Peter Doolittle: How your "working memory" makes sense of the world

"Life comes at us very quickly, and what we need to do is take that amorphous flow of experience and somehow extract meaning from it." In this funny, enlightening talk, educational psychologist Peter Doolittle details the importance -- and limitations -- of your "working memory," that part of the brain that allows us to make sense of what's happening right now.
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[@soulreaperichig0]

1:23 - 4 components of working memory 1. Stores immediate experiences and a little bit of knowledge. 2. Reaches back into our long term memories and processes it in line with current goals. 3. Working memory capacity leverages. 4. Great for communication and building narratives around conversations. 6:45 - Strategies: 1. We need to repeat/Practice it. 2. Think elaborately and repeatedly. 3. Rather than connecting new to known, we have to connect everything we known to the new and build connections till it becomes meaningful. 4. Use images/ think in images 5 Organization - Structure things we're doing in ways that it makes sense. 6 Support - Use external supports like charts, tables, etc. until it becomes second nature. 9:06 - Take home message We learn what we process. If we're not processing, we aren't learning.

[@marymathew7480]

Wowww... u are so thoughtful

[@shamansprout4394]

Thank you, a very good method to commit things to memory is to first make it understandable and accessible like how your putting it in a format that is easier to approach so thank you

[@shamansprout4394]

Mr.Sceptic I thank your from bottom of my heart

[@user-yr1du7oq9g]

i appreciate you. marry me?

[@mmills8989]

Thank you so much for this!!!

[@Nibbles667]

I remembered those words all the way to the end and I didn't even need them. Now I can't forget them. I do love the idea of driving down a long highway with a forest on one side and Saturn on the other. Listening to music from the radio that uses electrodes while looking in the rear vision mirror and watching my past fade away into the background.

[@tammiemendoza9718]

lol me too!!!

[@_r0b]

I did a memory palace too. 😄

[@mattd1509]

I literally have had the five words in his video ingrained into my mind for like 3 years now and I don’t know whyy.

[@kartikmessner2868]

Hahah

[@sirbattlecat]

I couldn't even have them ingrained for 5 min...

[@TheOne-jg7fd]

Lol same here now

[@MJosephMurphy]

Long Covid messed with my working memory. It also gave me a passion for understanding how brains work. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@lalalaso333]

"If we're not processing life, we're not living it." So true and so cruel😢

[@schizo4725]

What he says at the end is completely true. From what I can tell, most of everyone including myself who remembered those words to the end did so by doing something like painting a bizarre picture including those words, thereby processing them.

[@TimesNuRoman]

I feel like this is the big issue with people, technology and social media today: people are so preoccupied with recording life, rather than processing/living life in the moment. Great talk.

[@shotglancez]

I concur

[@williamarmes9978]

i am replying to a comment written 2 years ago have fun and stay cool dude

[@catbugg]

Still true to this day :'(

[@benjaminwiner6220]

This is a fantastic comment. Really hits the nail on the head.

[@anisateyah9870]

@@williamarmes9978 am replying to a comment read and four years ago have fun and stay cool dude 💕

[@lalodetarariras]

One of the most helpful TED talks I've seen in long time.

[@sutikshnadubey]

Very helpful talk. every bit. Esp the 5 points solution explained in second half of the talk to improve working memory. THANKS!!! I usually come to youtube to watch ted talks, as it is faster. but now going to ted back, and take notes from transcript.

[@KaneyoshiSouji]

Short, but straight to the point. I really enjoyed it.

[@SaloniRao18]

i couldn't focus on anything he said because i was trying to remember tree, car, highway, saturn, electrode

[@Hgulix62]

It's tree, highway, mirror, Saturn and electrode ..

[@khanghuynh1738]

Hi i also have this problem . What wrong with us ?

[@iSwagz88]

Anybody else get here from a Super learning course on Udemy?

[@jgreeny15]

Yeah same here!

[@mariaeloisahyenavillazor1578]

Hola fellow Super learners!

[@eno8314]

Present!

[@PavanKumar-uw5jm]

how is ur progress? is there any improvement in the learning speed?

