[From Bob C. (9807.1230 PT)]
I have a question. Lets say that I see a new face which I have never seen
before or hear a new phone number which I have never heard before. I memorize
the face or number, and then can use it as a reference either to recognize the
person or dial the number. I'm trying to understand what is involved in this
process of the new perception becoming memorized and availible as a reference,
whether the perception is a configuration, sequence, relationship, etc. At a
given level, lets say the sequence level for now, I have many memorized
references which I can recognize upon perception, and I assume that this
involves no higher level than sequences. But what is involved when I memorize
a new sequence and am able to use it as a reference. Is it just a memory
process? If I have this new reference which I did not have before does that
mean that reorganization was somehow involved? If it's just a memory process,
then how is the memory formed? Are higher perceptual levels like categories,
relationships, programs, involved which organize the new sequence as a
sequence. I assume there must be some way my mind recognizes a specific
sequence of sounds as fitting into the more general category of a phone
number, and stores it as such. From what I can tell, I perceive the phone
number on multiple levels. I recognize the individual digits, and the general
pattern of three numbers followed by four as a phone number, but I don't
recognize the specific sequence at the intermediate level. The whole
perception at all the levels gets recorded. I do some type of rehearsal
routine to strengthen the storage of the specific number sequence in my mind.
Can someone tell me how close to being on the right track I am and if I'm off,
tell me how this process works in terms of PCT.
Bob C.