Abstract
Our examination of trace theory has essentially been concluded. At this point it should be clear to the reader that no trace theory can provide a satisfactory causal account, or mechanistic explanation, of memory. It should be remembered, however, that trace theory was seen to be the only possible candidate for a mechanistic explanation of memory. The alternative to a trace theory is a traceless theory. And, since we are talking of mechanistic theories, this traceless theory is the theory of a traceless memory mechanism. But, of course, we have seen that this is a nonsensical concept. Once again, we have here the idea of a machine which can (e.g.) paint a picture (an image) of the Mona Lisa, with nothing to guide each step. And as each feature is added to the picture, we can ask, Why did the mechanism just put two eyes on her head? Why not three, or one, or none? If it just does these things spontaneously, with no guiding pattern, then it is a magic mechanism. The argument is the same, whether we are dealing with a traceless retrieval mechanism, or a completely traceless mechanistic account of memory. The machines in both cases are required to do the same (impossible) thing.
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Notes
From pp. 8–9 of The Behavior of Organisms, by B. F. Skinner. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, 1936, 457 pp.
The Behavior of Organisms, op. cit., p. 433.
P. 13 of Brain Memory Learning, by W. R. Russell, Oxford Press, 1959.
See, for example, pp. 83–4 and 100 of The Mammalian Cerebral Cortex by B. Delisle Burns, op. cit., or see p. 241 of The Shape of Intelligence by H. Chandler Elliott, op. cit.
P. 257 of Models of Human Memory, op. cit., from the article, ‘How associations are memorized’, by James G. Greeno.
P. 259, ibid. This passage was quoted earlier.
See pp. 122–131 of The Task of Gestalt Psychology, op. cit.
The Behavior of Organisms, op. cit., pp. 8–9.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., from the article, ‘Patterns of human behavior’, by Gregory Bateson, p. 175.
Ibid., p. 176.
The Shape of Intelligence, op. cit., p. 241.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., from the article by E. Roy John, ‘Neural mechanisms of decision making’, p. 243.
W. R. Russell, Brain Memory Learning, op. cit., p. 7. See also p. 14.
P. 35, ibid.
Also p. 35, ibid.
P. 38, ibid.
P. 24, ibid.
P. 24, ibid.
P. 131,ibid.
The Science of Mind and Brain, op. cit., p. 40.
The Biology of Memory, op. cit., From the article by Arthur W. Melton, ‘Short and long-term postperceptual memory’, p. 5.
Dr. W. Penfield, quoted by T. A. Harris, in I’m O.K. — You’re O.K., op. cit., p. 10.
Models of Human Memory, op. cit., from the article ‘Models for free recall and recognition’, by Walter Kintsch, p. 333.
Models of Human Memory, op. cit., from the article ‘How associations are memorized’, by James G. Greeno, p. 261.
Gestalt Psychology, op. cit., p. 149.
See Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., p. 6.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., p. 5.
Ibid., p. 6.
Ibid., p. 6.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, part I, paragraph 268. Wittgenstein is dealing with the concept of ‘private ostensive definition’.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., from the article by Gregory Bateson, ‘Patterns of human behavior’, p. 174.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., p. 6.
Consciousness and Behavior, op. cit.
Op. cit., p. 59.
Ibid., p. 80.
The Biology of Memory, op. cit., from the article by D. N. Spinelli, ‘OCCAM: A computer model for a content-addressable memory in the central nervous system’, p. 293.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., from an article by James G. Miller, ‘The individual as an information processing system’, p. 304.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., from the article, ‘A logical calculus of the ideas immanent in nervous activity’, p. 397.
See, for example, in The Biology of Memory, op. cit., the article by Bennet Murdock, Jr., ‘Short and long-term memory for association’, esp. p. 12, and the article by D. N. Spinelli, referred to above, pp. 298–301.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., article by Gregory Bateson, ‘Patterns of human behavior’, pp. 174 and 178.
Models of Human Memory, op. cit., the article of the same title, by Donald A. Norman, p. 2.
Ibid., p. 7.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., article by James G. Miller, ‘The individual as an information processing system’, p. 305.
The Biology of Memory, op. cit., article by Bennet B. Murdock, Jr., ‘Short and long-term memory for associations’, p. 12.
Ibid., his italics.
The Biology of Memory, op. cit., article by D. N. Spinelli, ‘OCCAM’, p. 295.
Brain and Behavior, op. cit., article by K. H. Pribram and W. E. Tubbs, ‘Short-term memory, parsing, and the primate frontal cortex’, p. 502.
Models of Human Memory, op. cit., article by Donald A. Norman and David E. Rumelhart, ‘A system for perception and memory’, pp. 19–20.
Ibid., p. 21.
Ibid.,p.21.
Ibid., p. 21.
Ibid., p. 22.
Ibid., p. 22.
Ibid., p. 23.
Ibid., p. 28.
Ibid., p. 35.
Information Storage and Neural Control, op. cit., article by James G. Miller, ‘The individual as an information processing system’, p. 304.
Ibid., p. 305.
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Bursen, H.A. (1978). Stimulus-Response and Information Processing Computer Theories of Memory. In: Dismantling the Memory Machine. Synthese Library, vol 128. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9885-8_4
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