Erin Morrisey

Brain Rules: Memory, Sensory Integration, and Vision

Description of this Artifact
Because my job in the book club is the literary luminary/ word wizard (and because the sections in this book were
a bit more scientifically involved than past chapters), I decided to consolidate the chapters into easy-to-visualize
word clouds. It is the hope that, through these word clouds, the most important points made in the past three
chapters can be easily remembered. Additionally, these pictures hopefully remind viewers of the “big picture”
discussed throughout each chapter, simply because the words in each cloud are larger the more often they were
used throughout each chapter.

Memory
Kim Peek; declarative memory; encoding; storing; retrieving; forgetting;
nondeclarative memories; conscious awareness; short-term; long-term; Hermann
Ebbinghaus; repetition; timed intervals; content; information; translation;
transmitted; electrical patterns; encoding; binding problem; automatic
processing; recall; effortful processing; repetition; retrieval; semantic encoding;
phonemic encoding; structural encoding; train your brain; detail; multifaceted;
emotion; Larry Squire; Eric Kandel; environment; context-dependent learning;
pathway; quality of encoding; elaborate; understanding; meaningful experiences;
examples; introduction; working memory; phonological loop; visuospatial sketch
pad; central executive; long-term memory; consolidation; reconsolidation;
semantic memory; maintenance rehearsal; elaborative rehearsal; spaced intervals; Anthony Wagner; fMRI
machine; long-term potentiation; early LTP; late LTP; synaptic consolidation; slow consolidation; system
consolidation; memory; memory; memory; memory; memory; memory; memory

Sensory Integration
Synesthesia; sensory integration; McGurk effect; stimulate; senses;
integrate; coherent; inputs; perception; sensing; routing; perceiving;
electrical language; thalamus; cortices; bottom-up; top-down; processing;
interpretation; smell; olfactory region; olfactory epithelium; amygdala;
stimulate; multimodal reinforcement; Mayer; multisensory environment;
accurate; detailed; longer-lasting; problem-solving; cognitive processing;
Proust effect; odors; enhanced learning; stimulation; enriched encoding;
multimedia; narration; aroma billboard; Spangenberg

Vision
Visual; processing; perception; collect; process; data; opinion; analyzation;
tracks; specific features; thalamus; visual cortex; occipital lobe; parcels;
scattered; integration; ventral stream; dorsal stream; association cortices; optic
disk; blind spot; Charles Bonnet Syndrome; images; retina; interpolates;
hypothesize; two-dimensional; three-dimensional; assumption; reconstruction;
deconstruction; recognition memory; working memory; vision; learning; pictorial
superiority effect; color; orientation; size; movement; animation; illustrate;
visual
 Erin Morrisey

Brain Rules: Memory, Sensory Integration, and Vision

Memory
 Do you vividly remember initial or critical learning points from your childhood?
 I remember the first books that I read and what I struggled with in school, but (as of right now) I
can’t remember specific learning points
 What are ways we can ensure that students understand what they’re memorizing and what it means?
 We need real-world application. We need creativity more than anything
 How do we ensure this without being annoying…in proper ways (repetition, etc.) make it feel natural?
 What is your opinion of his teaching in cycles idea (p. 157)?

Sensory Integration
 How often do we engage all of our senses when learning?
 Very rarely
 Is this an emphasis to us?
 The closest we can get to engaging all the senses is in a science class—you need to engage all the
senses to understand things in science
 Multimedia Learning (p. 175)? Does this work for all students? Is it conditional?
 How can we engage smell into learning without it being awkward?

Vision
 When thinking about your senses, can you agree that vision trumps touch, smell, and taste, always?
o For some people, vision does trump all senses
 What role does an initial picture play in your mind whenever you’re introduced to something?
 Less text, more pictures? Do you agree with this for all ages? If so, how can we change a typical “status
quo” that pictures should be only for younger students?