Episode 08: Aphantasia and Drawing from Memory: Exploring False Memories, SDAM and Deja Vue

Aphantasia is a condition where people are unable to visualize images in their mind's eye. This can make it difficult or even impossible to remember faces, scenes, or other visual information.

I am loving all the new research that being done about aphantasia. In this video I discuss the findings from a new video from the Aphantasia Network: Quantifying Aphantasia through Drawing. Please watch it from the link below, you will get the facts there,here you will get my rambles about the facts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4-9tfv1eps

Transcript:

Speaker A [00:00:00]:

Hi, everyone. I want to talk about, memory today. I saw a video I believe it was posted on the Avantasia YouTube channel Fantija Network YouTube channel. I'll link it, in the comments below. I don't know all the details, but one thing stood out at me about this video and I made me think a bunch of thought thoughts this weekend. So I'm gonna go through that with you. so in this video, it was, they did some research. I don't wanna I might I'd like you to watch it because I'll butcher what it said, but basically they're researching Avantasia and then getting people to draw certain things.

Speaker A [00:00:40]:

So so bad. I don't know if this is an advantageous thing, but I'm bad at retelling stories. So retelling research information. I should probably hit the script. But anyways, in this video, they were talking about how, it was like a controlled research study. They had people who had a fantasia and people didn't have a fantasia. And what they did was they would show a picture to everyone and then have them do other stuff and then 10 minutes later. Again, I don't know the exact time.

Speaker A [00:01:13]:

they would get them to draw the picture. Okay? without seeing it. and And then they also did it with the picture in front of them. So the the differences between the Aventasia people and the people who don't have Aventasia were like the ones that they couldn't look at the image while doing it at people with Avantasia, withdrawal, like for a TV, they draw a TV and write the TV and then a plant and and they have a lot of words whereas the people who didn't have Avantasia would use like more colors and like put patterns on stuff and actually draw it the way they remembered it. they didn't label anything. I don't think. maybe some did, but and that is totally what I would do. Like if I had if I was doing a memory task, I'd be like, oh, I would like right now, I'm sitting in front of my bar.

Speaker A [00:01:59]:

I wanted to remember what my bar had. I would, like, come up with a rhyme in my head, gold slager, blue, Morocco, peaches. I don't know. I would do something and memor- memorize it in a word way, and then I would like look at the space between objects and try to remember those spaces. but I wouldn't I don't if I were to have to draw this situation from memory, I wouldn't be able to. I would just draw the bottles and put the names of the things on as best as I could remember. I'm pretty sure that's what I would do. And then if I were to draw from a drawing, that's where I would put the details in.

Speaker A [00:02:37]:

And that's what they found in this exercise. So people with that Fantasia didn't necessarily have poor drawing skills. When they had the image in front of them, they could draw perfectly fine and they would put all the details in that they they saw, so they would put all the colors and all that stuff. So it's not that people with Avadija can't draw, but our memory store things differently. So we would remember, you know, whatever was there, but we wouldn't remember the details of it. But the part so all that stuff is like I don't know. It makes sense to me so clearly, like, why that would be that way. And this next fact does too, but I found it extremely interesting because I find memory fascinating.

Speaker A [00:03:25]:

the thing they noticed across the whole board was that A fantasia, A fant what do you say? A fantastic people. A fant tasks or whatever. People with Aventasia when they, did the drawing without seeing. So like 10 minutes later, they had to draw what they remembered. They never added in anything that wasn't there. They didn't like accidentally add in something. or maybe they did on occasion, but so when they added something in that was different, it was because they had to look at three pictures. like there was 3 different or however many different things going on, so they would add something from a different picture that they had also had try to remember, but they never added in anything that wasn't there.

Speaker A [00:04:11]:

Whereas the people who didn't don't have Aventasia, their memory, they put all these D and stuff, they changed the pattern on the rug, they changed the way the flower was, they would add a clock in when there was an o'clock because they would add in stuff that they think I think the scene was like a living room scene. So they probably just would put in something that they would assume would be in a living room. Whereas people with Avantasia just remember the straight facts about what was in the image. So I find that really interesting because I feel like that might be a superpower for us. We only remember the that was true and real. I have an argument with my son all the time. He always brings up memories that I'm like, I don't really think it did happen that way, but I don't know, he he thinks it did. And he oh, I don't know.

Speaker A [00:04:56]:

I think I also don't I don't know if I have the SDAM or not. I've done the quiz before and I'm I'm not sure if I have it. It's hard because I look at my husband and I'm like, I think he has it. He is also he also has F Fantasia. anyway, so the thing that I was thinking about after learning about this, I thought it was really interesting that people with academia don't add stuff and people with authentication do. It was like it was a pretty big I don't know watched the video. It was interesting. I love all the research on this.

Speaker A [00:05:34]:

I find it fascinating. but my husband and I were talking this weekend because we were going we decided to go take our kids to the Toronto Auto Show. If you live in Toronto and you want to check out Car's February 16th to 19th weekend. Family weekend, it's usually on. It's awful and crowded. If you don't like crowds, don't go. Anyways, I was saying to my husband, I'm like, last time we went, blah blah blah, and he's like, we've never been before. And I was like, I've been at least three times.

