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

Translator: Begoña Laka Reviewer: Jone Aliri Lazcano

So yesterday, I was out in the street

Atzo kalean nengoen

in front of this building,

eraikin honen aurrean,

and I was walking down the sidewalk,

espaloitik nenbilen

and I had company, several of us,

beste hainbat lagunekin.

and we were all abiding by the rules

Denek jarraitzen genituen

of walking down sidewalks.

espaloitik ibiltzeko arauak.

We're not talking each other. We're facing forward.

Ez genuen inorekin hitz egiten. Aurrera begiratzen genuen.

We're moving.

Ibiltzen ari ginen.

When the person in front of me slows down.

Bat-batean aurrean doana astiro joaten hasten da.

And so I'm watching him, and he slows down,

Ni berari begira nago: astiroago doa

and finally he stops.

eta azkenean gelditu egiten da.

Well, that wasn't fast enough for me,

Hori ez zen niretzako abiadura nahikoa.

so I put on my turn signal, and I walked around him,

Beraz, seinale egin

eta bera inguratu nuen,

and as I walked, I looked to see what he was doing,

eta aurrera nindoala zertan zebilen begiratu nuen.

and he was doing this.

Hau zegoen egiten.

He was texting,

Mezuak bidaltzen ari zen,

and he couldn't text and walk at the same time.

eta ezin zituen gauza biak aldi batera egin.

Now we could approach this

Hau azter dezakegu

from a working memory perspective

laneko memoriaren edo multiatazaren ikuspegitik.

or from a multitasking perspective.

We're going to do working memory today.

Gaur laneko memoriarena aztertuko dugu.

Now, working memory

Laneko memoria da

is that part of our consciousness that we are

egunean zehar jarraian jakitun garen kontzientzia-atal hura.

aware of at any given time of day.

You're going it right now.

Orain bertan horretan ari zarete.

It's not something we can turn off.

Ez da itzali dezakegun zerbait.

If you turn it off, that's called a coma, okay?

Itzaliz gero, koma deritzo hori.

(Barreak)

So right now, you're doing just fine.

Oraintxe bertan osasun ona duzue.

Now working memory has four basic components.

Laneko memoriak lau oinarrizko osagai ditu.

It allows us to store some immediate experiences

Berehalako esperientziak biltegiratzea uzten digu

and a little bit of knowledge.

eta ezagutza pixka bat ere.

It allows us to reach back into our long-term memory

Epe luzeko memorian atzera egiten uzten digu

and pull some of that in as we need it,

eta behar dugunean zerbait ateratzen,

mixes it, processes it

nahastu, prozesatu,

in light of whatever our current goal is.

momentuko gure helburuaren arabera.

Now the current goal isn't something like,

Momentuko gure helburura ez da:

I want to be president or the best surfer in the world.

Presidentea izan nahi dut edo surflaririk onena.

It's more mundane. I'd like that cookie,

Arruntagoa da: galleta hura nahi dut,

or I need to figure out how to get into my hotel room.

hoteleko gelara nola sartu asmatu behar dut.

Now working memory capacity

Laneko memoriaren ahalmena da

is our ability to leverage that,

hortaz baliatzeko dugun gaitasuna,

our ability to take what we know

dakiguna hartu,

and what we can hang onto

zeri eutsi ahal diogun,

and leverage it in ways that allow us to satisfy

eta hortaz baliatzea momentuko gure helburua lortzeko.

our current goal.

Now working memory capacity

Laneko memoriaren ahalmenak

has a fairly long history,

historia luze samarra du.

and it's associated with a lot of positive effects.

Ondorio positiboekin lotuta dago.

People with high working memory capacity

Laneko memoriarako gaitasun handia dutenek

tend to be good storytellers.

kontalari onak izaten dira.

They tend to solve and do well on standardized tests,

Test estandarizatuak erraz ebazten dituzte,

however important that is.

hori garrantzitsua bada.

They're able to have high levels of writing ability.

Idaz-maila ona izan dezakete.

They're also able to reason at high levels.

Arrazoitzeko gaitasun handia dute ere.

So what we're going to do here is play a little bit with some of that.

Beraz, orain horrekin jolastuko gara.

So I'm going to ask you to perform a couple tasks,

Zenbait zeregin burutu beharko dituzue,

and we're going to take your working memory out for a ride.

zuen lanerako memoria paseatzera aterako dugu.

