Talk:External memory (psychology)

This is a disambiguation page. The following are the talk page comments from the page "External Memory" before the disambiguation took place. Stephanie Parrado (talk) 19:23, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

External memory is a term in psychology usually used alongside external memory aids. I think it is important to have a page to discuss this topic rather than the automatic redirection to auxiliary memory which is a term used with a technology connotation. (Stephanie Parrado (talk) 21:07, 17 April 2016 (UTC)).

Intro needs help. Especially the use of the word 'thing' (Stephanie Parrado (talk) 22:58, 17 April 2016 (UTC))

I agree with Stephanie! Also, a good study to cite that would help demonstrate the use of external memory would be the Google study by Betsy Sparrow that analyzed the effect of Google on memory and the cognitive consequences of having information readily available. Zoeberk (talk) 21:45, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

It should be noted that another user ( SJK) feels strongly that this page should be redirected to "Auxiliary Memory". I have posted on this user's talk page as follows:

Hey SJK!

I'm a current undergraduate student at Duke University and I'm taking a class on memory. External Memory is one of the topics we have covered in class. It is a topic discussed by many psychology researchers and a topic of conversation among social scientists as well. I think this topic is equally important to that of 'external memory' from a technological perspective. I do not believe an immediate redirect to auxiliary memory is the answer. Googling 'external memory', the first thing that pops up is still auxiliary memory making it easy for those who are looking for the USB/CD/hard drive definition to find it.

I ask that you give me some time to work on this page from a psychological perspective. I also propose a section with a link to auxiliary memory instead of an immediate redirect.

Thank you for your input and time,

(Stephanie Parrado (talk) 21:30, 17 April 2016 (UTC))

We (Jesse Randolph and I) plan to create a couple of sections including :

- History (Stephanie)(Here we will talk about the externalization of memory. Perhaps drawing from Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein)(May be renamed to Oral Tradition and the Externalization of Memory Stephanie Parrado (talk) 20:22, 29 April 2016 (UTC))

- Non-electronic External Memory Aids (Stephanie)(Here we will look into non-external memory aids that came with the development of papyrus.)

- Electronic External Memory Aids (Stephanie)(Here we will go into the effect the internet has had on our memory)

- Are external memory aids affecting our ability to remember? (Jesse)(snappier title needed)

-Transience. (Stephanie)(With the idea of external memory overpowering internal memory, the idea of our transience comes into play. Do/should all of our memories die with us? External memory aids are also our (humans) way to leave a foot print.)

-See Also (Here we will put links to Auxiliary memory and other pages that have to do with the technological use of the term 'external memory'.

(Stephanie Parrado (talk) 22:24, 17 April 2016 (UTC))

Good plan! This page definitely would improve with the addition of these sections. I am curious to see what you do with the transience section. You've probably thought of it already, but if you haven't I would like to recommend that you reference the google effect, since it is relevant to how we've externalized trivial information. Samliu365 (talk) 23:50, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

This looks good! you can also include the future of external memory and the passage in "Moonwalking with Einstein" about the man who records everything he sees and stores it onto his computer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by RomainDecrop (talk • contribs) 16:26, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi some very minor edits- I think the follow sentence is a little misleading- "Thanks to Google, often referred to as humankind's collective memory, remembering seems to be almost obsolete" Just wording-wise I think it is a bit of a stretch to say remembering is almost obsolete. Maybe something more along the lines of less important than it once was. Also, it might not be best to phrase it as Google is ruining humankind's ability to remember. Google is not the only search engine and it seems to position it in a pretty accusatory light. Again, "almost obsolete" seems a bit dramatic to me. But great work on the page! Everything looks really good. Nicolette12345 (talk) 07:05, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the input Nicolette! I didn't think of it that way when I was writing it, but that's why second opinions are so helpful. I have changed the sentence to read: "Thanks to the internet and common search engines like Google, often referred to as humankind's collective memory, remembering seems to be less important than it once was." (Stephanie Parrado (talk) 17:33, 4 May 2016 (UTC)) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Oral Tradition and the Externalization of Memory

Final sentence of third paragraph, is it Socrates' or Socrates's ... help — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stephanie Parrado (talk • contribs) 20:57, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

On Wikipedia, the former (Socrates') appears to be preferred per MOS:PLURALNOUN. Me, Myself & I (☮) (talk) 00:12, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

References

Reference 8 and 9 are the same. Also, 11 and 13 are the same (Stephanie Parrado (talk) 22:21, 29 April 2016 (UTC))

Fixed (Stephanie Parrado (talk) 23:57, 29 April 2016 (UTC))

Heading

Hi, I know this article is in progress, but I just wanted to comment on the heading "Are external memory aids affecting our ability to remember?". Per MOS:HEAD, headings should not contain questions (and should follow sentence case), and per MOS:FIRSTPERSON, the usage of "we", "our" and "us" is to be avoided. Something along the lines of "Effect of external memory aids on ability to remember" is quite verbose, but would avoid those issues. Thanks, Me, Myself & I (☮) (talk) 00:22, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Effect of external memory aids on ability to remember

This sentence should be eliminated: "Much of the criticism about external memory is a product of common misconceptions about memory; specifically, the fact that people are very poor judges of it." It sounds as though the wiki editor here is going to talk about the criticism of external memory when, in fact, she goes on to talk about metacognition. The sentence implies that people are poor judges of external memory. Errors in metacognition are precisely the reason for which external memory aids are helpful. (Stephanie Parrado (talk) 17:23, 4 May 2016 (UTC))

Future Edit Ideas

Don't forget to define "internal memory" at the beginning of the entry! Elizareader (talk) 04:43, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Also, collective memory still exists - it did not disappear with the advent of writing. Elizareader (talk) 04:45, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Consider reducing the amount of history and focusing more on modern science. Elizareader (talk) 04:45, 9 May 2016 (UTC)