This month’s WIRED magazine features an article called “Total Recall: The Woman Who Can’t Forget.” The article focuses on a woman named Jill Price, who has hyperthymestic syndrome , or “exceptional autobiographical memory.” I think this syndrome was also featured in the savant video that we watched earlier in the semester. Basically, Price can remember details from her own lifetime in extreme detail.
The article’s author is a cognitive psychologist, and he’s a little bit of a skeptic with regard to Price’s memory. While he’s impressed by her ability to remember multiple details, he points out that she keeps an extensive journal of each day, and suggests that Price’s journaling is a strong factor in her ability to retain memories. This page from her journal shows the detail in which Price documents her life:
I wonder about the impact of journaling on people with limited working memory, the other end of the extreme. Could keeping a regular journal support people with low working memory, or perhaps even help them “train” their memories?