You up for that? Okay.

Ados? Ondo da.

I'm going to give you five words,

Bost hitz emango dizkizuet

and I just want you to hang on to them.

eta eurak gogoratzea nahi dut.

Don't write them down. Just hang on to them.

Ez itzazue idatzi, gorde buruan.

Five words.

Bost hitz.

While you're hanging on to them, I'm going to ask you to answer three questions.

Bitartean, hiru galdera egingo dizkizuet.

I want to see what happens with those words.

Jakin nahi dut hitz horiekin zer gertatzen den.

So here's the words:

Hona hemen hitzok:

tree,

zuhaitz,

highway,

autobide,

mirror,

ispilu,

Saturn

Saturno

and electrode.

eta elektrodo.

So far so good?

Oraingoz ondo?

Okay. What I want you to do

Gustatuko litzaidake

is I want you to tell me what the answer is

honen erantzuna ematea:

to 23 times eight.

8 bider 23

Just shout it out.

Esan ozenki.

(Mumbling) (Laughter)

(Murmur) (Barreak)

In fact it's -- (Mumbling) -- exactly. (Laughter)

Erantzuna da -- (Murmur) -- zehazki.

All right. I want you to take out your left hand

(Barreak)

Ezkerreko eskua altxa, mesedez,

and I want you to go, "One, two, three, four, five,

eta kontatu: "Bat, bi, hiru, lau, bost,

six, seven, eight, nine, 10."

sei, zazpi, zortzi, 9, 10".

It's a neurological test, just in case you were wondering.

Test neurologikoa da, jakin nahi baduzue.

All right, now what I want you to do

Orain nahi dudana da

is to recite the last five letters

ingelesezko alfabetoaren azkenengo bost letrak

of the English alphabet backwards.

atzetik aurrera esatea.

You should have started with Z.

Z-taz hasi behar izan duzue.

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

All right. How many people here are still pretty sure

Zuetariko zenbaitek gogoratzen dituzue bost hitzak?

you've got all five words?

Okay. Typically we end up with about less than half,

Normalean, erdiak baino gutxiagok gogoratzen ditu.

right, which is normal. There will be a range.

Eskala bat dago.

Some people can hang on to five.

Batzuek 5 hitz gogoratzen dituzte,

Some people can hang on to 10.

beste batzuek 10.

Some will be down to two or three.

Batzuek 2 edo 3.

What we know is this is really important to the way we function, right?

Dakiguna da gure funtzionamenduan hau garrantzitsua dela.

And it's going to be really important here at TED

Eta TEDen oso garrantzitsua izango da

because you're going to be exposed to so many different ideas.

ideia ugarien aurrean aurkituko zaretelako.

Now the problem that we have

Arazoa da

is that life comes at us,

bizitza guregana datorkigula

and it comes at us very quickly,

oso abiadura bizian,

and what we need to do is to take that amorphous

eta egin behar duguna da

esperientzien jario amorfo hori harrapatu

flow of experience and somehow

extract meaning from it

eta hortik esanahi bat atera, nolabait

with a working memory

laneko memoria bat erabiliz

that's about the size of a pea.

ilar baten tamaina duena.

Now don't get me wrong, working memory is awesome.

Ondo ulertu esaten dudana, laneko memoria zoragarria da.

Working memory allows us

Laneko memoriari esker

to investigate our current experience

momentuko esperientzia ikertu dezakegu

as we move forward.

aurrera goazen bitartean.

It allows us to make sense of the world around us.

Inguratzen gaituen munduari zentzua aurkitzea ahalbidetzen digu.

But it does have certain limits.

Baina baditu mugak ere.

Now working memory is great for allowing us to communicate.

Laneko memoria oso ona da komunikatzeko gaitzen gaituelako.

We can have a conversation,

Elkarrizketa bat izan dezakegu

and I can build a narrative around that

eta horren inguruan narrazio bat sortu.

so I know where we've been and where we're going

Badakit nondik gatozen eta nora goazen,

and how to contribute to this conversation.

eta elkarrizketan nola hartu parte.

It allows us to problem-solve, critical think.

Gai gara arazoak ebazteko, pentsamendu kritikoa izateko.

We can be in the middle of a meeting,

Bilera baten erdian egon gaitezke,

listen to somebody's presentation, evaluate it,

norbaiten aurkezpena entzun, bera ebaluatu,

decide whether or not we like it,

gustatzen zaigun erabaki,

ask follow-up questions.

galdera osagarriak egin.

