RESEARCH
Purpose of Research
I was initially interested in the role of senses in memory forming and keeping. Thus I did some online research and found there’s proof of evidence of link between senses and memories. Then I began to be curious about how such link was reflected in people’s real life. So further research was done to explore this question.
HOW PEOPLE KEEP THEIR MEMORIES?
People use all sorts of methods to memorize their important moments in life. What are those methods? I collected and organized the most popular ways people like in keeping their memories:
HOW THESE METHODS ARE INFLUENCED BY SENSES?
To know the role of senses in those memory keeping methods, I did some interview to people in different age and identity. Here’s the highlighted answers:
Arisa | 23, Student
Shot in July 2019
Hao | 44, Architect
Shot in Jan 1982
Zhengmin | 57, Teacher
Shot in Jun 2009
Q | Have you ever record your memories and how?
A | I like taking photos. I usually bring my camera with me when I go to places with nice sceneries. And I also like to post them on social media or share them with my family.
Q | How do you feel when you recall your memories by your way of remembering?
A | Sometimes specific feeling during a certain time, such as the image, atmosphere or scent could be amplified by recalling memories.
Q | Which way of memorizing the past do you like most and why?
A | Talking about funny stories happened in the past with my family. We have such tradition in our family which has bond us tighter together.
Q | How do you feel when you recall your memories by your way of remembering?
A | I remember the images and emotion of both me and other people in that memory. I feel enjoyable thinking about those experiences.
Q | What are the most impressive feelings for you in a certain memory?
A | I remember the touch of the cold creek water when I played there in my young age. And also the sounds and images of people around me.
Q | Have you found any deficiency in current way of recording and retrieving memories?
A | If only I could “enter” the scene of my memory to interact with people and surroundings there, and have senses of interactions.
Sense memory gives people chance of re-experiencing the past, and also enables experience-sharing among different people.
ROLE OF DIFFERENT SENSES IN CREATING EXPERIENCE
To gain first-hand knowlege of how different senses function in triggering experience, I designed and conducted an Experience Experiment.
MATERIALS
Materials were selected on the purpose of creating different types of senses:
EXPERIMENT
