A-10-Shun!

My friend, Monica and I were chatting one time at the lobby. We were laughing about her cheesy joke and giggled like there’s nothing for tomorrow. We were so caught in laughter when my other friend came to ask about the deadline of our paper in Landscape Architecture. Oops, it hit me that I haven’t even thought about it the entire time. Well, I told myself that I can probably get it done in a wee once I sit on it. When that person-who-reminded-about-the-paper left, I turned back to Monica. So excited to continue laughing my heart out loud, I just found myself trying to remember where we were at.

Has this happened to you before?

Part of our day to day activities is communicating with other people. We listen, we observe, we interact. Sometimes we pay too much attention, other times we don’t. Sometimes we can still remember the details of the conversation we had in one instance after a day or two or even longer. Some, we remember after several days or weeks or months or even longer. Some, we suddenly forget some details, if not the whole meat of our interactions.

How about an instance where you were in the middle of a crowd? What would you do? More often than not, you will search for someone whom you know.  This search is guided by the information which you draw from your memory.  Thus the focus of your attention is drawn to the physical features of the people you meet. When you recognize someone whom you think you know, you will draw your attention to it and the searching is guided by your memory.

These situations aforementioned exemplify how attention and memory interacts with each other.

Attention, together with inhibition, is the most elementary among the five basic cognitive control functions (task management, planning, monitoring, and coding) identified by Smiths and Jonides (1999). “Attention and inhibition refers to the ability to focus attention on relevant and away from irrelevant, information…” (Koch, 2009). Attending several tasks at a time is possible. This means that we can apportion the attentional resources but would be limited. We can only attend to things which choose to focus, thus leaving others unattended.

Based on my observation and personal experience, when we focus our attention into something, there is a higher chance that the information will be stored in our memory. Memory, according to Tulving (2000b) and Tulving & Craik (2000), “...is the means by which we retain and draw on our past experiences to use that information in the present” (as cited in Sternberg, 2010).

The interaction between memory and attention has long been recognized yet it the relationship is somehow vague.  Studies are conducted to understand the parts of the brain which function according to different activities.  According to the review by Chun & Turk-Browne (2007), areas in the brain which are important for memory are involved in tasks requiring attention. Among these are the hippocampus and the medial temporal lobe structures. Memory, on the other hand, affects the frontal-parietal networks which are involved in spatial orienting, an aspect of attention.

Memory and attention go hand-in-hand. Memory acts as one of the guides where a person focuses his attention to. And to acquire that memory, for instance, by learning, attention is needed though we cannot discount the other factors, such as distractions, which affect the process of learning (encoding).

Chun, M. M., & Turk-Browne, N. B. (2007, March 26). Interactions between attention and memory. (K. Tanaka, & T. Watanabe, Eds.) Retrieved September 23, 2011, from Science Direct: http://www.sciencedirect.com

Koch, S. (2009). Cognitive control in motion: The regulatory function of approach and avoidance movements.

Sternberg, R. J. (2011). Discovering Cognitive Psychology. Singapore: Cengage Learning Asia Pte. Ltd.

-kesi

Red Speaks

I remind you of someone special when it is Valentine’s.

I tell you you’re wounded when you feel pain.

I flaunt your score when your test paper is returned.

I signal you to stop when you cross the street.

I utter prosperity as you welcome the new year.

I tell you what is not allowed in an area.

I make you feel warmth.

I increase your anxiety.

I am everywhere. And I speak in every way. About love. About lust. About pain. About fortune. About rage. About passion. About warnings. About persuasion.

And now, new studies prove, I boost even your attraction behaviors.

Biology explains that many female primates, baboons for instance, when nearing ovulation display red genitalia which attracts their male co-species. I emphasize fertility, and thus increase the likelihood of reproduction. See, I play a significant role in species survival. And my prowess is extended way beyond this biological predisposition.

Society has continuously associated me with passion, lust, and sexuality. It is evident in the ads, in the cosmetics, in your vocabulary. Red hearts, red lipsticks, red-light districts. The link has been so well established, that in one study, college students positively related me with love and romance when asked on their thoughts about me (Kaya & Epps, 2004). Also another study have shown that men reported women displaying “artificial” red- that is, wearing red shirts or red lipstick on- as more attractive and sexy (Elliot and Nesta, 2008 in Kayser et al., 2010).

In a more recent investigation by Kayser & colleagues (2010), it was found that I increase the likelihood that men would ask more intimate questions to a woman, and that men would literally get closer to her.

The study conducted at the University of Rochester, USA consented a total of 45 male undergraduates ages 18-22 to participate in two experiments. In the first experiment, the males who were shown a photograph of a woman wearing a red shirt significantly preferred to ask more intimate questions (e.g., ‘‘How could a guy get your attention at a bar?’’) to her than do the males who were shown a photograph of the same woman wearing green shirt. In the second experiment, a separate group of males who were shown a photograph of a woman dressed in red chose to sit closer to where they were made to believe she was about to sit, than do males who were shown a photograph of a woman dressed in blue. The findings for the two experiments were independent of the participants’ perception of their own attractiveness, mood, and general activation. So, regardless of how high or low a male thinks of himself, I influence him the same way.

My very own “red effect” may be accounted for by the biological predisposition I have mentioned above. Societal associations may have further reinforced it. But taking another perspective, my long waves, which appear to be a closer stimulus to the participants than the shorter ones (blue and green), may have yielded the bias since closer stimulus were found to be more preferred across sexes (Niedenthal & colleagues, 2005, & Williams & Bargh, 2008, both in Kayser et al., 2010).

Donna Summer by Ben Duarri Screen Prince

Now that Valentine’s is nearly approaching, I just think it would be a great time for you to start considering me in your wardrobe. :P

Not only do I tell a lot, I influence big-time! There’s more to me than just being a mere hue. There are a lot of stories I create in the minds of those who see me. Nonetheless, those who see me create a lot more stories about me. And that includes you.

Kaya, N. & Epps, H. H. (2004). Relationship between color and emotion: A study of college students. College Student Journa, 38 (3), 396-405.

Kayser, D. N., Elliot, A. J. & Feltman, R. (2010). Fast track report: Red and romantic behavior in men viewing women. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 901–908.

~LJDR