[@jonjfm]

getting started from Super learner

[@ReallyEpicPerson]

Great message! Loved this. I admire Ted videos so much! You guys are all doing a great thing.

[@alwaysbeeurself]

Wow, I love that last sentence at 9:00, the final take home message: What we process, we learn, if we're not processing life, we're not living it.

[@proje778]

Çalışan hafızanın 4 bileşeni vardır. 1. Anlık deneyimleri ve biraz bilgiyi depolar. 2. Uzun süreli hafızamıza geri döner ve mevcut hedefler doğrultusunda işler. 3. Çalışan bellek kapasitesinden yararlanır. 4. İletişim ve konuşmalar etrafında anlatılar oluşturmak için harikadır. Çalışan hafızanın sınırlı bir kapasitesi olduğundan ondan yararlanarak bazı stratejiler yardımıyla başarıya dönüştürebiliriz. Stratejiler: 1. Hemen Tekrarlamak (bir saat veya bir hafta sonra değil) - Yazmak, not çıkarmak, tartışmak gibi yollarla sürekli pratik yapmak. 2. Ayrıntılı ve açıklayıcı bir şekilde tekrar tekrar düşünmek. 3. Yeni bilgiyi eski bilgiye bağlamak yerine, bildiğimiz her şeyi yeni bilgiye bağlamalı ve anlamlı hale gelene kadar bağlantılar kurmak. 4. Resimleri kullanmak. Resimlerle yazmak ve resimlerle düşünmek. 5. Organizasyon. Yaptığımız şeyleri bir anlam çıkaraca şekilde planlamak. 6. Destek. Resimler, şemalar, tablolar ile desteklemek. SONUÇ: İşlediğimizi öğreniyoruz. Eğer hayatı işlemiyorsak, yaşamıyoruz demektir.

[@ninoenriquez7553]

I still memorized the 5 words: Tree, highway, mirror, Saturn, electrode. I wouldn't want to explain how because I use the most bizarre ways to remember things and that's how I process them haha. Moral of the story is to connect something in your life to the present moment for that moment to have meaning.

[@uproariousRIOT]

i thought he was going to ask what the five words were again at the end of the video

[@Patrick-cy2zh]

+alejandro ramirez lol

[@bluemamba5317]

@Luis Castillo Do you still remember the words? xD

[@uproariousRIOT]

Blue Mamba unfortunately 6 years later I do not

[@tregubabe]

It was hard to focus on what he was talking about because i was trying to remember the words for the end of the video!!!

[@lemiless]

I was ready for that

[@mandypac2854]

Woke up to this new TED talk on my KZbin feed- breakfast.

[@joelmacartosa3564]

Prático e esclarecedor! Amei!

[@MichaelChernik-zf2fy]

My short term memory needs links---like I walk into a room and I ask" Why did I come into here?" I have to walk back into the room where I first had the thought and it seems to be lingering in the air and is picked up by my brain then I can walk back into the room to retrieve why I went into. It is so much fun getting older----

[@PhatRichardTran]

Damn that closing statement was deep

[@ik04]

Brilliant! Most of us are completely unaware of this concept. Well presented by a very effective speaker!

[@bestofcritics]

If you are not processing life, you are not living it. Live your life. I often go into so called the "Hibernate mode" where I would like to just watch some TVs and more to try and forget about working memory cause they suck, and not feel like enjoying or meaningful. But once I change my mind to somethings more valuable and structured in life, you understand that you are able to process your life and find real drive and dedication to live your life. Just love TED, and hope to be on stage and share knowledge one day :)

[@rohitkavathekar3701]

That explains a lot. My god awful working memory coupled with my ADHD is why the world makes little to no sense at all.

[@grimgrog]

Great ending message

[@MarelisaFabrega]

Fantastic talk, and the lecturer is very likeable.

[@ChrissREPoland]

When he said 5 words i Just immagined those words as an full image . There is highway , next to it a tree with a mirror on it in the background there is saturn. And electrodes are on the road. I have a good image memmory. So probobly If I wanted I could remmember that for as long as I want. But at the same time i have problem to remmember other concepts . Like names or phone numbers. Yet i can remmember faces of persons I saw weeks ago for a few seconds.

