Memory Search By A Memorist (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Thaddeus M. Cowan (Author), Jerome Frieman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This study is unique in that it is the first systematic study of the memorization process of such large sets of well-defined material; earlier works only investigated sets of 32 words, so the current material is 300 times larger than any other memory-span tasks that have been studied....Most useful for those who want to examine an in-depth study of memory, including types of tasks and experimental controls that were used.
—CHOICE

Product Description

This book describes the first comprehensive experimental research program on an individual who exhibits exceptional memory. Rajan Mahadevan, the subject of these investigations, won a place in the Guinness Book of Records for reciting pi to 31,811 decimal places, can learn matrices up to size 20 X 20, and can produce memory spans above 60 for digits. Utilizing the methodology and theories of modern cognitive psychology, the authors systematically investigated Rajan's memory skills. A wide range of experiments and tests were conducted with Rajan and four control subjects. These include memory span tests for digits and letters, memory for various kinds of non-numeric information, tests of working memory, learning and retention of numeric matrices, memory and visual searches of the digits of pi, and lexical decision tasks with the digits of pi.

The authors describe how they came to understand the way Rajan stored and now retrieves the decimal digits of pi, how he learns and retrieves matrices, and how he encodes and retrieves digits in a memory span task. Although his strategy for memorizing and retrieving digits is unique in the literature on people with extraordinary memory, the authors show how their investigations of Rajan contribute to our understanding of memory.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum; 1 edition (October 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805812369
• ISBN-13: 978-0805812367
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,139,460 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rote memory anyone?, September 14, 2001

By	J. Reich "trendputter" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rajan Srinivasan Mahadevan held the previous Guinness World Record for reciting the first 31,811 digits of pi. "That record stood until March 9, 1987 when another memorist (Hideaki Tomoyori) recited 40, 000 digits of pi". This book in most part is the clinical account of Rajan's memory ability and processes. Also included in this book are other control subjects GN, DA, DW, MD, TH. In about a 3-yr. period of time Charles P. Thompson, Thaddeus M. Cowan, Jerome Frieman conducted a battery of tests and worked closely with Rajan. Rajan has proven himself worthy to be in the line with other great memorists.
Contents:
Preface
1 Rajan The Person
2 Memory Span and Memory Load Tasks
3 Non-Numeric Performance
4 Number Matrices
5 Memory Search
6 Priming Digit Strings
8 Comparison With Other Memorists
9 Overview And Interpretation Of Rajan's Performance
References
Author Index
Subject Index
This is a list of Chapters, there is much more information in the sub-chapters. Furthermore, check ... Memory Search by a Memorist- for complete chapter-sub chapter listing.
This book has a tremendous amount of information. Numerous memory tests ranging from memory span, mean memory Span, mean Recall, mean organization measures, mean study time and recall, mean time per matrix, median search times, theoretical median encoding/production time, and more. There are numerous charts and graphs comparing Rajan with the test subjects, also contained are tests on Rajan himself. As you can tell, there is a lot one can learn from this book.

The beginning of this book is an introduction to Rajan. Rajan himself writes the autobiography in the beginning of the book. Also learned from the autobiography is Rajan's middle name "Srinivasan". "He is named after a distant cousin who perhaps was India's most famous mathematician, Srivinvasa Ramanujan". Following the autobiography are only brief accounts of interviews NBC, radio, 60 minuites, etc. Also most memorable is the sub-chapter entitled "The "Larry King Show", a very amusing story. Then some information about Rajan the person and his schooling. The meat of the book is the memory experiments.

Also contained in chapter 8 of this book is a brief comparison of Rajan to other well-known memoirists, Inaudi, Diamandi, Arnould, Ruckle, Bergh, Finkelstein, Isihara, professor Aitken, Shereshevskii, VP, SF and DD, TE, and last Bubbles P.
There is information regarding Ericsson's Theory of Skilled Memory and how it pertains to Rajan. The reference section also gives valuable information. I found some valuable books and papers catalogued here.

I did not want to involve myself in the work of detailing information that is contained in this book because of its length and scope. Because of the previous reviews, and I wanted other memory enthusiasts to have a handle on what to expect from this book. This book is more of a clinical account of Rajan's ability and not the most pleasant of reading material. However, there is a terrific amount of experiments and information in this book. I learned how to conduct different memory experiments, understand memory function, also learned about the uses of "rote" memory. I urge anyone interested in memory read this book.