All of that occurs within working memory.

Hau dena laneko memorian gertatzen da.

It also allows us to go to the store

Berari esker ere dendara joan gaitezke,

and allows us to get milk and eggs and cheese

esnea, arrautzak eta gazta hartu

when what we're really looking for

nahiz eta benetan bilatzen ari garena

is Red Bull and bacon. (Laughter)

Red Bull eta urdaiazpikoa izan.

Gotta make sure we're getting what we're looking for.

Egiaztatu behar dugu benetan nahi duguna hartzen dugula.

Now, a central issue with working memory

Laneko memoriaren funtsezko arazo bat da

is that it's limited.

mugatua dela.

It's limited in capacity, limited in duration,

Edukiari, iraupenari dagokienez mugatua,

limited in focus.

zehaztasunari dagokionez.

We tend to remember about four things.

Lau gauza baino ez gogoratzeko joera dugu.

Okay? It used to be seven,

Lehen 7 zirela esaten genuen,

but with functional MRIs, apparently it's four,

baina MRI funtzionalak dioenez 4 omen dira,

and we were overachieving.

gorantz jotzen genuen.

Now we can remember those four things

Lau gauza horiek gogoratu ditzakegu

for about 10 to 20 seconds

10, 20 segundoz inguru

unless we do something with it,

horiekin zerbait egin ezean.

unless we process it, unless we apply it to something,

Horiek prozesatu, zerbaitetan aplikatu ezean,

unless we talk to somebody about it.

beraiei buruz hitz egin ezean.

When we think about working memory,

Laneko memoriari buruz ari garenean

we have to realize that this limited capacity

kontuan izan behar dugu edukiera mugatu honek

has lots of different impacts on us.

gugan eragin ugari dituela.

Have you ever walked from one room to another

Inoiz joan al zarete gela batetik bestera

and then forgotten why you're there?

eta gero ahaztu zergatik zauden han?

(Barreak)

You do know the solution to that, right?

Badakizue hori nola konpondu, ezta?

You go back to that original room. (Laughter)

Aurreko gelara itzultzen zara.

Have you ever forgotten your keys?

(Barreak)

Inoiz ahaztu al dituzu giltzak?

You ever forgotten your car?

Inoiz ahaztu al duzu kotxea?

You ever forgotten your kids?

Inoiz ahaztu al dituzu umeak?

Have you ever been involved in a conversation,

Inoiz egon al zara elkarrizketa baten

and you realize that the conversation to your left

eta nabaritu zure ezkerraldeko elkarrizketa

is actually more interesting? (Laughter)

askoz ere interesgarriagoa dela?

So you're nodding and you're smiling,

Baietz esan eta barre egiten duzu,

but you're really paying attention to this one over here,

baina beste elkarrizketari adi zaude benetan,

until you hear that last word go up,

zera entzun arte, gorantz doan hitz hura,

and you realize,

eta orduan konturatzen zara galdera bat egin dizutela.

you've been asked a question. (Laughter)

(Barreak)

And you're really hoping the answer is no,

Eta bihotzez espero duzu erantzuna "ez" izatea,

because that's what you're about to say.

hori baita esatera zoazena.

All of that talks about working memory,

Guzti horrek laneko memoriarekin du zerikusia,

what we can do and what we can't do.

egin ahal duguna eta ezin duguna egin.

We need to realize that working memory

Kontuan izan behar dugu laneko memoriak

has a limited capacity,

ahalmen mugatua duela,

and that working memory capacity itself is how we negotiate that.

eta hura kudeatzeko modua dela laneko memoriaren ahalmena.

We negotiate that through strategies.

Hura estrategien bidez kudeatzen dugu.

So what I want to do is talk a little bit about a couple of strategies here,

Estrategia pare bati buruz hitz egin nahi nuke.

and these will be really important

Hauek garrantzitsuak dira

because you are now in an information target-rich environment

informazio ugari duen giro batean

for the next several days.

egongo zaretelako egun batzuetan.

Now the first part of this that we need to think about

Lehenik pentsatu behar dugu

gure bizitza prozesatu behar dugula

and we need to process our existence, our life,

immediately and repeatedly.

berehala, behin eta berriz.

