S 8 INSIDEOUT
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Gender linked to memory recall New study by Mac researchers shows women better at remembering faces than men Humna Amjad The Meducator Within the realm of scientific research dealing with recognition memory there are many questions about why some individuals can remember faces better than others. Recent research conducted at McMaster University proposes that women are able to remember faces better than men. The study suggests that upon visual stimuli women will study facial features for a longer time than men, allowing them to retain more information regarding faces. This study was conducted at Mac by Jennifer Heisz, an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, David Shore, a psychology professor and Molly Pottruff, a psychology graduate student. The study involved 40 male and 40 female participants, 20 of which participated in a four-day
experiment, and the remaining in a one-day experiment. Visual stimuli included 120 black and white pictures of faces, all of which were equally split male and female Caucasian faces with neutral expressions. These pictures were randomly selected and were assigned names. In the 4-day experiment, 10 new faces were introduced by name and on each subsequent day, all faces from before were presented in random order and participants were asked to name each face. The number of correctly named faces was recorded. Eye-tracking technology was used to achieve a detailed analysis of the participants’ visual process – this essentially tracked the movement of the participants’ eyes when looking at different faces. “The way we move our eyes across a new face affects our ability to recognize that person later,” explained Heisz. “Our findings provide new insight
into the potential mechanisms of memory and differences between the sexes.” The study observed that females, when shown a face for the first time, made greater fixations on different characteristics of the face, suggesting that females gathered more visual information in order to build a stronger memory. It was noted, however, that when the same faces were repeatedly shown, gender differences were minimized as there were more opportunities for visual processing and building memory for both genders. Although there is still much to explore, the study suggests that the strategy of increased scanning and fixation on initial viewing may prove to be an effective way to enhance memory performance in those with difficulties in recognition-memory.
Delicious discounts on Westdale dining FROM COVER Tyler Welch Assistant News Editor Seventeen restaurants in Westdale Village will be participating in Westdalicious and they have all agreed to offer their respective bargains from July 1 until August 31, inclusive. Those who combine a sweet tooth with a reliance on coffee will certainly gravitate toward The Second Cup, where they will be able to walk away with a medium coffee and any slice of cake for five dollars. For a light lunch, a hungry pair of students can stroll down to Pita Pit, share the cost of $20, and enjoy two 6-inch petitas, two smoothies and a choice of chips or cookies. McMaster student Ryan Beshara likes the idea of Westdalicious and is glad that The Bean Bar - his favourite Westdale restaurant - is participating. Beshara appreciates the opportunity to take a friend and enjoy their delicious cake for a fraction of the regular price (two slices of cake for $15 during the promotion). “It’s a smart way of exposing the different restaurants of Westdale” he said. “It gives us a taste of the types of food that are in our area.” Beshara said he will probably try out Walker’s Chocolates ($10 box of mint meltaways) or Dragon Court (2.5
pounds of lobster for $25) this summer, to take advantage of the specials they are promoting. The whole concept - the brainchild of the Westdale Village business association - takes inspiration from a similar idea in Toronto. Since 2003, Toronto has held two food festivals - Summerlicious and Winterlicious - in an effort to encourage dining out at expensive restaurants that are usually beyond the scope of many people’s budgets. Westdalicious is certainly a smaller undertaking - Toronto’s current Summerlicious includes 196 restaurants in its 2013 promotion. However, Westdale’s runs longer. Where West Hamilton locals will be treated to savoury deals and sugary bargains for two months, the Toronto-licious promotions only last for two weeks each. Toronto’s festivals have come to include the city’s high-end dining options and have provided a genuine incentive for local restaurant spending during historically lower periods. Toronto has seen a growth in popularity during the each festival’s decade-long lifetimes. While the true economic impact of Westdalicious remains to be seen, students will surely be figuring out how dining in Westdale Village can now fit into their budget.
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“Although both men and women look at the same features: the eyes, nose, and mouth; women make more eye movements to those features than men. This heightened scanning creates to higher fidelity representation of the face in mind and ultimately leads to better memory when the face is later encountered.” Jennifer Heisz Asst. Professor, Department of Kinesiology Female Scanning Patterns
Male Scanning Patterns
C/O JENNIFER HEISZ, DAVID SHORE, MOLLY POTTRUFF
for a memorable vacation Wait until the night before you leave Search frantically for a
suitable bag
Empty bag of clothes left from last use Place in the middle
of your room
Pack arbitrarily
chosen amount of shirts (assorted) Pack a pair of pants and a pair of shorts
(protip: pack capris instead to save space)
(If you didn’t catch that, also pack an English – French Dictionary)
Sam Godfrey Opinions Editor
Pack a few handfuls of
underwear/socks Add some more underwear/socks
Add maybe one more pair of underwear/
socks
Empty
underwear/sock drawer into bag Garnish with toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, and stick of deodorant