Eidetic and rote memorizing styles research report

To facilitate this study, I am using ten pairs of words to be memorized by four participants in two groups; group one made up of two participants using the rote technique and group two made up of the other two participants using the eidetic technique. After memorizing the words, the participants are supposed to recall these words after one minute and a second recall is done after twenty-four hours. Results from my study show that based on the memorizing style used by participants, there is a variation in the memorizing ability of participants in the two groups. Group two which used the eidetic technique recalled more words than group one which used the rote technique. Introduction The debate on whether learning things through rote memorization is more effective than through eidetic memorization has been in the intellectual and public domain over the years.

This process is then repeated after twenty-four hours. Data The table below shows the number of correct words recalled by participants after one minute and twenty-four hours. Participant One – Rote Two – Rote Three – Eidetic Four – Eidetic Correct number of words after one minute 8 6 9 7 Correct number of words after 24 hours 5 3 8 6 From the table above, a variation in memorization capabilities of participants is evident. Participants I and 2 in group one using rote technique recalled 8 and six words, and 5 and three words after 1 minute and 24 hours respectively. Participants 3 and 4 in group two using eidetic technique recalled 9 and seven words, and 8 and six words after 1 minute and 24 hours respectively. Discussion Cognitive psychology is important due to the role of memorization in human life. Thus, understanding the various memorization techniques is crucial, and establishing which is better in recalling different things and concepts.

However, to establish a good memory, these techniques should be applied complementarily (Plunkett, kim & Virginia, 23). For instance, rote memorization involving memorization is used by students to memorize the alphabet and in spelling words while on the other hand eidetic memorization is used by students to understand grammar concepts and principles. From this, it is clear that the two methods complement each other. Cognitive psychology focuses on how persons distinguish, process and retrieve data (Creedy & Edwin, 105). Humanist psychology deals with individuals and assumes that persons are motivated to achieve full potential. Neuroscience focuses on the physical component of psychology regarding the neuro system and how states such as emotions come to being. Evolutionary psychology argues that human behaviors evolve since they are responsible for the survival of our ancestors and the development of healthy offsprings.

Sociocultural psychology attempts to differentiate between universal psychological process from cultural specific psychologies. For rote memorization, the subjects used short-term sensory memory while subjects using eidetic memorization used long-term sensory memory. This is because repetition enables someone to remember things for only a short period while vivid images, objects or sounds enables one to remember things and ideas for a longer period (Baddeley & Alan, 100). The flow chart below shows sensory memory, short-term and long-term memory works; From this information, it is clear that the two techniques are different in encoding and storage and retrieval. This is also evident in how participants using rote technique remembered fewer words than those using eidetic. Also, those using rote forgot more words after 24 hours than those using eidetic.