We need to process what's going on

Gertatzen ari dena prozesatu behar dugu

the moment it happens, not 10 minutes later,

gertatzen den momentuan, ez 10 minutu geroago,

not a week later, at the moment.

hurrengo astean, momentuan.

So we need to think about, well, do I agree with him?

Beraz pentsatu behar dugu: Berarekin ados al nago?

What's missing? What would I like to know?

Zer falta da? Zer nahiko nuke jakin?

Do I agree with the assumptions?

Bat nator ideia horiekin?

How can I apply this in my life?

Nola erabili dezaket hau nire bizitzan?

It's a way of processing what's going on

Gertatzen ari dena prozesatzeko modu bat da,

so that we can use it later.

geroago erabili ahal izateko.

Now we also need to repeat it. We need to practice.

Errepikatu behar dut hura ere. Praktikatu behar dugu.

So we need to think about it here.

Horri buruz hausnartu behar dugu hemen.

In between, we want to talk to people about it.

Bitartean, besteekin hitz egin nahi dugu honi buruz.

We're going to write it down, and when you get home,

Idatzi egingo dugu, eta etxera bueltatzean

pull out those notes and think about them

apunteak atera, horiei buruz pentsatu

and end up practicing over time.

eta denborarekin praktikatzen hasi.

Practice for some reason became a very negative thing.

Praktikatzea gauza txarra bihurtu zen nolabait.

It's very positive.

Oso ona da.

The next thing is, we need to think elaboratively

Hurrengo gauza da lantzen pentsatu behar dugula,

and we need to think illustratively.

irudikatzen pentsatu behar dugula.

Oftentimes, we think that we have to relate new knowledge to prior knowledge.

Sarri uste dugu jakintza berria aurrekoarekin lotu behar dugula.

What we want to do is spin that around.

Horren inguruan biraka ibili nahi dugu.

We want to take all of our existence

Gure existentzia osoa hartu

and wrap it around that new knowledge

eta jakintza horren inguruan bildu,

and make all of these connections and it becomes more meaningful.

konexio guzti hauek egin eta esanguratsuago bihurtu.

We also want to use imagery. We are built for images.

Irudiak ere erabili nahi ditugu. Irudientzako gaude eginda.

We need to take advantage of that.

Hortaz baliatu behar dugu.

Think about things in images,

Irudietan pentsatu,

write things down that way.

irudietan idatzi.

If you read a book, pull things up.

Liburu bat irakurtzean, zerbait atera.

I just got through reading "The Great Gatsby,"

Amaitu berri dut "Gatsby handia",

and I have a perfect idea of what he looks like

eta oso ideia argia daukat buruan

in my head, so my own version.

bere itxurari buruz, nire bertsioa beraz.

The last one is organization and support.

Azkena da antolaketa eta sostengua.

We are meaning-making machines. It's what we do.

Esangura-makinak gara. Hori da egiten duguna.

We try to make meaning out of everything that happens to us.

Gertatzen zaigun guztiari esangura bilatzen saiatzen gara.

Organization helps, so we need to structure

Antolaketa lagungarria da.

Egiten duguna egituratu behar dugu

what we're doing in ways that make sense.

esanahia izateko.

If we are providing knowledge and experience,

Jakintza eta esperientzia sortzen badugu,

we need to structure that.

hori egituratu behar dugu.

And the last one is support.

Azkena da horri eustea.

We all started as novices.

Hasi ginenean, denak ginen berriak.

Everything we do is an approximation of sophistication.

Egiten dugun guztia sofistikaziora hurbilketa da.

We should expect it to change over time. We have to support that.

Denborarekin aldatzea espero dugu. Berari eutsi behar diogu.

The support may come in asking people questions,

Euskarria lor dezakegu besteei galderak egiten,

giving them a sheet of paper that has an organizational chart on it

orri bat ematen antolaketa-grafiko bat duena

or has some guiding images,

edo gida-irudiak.

but we need to support it.

Baina sostengatu hau behar dugu.

Now, the final piece of this, the take-home message

Azkenik, gorde beharreko mezua

from a working memory capacity standpoint is this:

laneko memoriaren ahalmenari dagokionez hau da:

what we process, we learn.

prozesatzen duguna da ikasten duguna.

If we're not processing life, we're not living it.

Bizitza ez badugu prozesatzen, ez gara bera bizitzen ari.

Live life. Thank you.

Bizi bizitza. Eskerrik asko.

(Applause)

(Txaloak)