping together? 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1...

[turns to Officer McNab]Shawn Spencer: When's the wedding?McNab: May 3rd - wait, how'd you know?Shawn Spencer: I'm getting dance lessons for a wedding reception and you are getting good!McNab: Wow! That's amazing.Carlton Lassiter: Oh, come on! Who's buying this?[McNab, the desk sergeant, and a guy in a holding cell all raise their hands]

CONNECTION THROUGH QUOTES (CONT.)Explanation: While Shawn is being processed for arrest he claims to be psychic and demonstrates by using what he’d seen on his way into the police station holding cell and what he can see as he sits there to conclude facts about each person and in turn prove to them that he is a psychic.

DOES IT RELATE??While it is hard to tell from the quotes during the episode it will show random pictures of scenes Shawn has already seen to show him using his memory to recall facts. Some of the information he uses is just guess work based on what he’s seen but he uses the pictures to put pieces of the puzzle back together later in the episode when more facts come into the light.

SUMMARYMemory takes a path through the brain every time you store something in memory. First you have to see/hear/taste/touch/smell it. Then it gets sent to working memory and if it’s important it will be sent to long-term memory. With Shawn Spencer from Psych however the process gets fast tracked straight to long term memory in vivid detail as is the case with Eidetic Memory.

REFERENCES• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0680222/quotes

Quotes from the first episode

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psych

Wiki link to details about the show

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Spencer

Wiki link to details about Shawn