Speaker A [00:06:07]:

And he's like, no. I'm like and I know that I went with you. Like, I know it. And I'm like I'm pretty sure I went with our 2 kids, not our third one, but or our 4th one, but I'm pretty sure, like, almost a 100% sure. I remember details of it. I used to work for a company that worked at the auto show, so I got tickets for free, so we would go. and I often got past work. So my husband says no, and he's like, so stubborn and believes that to be true, but I believe it to be true, and we both have Avondasia.

Speaker A [00:06:37]:

So I feel like if I have the memory, it must be real. But memory is such a fascinating thing. I also, I don't know if you've read Will Smith's book. I know controversy Will Smith, but His book is really good. And, I found it really fascinating that one at one point he talks about how Deathliest afraid of water he is. He was super scared of swimming. Network learned how to swim, I think. oh god.

Speaker A [00:07:05]:

I'm gonna butcher this. Read the book. It's a good book. but he talks about how he had a near death experience or a near drowning experience. He thought he'd drown. and for years, up until he was like 4045 or something, he told this story to everyone about why he was scared of water because when he was little, he drowned, or came close to driving. And then Monday his mom was like, that didn't actually happen. So he like put that in his brain, like, he made a traumatic event happen that didn't happen.

Speaker A [00:07:37]:

And I wonder how often we do this to ourselves? Like, do we just I don't because I'm Abedasia. I don't make should not, but people who don't have back in detail, do we just do they just randomly make memories or like, are dreams and daydreams so vivid that they can feel like real life. and that's like, I think about deja vu. I always think I I think I've been, you know, undigibed a lot but my my view now is it might be either something that is going to happen or has already happened or it's new we've dreamt about. Like we've dreamt about it. because I've had so many things, dreams that have happened later on, and there's such minuscule thing, minuscule That's a hard birthday. There's these little things that I'm like, why would I remember that? But in when you're in the moment, you're having a day job in the moment, you're like, Why do I feel like I've been here before? I feel like it's probably something that just happened in your dream. And I think a lot of our dreams are actually just like foreshadowing what's going to happen.

Speaker A [00:08:47]:

and some people remember that and some people have just like a feeling. anyways, I find it really interesting. Last night, I was quizzing my husband on his memory. He hates this. He hates that I love this stuff. Like he just has no interest in it and I don't understand. since he has Aventasia and it doesn't blow his mind. But last night, I was asking him, if he could remember all these teachers from like kindergarten to a grade 12.

Speaker A [00:09:17]:

And he was like, no. And I was like, you can't remember any of them. He's like, no. I'm like, you can't, like, can you try and make it? It'll be really hard to try. I'm like, can you just try? And he's like, no, I can't. And meanwhile, I'm like, I can name from JK or what? I didn't have JK. From Kin I even remember some of free school. kindergarten every teacher's name.

Speaker A [00:09:40]:

I can remember all of them except I don't understand this. Riddleman Riddleman this. I can't remember the 3rd grade for the life of me. I do not remember who was in my class. I don't remember if I was in a portable or a normal classroom. I don't remember if I had a French and an English teacher or just an English teacher. I used the bagel you remember, my grade 3 teacher's name started with the B. Maybe Mrs.

Speaker A [00:10:03]:

Bernstein, I'm not sure. I don't remember what she looked like other than I think she had short brown hair, and I'm I'm thinking to myself, if I can remember 1, 2, or kicker in 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, all those things. Why is the grade 3 missing? I'm wondering is that is grade 3 my missing puzzle piece? Is it where I had some sort of trauma. Did I have some sort of trauma in grade 3 that caused my a fantasia? I don't know. So I'm gonna try to get to the bottom of that. Or is it because grade 3 is really boring and there's nothing to remember about it? Maybe nothing memorable happened in grade 3. Could that be it? I don't know. Anyways, I would love to hear from all my people who are have Avanteja comment below if you can remember your teachers from grade 1 to grade 12, like your whole your elementary to high school.

Speaker A [00:11:00]:

Can you just okay. Or even grade 1 to grade 8, because grade 12 or high school, you have such a random teacher. Just your elementary school days. Can you remember them? Can you comment below and tell me if you can remember your teachers? if any of the years are missing, and if you can remember that time in your life, if anything traumatic happened, or if it was uneventful. I mean, if you can't remember, maybe it was just really uneventful. I don't know, but I'd love love love to hear from please let me know if you have if you know you have appendasia and if you know you have SDAM sudden not sudden. What does it stand for? I don't know. Sophish sufficient deficit in auto biographical memory, I think.

Speaker A [00:11:47]:

let me know if you have it and if you if yourself diagnosed or whatever, and if you remember those things. And, yeah, if maybe maybe there's some hypnotic therapy that needs to be done there to figure out why you're missing years. And if you can't remember any, I find that very fascinating