Question about memory

Post Reply New Topic

AS people are supposed to have better memory, but low Emotional IQ and no Theory of Mind.

On my digital camera I can store 10 photos at high resolution, 100 at low resolution. If I store them at high resolution I have to delete old photos to make room for new ones. Common sense each high res photo takes up say 1Mb, I have say a 10Mb memory stick. Each low res photo takes up 0.1Mb, so can store more of them.

So could it be like this

NT store memories with all associated emotions and details of Theory of mind, same as a high res photo. AS store only details of situation, same as low res photo, without extra social info. Therefore NT remembers back say last 5 years with any clarity. AS remembers right back to primary school (I do, have very vivid memories right back to when I was about 5).

I can remember back until I was 2 (we moved a lot so I can date this)
However I can't remember what someone just said or what I did yesterday unless I write it down.

A very interesting theory nellos121. Personally, I don't believe in the 'low Emotional IQ and no Theory of Mind' stereotypes - I think that it is simply a case of 'cross-cultural' misunderstanding, in that NT tests and standards are totally inappropriate for measuring autistic experiences. However, I know that I don't waste memory space recording extra social information like details of people's appearance, what they said, or what their emotional responses were, except when the emotions were particularly strong.

I have some very vivid memories of when I was 2 years old, which I have verified with my parents, and I also remember a number of dreams I had as a young child. However, there are also a number of long periods in my life for which I have no memories (maybe I filed them incorrectly).

Both NTs and AS would delete memories that lacked value, only retaining those that were important to them. Like you would on your camera. In the cameras lifespan it would contain only say 10 best high res photos or 100 best low res photos. I'm not saying I remember everyday, I just remember more days. And I'm pretty sure I do remember more things and situations than most people. Plus if asked how I felt about an associated memory I can answer how I reacted but not not how I felt, I can imagine how I felt, but not remember it. Personal opinion only.

You can have good or bad memory. I have memory problems, I can remember my childhood at all.

There are many different types of memory.

I can remember back to when I was a baby before I could talk or stand up and toddle (so I guess quite young).

I remember pictures, patterns and atmospheres.

I am very good at remembering these things but I am hopeless at remembering what things are called (ie I remember the thing but not the label).

I am rubbish at remembering peoples birthdays or at remembering conversations (even straight after).

There is a type of memory test called 'digit span'and it measures what appears to be our equivalent of RAM. It is used for practical problem solving.

I had my digit span memory tested and came out in the superior range.

So I have a bit of a mix of good memory skills and bad.

I am NT. I have many "high-res" detailed, full-color, full-sound memories, many including taste/smell/etc., dating back to when I was about 1 year old. Both my short-term and long-term memories are extraordinarily good--for example, my job requires me to, several times a day, recall and recreate, accurately and completely, strings of 100+ words (including the emotions behind them).

My husband has AS and does not have any distinct many memories before he was about 6 or 7 and, in general, his short-term and long-term memories are somewhere between what I would call average and poor.

Like Asparval, I tend to recall the thing not the label--more with people/names than with objects. I will remember who the person is (e.g. how I met them, things about their personality) but still forget their name.

they are starting to think that memories are never lost...

the key is triggering them.

however, some memories dont reach that point of being permenantly etched in the brain, so to speak...

try looking into how memories are sotred from short term to longterm...

my first statment has to do with longterm memories

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroanatomy_of_memory

+100

i remember when i was two, like particular scenes with crystal clarity even. Like i remember being babysitted by one of my mom's blonde friends in South Carolina when i was 2 & that she's feed us hot dogs. Or i also remember a kiddie pool and how cold it was and exactly what type of pool it was, like the shape and small slide, color, pictures on it. Or i remember from then walking in my dad's shoes across a grassy field. Or how much i was scared of the neighbor's dad for some inexplicable reason.

but yeah, some things that happened even a few days ago, i have trouble remembering though

the extent of my memories are strictly fragmented and distorted.

I can remember lots and lots of things with great clarity, mostly scenes like Sean said, not so much speech, except being unable to understand things people said. When I told my mom one of my earliest memories she was shocked and said I couldn't have been more than 5 months old at the time. Like Sean I remember the details of things like textures, but not much about the other people or what they were doing/intending, etc. in the memory. So, yeah maybe it is like a file stored with less metadata but with lots of visual detail.