Memory is not one thing. It comes in many types, or systems. Working memory is a limited capacity system that requires active maintenance to hold information “in mind.” When we actively try to remember a new acquaintance’s name or the address of the restaurant we are driving toward, we are often using working memory. By contrast, a sense of familiarity allows us to realize, for example, that we have experienced a scene or face before, but we do not need to actively “hold in mind” information to have the experience of familiarity. Familiarity signals in memory are largely automatic.
Robert Hampton and his team have conducted a series of experiments in monkeys showing that these two systems are strikingly independent of one another, or are ”dissociable.” He will describe some of these experiments, as well as parallel experiments done with orangutans at Zoo Atlanta. These experiments will introduce you to the mystery of the orangutans’ missing memories.
This presentation will be conducted in person and via Zoom. RSVP is requested.
Light refreshments will be served.
About the Speaker
Dr. Hampton received his B.A. in Psychology from Macalester College and did his graduate work at the University of Toronto, studying memory in food-storing birds. He began working with nonhuman primates during his training at the National Institute of Mental Health, first as a Training Fellow and then as a Research Fellow. He has directed the Laboratory of Comparative Primate Cognition at the Emory National Primate Research Center, and taught in the Department of Psychology at Emory, since 2004.
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