CHDH Seminar Series 2020: Attentional Constraints on Forming Memory Representations — Hyungwook Yim (Part 1)

Presenter: Dr Hyungwook Yim

Date: Monday 12 October

Time: 12 - 1 PM

Location: Via Zoom. Please use this link at the time of the event to join: https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/82234924312?pwd=cHVsTVg0bHNuUi8rMFRhYVNGMStLdz09

Seminar Description

Theories and computational models of human memory have assumed different memory representations. These representation structures vary based on their complexity and the number of processes that are involved. However, although these assumptions have been useful in explaining different kinds of memory phenomena, the attentional resources that are required during encoding these representations are taken for granted. But these attentional resources may not be always available such as during implicit learning or may not be efficiently utilized such as during early development. Understanding the role of attention in memory formation is important since (1) it reveals what kind of information structure can be learned at a certain point in life (e.g., episodic memory), and (2) how a certain information structure has been learned/evolved through development (e.g., semantic memory). In this talk, Hyungwook will present previous and ongoing studies that show the constraints of attention on forming different memory representations. Hyungwook will also discuss these findings using computational models of human memory.

Relevant paper: Yim, H., Dennis, S. J., & Sloutsky, V. M. (2013). The Development of Episodic Memory: Items, Contexts, and Relations. Psychological Science, 24(11), 2163–2172.

Presenter Biography

Hyungwook Yim is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. He has completed his PhD at the Ohio State University, USA, in cognitive development. His main research interest is in seeking 'the origins of knowledge' to answer how knowledge is initially acquired and becomes organized and generalized beyond what has been acquired. Especially, he tries to specify the mechanisms that enable us to learn and acquire knowledge, and how these learning mechanisms change over time through experience and development. His projects and papers can be found at lapensee.ivyro.net