3 ms·
It is well known that while everyone has roughly the same capacity of visual working memory, expertise in an area drastically alters our efficiency in utilizing
by shmageggy 9y ago
It is well known that while everyone has roughly the same capacity of visual working memory, expertise in an area drastically alters our efficiency in utilizing that memory. For example, chess masters are much better than novices at recalling chess positions when they look like typical middle-game positions, but they perform nearly the same as novices on random arrangements of pieces [1]. In the rubik's cube case, the expert is not memorizing 54 individual squares, but rather they are taking advantage of learned patterns to store fewer, larger chunks.
For another example, consider memorizing strings of letters: Which one do you find easier? GKAMIFTBW or IBMFBICIA
[1] Chase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973). Perception in chess. Cognitive psychology, 4(1), 55-81.
- placebo 9y agoWould Stephen Wiltshire's talent be attributed to the same explanations ? http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/ http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223790/Autistic-artist-draws-18ft-picture-New-York-skyline-memory.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223790/Autistic-art... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsJbApZ5GF0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsJbApZ5GF0
- shmageggy 9y agoGreat question and I have no idea. My comment was geared toward those with normal function (should have specified). There is a large literature on memory and austism/savantism, but I'm familiar with none of it. However, my guess would be that the current best answer is as it is with nearly all of autism -- we don't know.