[@TheGerogero]

Nice lol! That was exactly how I pictured it too.

[@Tha3l]

for names - think up a story for the person. with good image memory this should be easy

[@thelordmemnoch]

Am I the only weirdo that remembered the mirror by picturing Vanity Smurf kissing it? I pictured him standing in the middle of the highway with a tree in the middle of it and I didn't picture Saturn nor Electrode, but I remembered them anyway.

[@dan20man]

I usually remember names by saying to myself I ' they have the same name as ..." and I picture that person. just dont ask me to remember surnames. throws this solution out the window

[@kaveersinanan3957]

definitely; for example, a person undergoing a neuro-physiological experiment involving electrodes (word-1) implanted on the scalp or brain, with stimulation causing recall of a memory about driving on the highway(2) in a Saturn (3) automobile, noticing a tree (4) in your rear/side mirror (5).

[@jpHasABadHandle]

ivanalesi Me too, although not exactly like yours. Mine was more of a scenery where i'm not involved in myself.

[@KingKong0514]

Process existence immediately at the moment. "Do I agree with him/What can I learn from him" Practise Think elaborately and illustratively Use imagery and think about in images Organisation it by finding meaning Support the change Process the life

[@hharvv4245]

184 Electrode Saturn mirror highway tree Processing is living - live life. Absolutely great quote, simple but delivers volume. Processing is putting in the effort, doing the work, and reflecting on it, but no ones really living anymore because we’d rather skip the effort and delay the reflection bcuz they’re so fascinated with the instant ability to record it - the game use to be “how can I understand this as thoroughly as possible?” but has been lost in translation to “how can I grab as much information as possible?”

[@AliBitarafan]

It's a practical lesson, something you can apply to your daily tasks

[@tsummerlee]

This was an excellent presentation about epistemology. Specifically Crow Epistemology theory! Fun!

[@imanetork8615]

Thank you

[@gregstark6842]

Watch Ted talks at 2x the speed. It's so efficient and it never gets boring. One actually focuses on it. Try it guys :)

[@thereap5348]

always do it

[@troykirkwood4294]

excellent, of great vale Peter Doolittle, thank you

[@ordinarypeople5273]

This is a good way of understanding ADHD inattentive type.

[@khanghuynh1738]

Hi i’m also have ADD but i wonder your opinion . Can you explain it ? For me , after watching this video , i thought my ADD is related with video because I can not retain info and use immediately or think of about use it for long term goal .My mind procrasinate process info and use it

[@bdondovdorj]

thank you

[@georgep5590]

Great talk, I finally get why the superlearner course sent me here after reading a bunch of articles from different authors.

[@POKARJITESH]

why?

[@victoriamuthoni9198]

Absolutely phenomenon

[@athulkrishnac.v8563]

"live life"👍

[@Nachos4587]

Amazingg talk!!! Loved it!

[@TerenceMa1989]

Elaboration - the best memory technique

[@kadarngo3239]

I still remembered person, women, man, camera, and tv

[@curious9843]

Thank you 😉

[@gracehao5537]

Baddeley's four-component working memory model: the central executive, phonological loop, episodic buffer and visuospatial sketchpad

[@Overonator]

I have an alternate extra explanation of why that guy stopped to text, having nothing to do with memory. He simply couldn't read and type when the little screen he was using was bouncing around as he walked. So he stopped to stop the screen from bouncing.

[@ksceriath8346]

bouncing around? hahaha... :D

[@THEmickTHEgun]

You probably are right you know. But this talk was still good on the topic.

[@SierraHotelBandit]

As he said in the beginning, the scene could be approached from the multitasking perspective. Multitasking is actually a word for the ability to skillfully bounce our attention from one process to another, the brain is "speed-tasking" so to say, as it is always still focusing on one task at a time. The guy with the phone was simply not into multitasking, or as he said, his working memory was focused on one action.

[@abdul2009]

I was just waiting for him to ask what those five words are😂

[@peanutbutter369]

I remembered by imagining the following... The ELECTRODES in the car igniting and powering the engine of a car which is headed down the HIGHWAY. To the right I see a TREE and from the drivers seat I can see the rear view MIRROR. The car is a SATURN (its a company).

