Back to Memoria/Memory is Blind

I took the quals last weekend and used this week to get back into the groove for teaching and, of course, for finishing up my diss. proposal. I've already gathered quite a bit of articles that I'll be featuring on the blog. Also, I've found some important dissertations on memoria and rhetoric that I have to feature here as well. I'll stay focused as to featuring only these articles and dissertations since I know I've been getting off track with the purpose of this blog. My apologies.
Now if I can only get over my allergies and get my energy back! :(

Anyways, check out Charles Q. Choi's article "Blind People Have Superior Memory Skills," which describes a small study that proved that sequencing lies at the root of why blind individuals have a sharper memory than individuals with the sense of sight. These findings recall what we know about the art of memory with regard to the placement of constructed images both in the background and foreground. However, in this study, constructed images by the imagination are replaced by the sequence of names or objects that facilitate the retention of information in the mind.

This article makes me think alot about Quintilian's association of memory with arrangement in terms of how a text's strong organization was key to it being successfully memorized versus the challenge of memorizing a disorganized text. Also, it makes me think about Aristotle's discussion of how images from memory are only able to be derived from sense perception. Therefore, if blind individuals are without this perception, they rely on sequencing to memorize, and a lot of this sequencing is, I think, based on sound, as in the case of how the study participants had to memorize a list of 20 words. This sequencing is important because its raising issues of of arrangment, but also important because it raises the issue of concentration, which Quintilian believed was crucually instrumental to enhaning memoria. No doubt that blind individuals have sharp concentration skills.

Muy interesante todo esto...verdad?

Hasta la proxima!