[@Holmathome]

Lol that is much wordier than mine, I told myself that the Electrodes were driving a Saturn down a Highway and Saw a Tree through the rearview Mirror.

[@jud0208]

. that's right i think you have to live life in your way

[@VanessaKruegerCordeiro-cr9pu]

Que maravilhosoooo!!!!!!!!!

[@SriMohan]

Very nice

[@emnahajamor6755]

nice ending message :)

[@rprasannakumar]

"'If we're not processing life, we're not living it. Live life " ... cool !

[@ThePiachu]

You could say, "Live life and process \\//" ;)

[@Plumbyday]

Its funny how when he gave the 5 words to remember that I made it an image in my head. Then he says later to make images in your head...

[@user-wq3gw1lg6f]

did the same. Really easy to remember

[@NordTutorials]

So, how did this relate to the guy on the sidewalk? As opposed to multitasking, how does working memory play into this scenario? I don't know if he ever got around to explaining that.

[@katherin13able]

в переводе ошибка. Речь идет не о кратковременной памяти, а о рабочей памяти.

[@r.r.family5806]

i like it !!!!

[@calligraphytw]

工作記憶，即對接受到的資訊進行加工的過程，解碼、編碼、譯碼的交互作用區域。

[@vidurawijerathna1964]

YO Doctor Doolittle!

[@user-zx9xi1mg2k]

Vidura Wijerathna Lmfao I thought the same thing hahahaha!!

[@indian3021]

I am having problem with strong memory its very hard to move on from bad experience I have to force it to go away, but when I remember those detailed memory scene it hurts a lot, also people feel offended that I write all the things and remembered them and taunt them, while this are just normal occurrence, I use it get marks, but I lost many concept, now its hard

[@usna1977]

i have hd and my latest psych eval said that my working memory was not working so well. the items were getting in their location in the brain (if you repeat the list later verbally I can tell you yes or no 100%).. but the subcortex processing side of this was not woking a fast as it used to. (if I have to figure it out myself - not so good). Also HD affects my hearing which is very very bad too. So in this video... the words were and I heard this: 1 Tree/Tree, 2 Highway/Highway; 3 Mirror/Deer or Year; 4 Saturn/Month; 5 Electrode/couldnt' remember at all anything. So IN ADDITION TO WORKING MEMORY... WE HAVE OTHER ISSUES TOO... LIKE AUDITORY PROCESSING. It's very very hard to do both. I wonder if you try to focus on the memory and then you focus even less on the hearing. Remember the person "texting and walking" that sat down. Couldn't do 2 things at same time?

[@khanghuynh1738]

What is hd ?

[@abcmaya]

i always think of our brain as a harddrive and the working memory as the ram.

[@MrJames007G]

Or more accurately, long-term memory would be similar to a HDD, short-term memory similar to RAM and working memory would be most like the cache.

[@abcmaya]

JZA ahhhhh.... you're right!

[@gunasheela3518]

good

[@dontcheckmyprofilepicture477]

I forgot what was the 3rd or 4th word on the tree, highway, and mirror I think?

[@master.3097]

did anybody else just kept waiting for him to ask about the five things and just wasted 9min

[@Paradoxreaper]

Does anyone else want the speaker to get his doctorate?

[@ubermenschification]

For those interested in this subject, you might want to check Thinking Fast and Slow.

[@The3nlightened0ne]

this guy is fucking awesome

[@ChessCo.1]

The best working memory game is dual n back and the best version of dual n back that I have become so addicted to is the "Brain training chess" app. It is available on iphone and ipad, check it out

[@Vexlulz]

I only forgot mirror and ugh primary and recency effects are mocking me

[@genericballs]

Makes video on working memory, forgets to mention the 5 words WE were supposed to remember X-D great vid tho

[@sarahdunlop8631]

He did mention them again 😆

[@DuDeMBR]

I'm giving n-back a try. It makes you feel horrible at first but once you progress you feel awesome. I pretty much just started and got to n=4 so far. Anyone with experience care to share fit it helps?

[@abhishekc3556]

Has n back helped you with working memory?

[@DuDeMBR]

@@abhishekc3556 Pretty funny that you should ask now. I didn't do it for long enough but just picked it up yesterday again. So I'm afraid I can't give you an answer yet. I feel like I picked it up one or two levels higher though

[@DuDeMBR]

@@abhishekc3556 Give it a go, it might make you feel uncomfortable but push through.

[@abhishekc3556]

@@DuDeMBR thanks for the reply. I've just started using the dual n back app. I'm on level 3. Hopefully I get past that.

[@prajaktajoshi3929]

so what were those words for? the tree, highway mirror, Saturn and electrode?

[@c.683]

What is the difference between working memory and short-term memory?

[@KatWillows2310]

Short term memory is where you store a small amount of information that's in an active, ready, state. You don't manipulate anything in short-term memory, or really do anything with it. Working memory is like a notepad in your brain- this is where you manipulate information and put concepts together. Working memory can retain a little information- but it's not for storage purposes. If you want a metaphor, your working memory is a desk, short term memory is the small filing cabinet underneath it, and long term is the archive that's in the other room.

[@destroyaaaaAAAa]

ted just be letting anyone talk

[@IncrediMouse]

Translation: You have a brain . Use it . Clap clap. The end.

[@MichaelPaoli]

Okay now, so when am I supposed to forget that random list of 5 things? ;-)

[@sharonespinoza3388]

what is the thesis for this video ?

[@semehirhachuseyin9934]

the tap is more testy than bottled water

[@Cookiemonster-xi3zw]

by the time he finished labelling the 5 things I only remembered tree and Saturn

[@lunytrickz]

true, we're replacing or memory with tech, and dumb down doing so

[@animeshrastogi163]

What if your working memory is impaired to the extent that its difficult to process immediately what is in front of you by relating to your previous knowledge. What if it takes a lot of time for you to recall your already built knowledge that by the time you recall it you almost loose the track of what is happening at that point of time. If we can’t process what we are seeing and listening immediately , can’t we have meaning in our life?

[@x305tillidiex]

forgot what this video was about...

[@WTFBros3]

A Tree with an Electrode in front of a Mirror on a Highway on Saturn

[@faisalazamkhan3240]

how to improve our working memory ?

[@kurdboy7732]

what we proses we learn

[@sakhi111]

i agree, but some people are born with good memory so lucky THEM :)

[@ImDrizzt]

I didnt quite hear him when he said the 3rd thing, so I pretended he said manure. So I kinda remember it all without too much effort, but not sure if the 3rd one counts lol

[@HunMASK]

tree, highway, mirror, Saturn, electrode

[@xthe_moonx]

the doctors said my working memory is better then 97 people out of 100.

[@Baud2Bits]

So is mine, but only 50% of the time

[@PaulKnutsonSther]

***** Heyy, Baud. How nice to see you over here :)

[@justusbosch2002]

Anyone come here thinking it was something about Dr Doolittle

[@itscrazytrevor]

I want to be the best surfer president that can get into his hotel room for a cookie with red bull and bacon but I don't need to be able to text and walk at the same time! Wait I forgot what I was saying and thinking about because I was to busy living life!

[@jonjfm]

There is a gigantic tree crossed by a highway. At the end there is a mirror reflecting Saturn supported by a electrode

[@_YaBoiiTj_]

2:05

[@crisislord00]

SO basically working memory is like the RAM on a p.c.

[@wowumao]

胖胖的大叔，真可爱。。。

[@zadeh79]

Working memory has a limited capacity, and can only deal with small chunks at a time. It doesn't help put things together. Long-term memory orders and selects ideas, and feeds it into conscious thought.

[@alladinbadlink2953]

I dont think that doing this simple word test at home, in a comfy chair is quite the same as beeing in public and exposed to dozens if little distractions of every day life.

[@ManInMostlyBlack]

I don't think anyone have claimed that

[@miwadaiphonicsandaojuku]

8:42

[@Joeybago12]

Get to the part when you talk to animals