Faculty
Computer Science
Supervisor Name
Yalda Mohsenzadeh
Keywords
Image memorability, perception, memory, cognition, neuroscience, photographs
Description
Every day, humans observe and interact with hundreds of images and scenes; whether it be on a cellphone, on television, or in print. Yet a vast majority of these images are forgotten, some immediately and some after variable lengths of time. Memorability is indeed a property intrinsic to all images that can be extracted, as well as predicted. While memory itself is a process that occurs in the brain of an individual, the concept of memorability is an intrinsic, continuous property of a stimulus that can be both measured and manipulated. We selected images from the MemCat data set that are annotated with adult memorability scores. By running a visual memory game online, we quantified these images on their memorability in adolescents, and compared them to the adult scores. Our results support previous research that suggest memorability is an intrinsic property of images that is consistent across viewers. Memorability rankings were consistent across adolescents and adults, indicating that viewer age is not a factor in determining the memorability of images. The ability to measure and manipulate memorability has profound applications in many fields, but specifically in adolescents, the educational purposes are promising. This work could aid in the development of educational material that is more likely to improve knowledge retention, particularly in adolescents with neuro-developmental disorders.
Document Type
Poster
Memoir Dataset: Quantifying Image Memorability in Adolescents
Every day, humans observe and interact with hundreds of images and scenes; whether it be on a cellphone, on television, or in print. Yet a vast majority of these images are forgotten, some immediately and some after variable lengths of time. Memorability is indeed a property intrinsic to all images that can be extracted, as well as predicted. While memory itself is a process that occurs in the brain of an individual, the concept of memorability is an intrinsic, continuous property of a stimulus that can be both measured and manipulated. We selected images from the MemCat data set that are annotated with adult memorability scores. By running a visual memory game online, we quantified these images on their memorability in adolescents, and compared them to the adult scores. Our results support previous research that suggest memorability is an intrinsic property of images that is consistent across viewers. Memorability rankings were consistent across adolescents and adults, indicating that viewer age is not a factor in determining the memorability of images. The ability to measure and manipulate memorability has profound applications in many fields, but specifically in adolescents, the educational purposes are promising. This work could aid in the development of educational material that is more likely to improve knowledge retention, particularly in adolescents with neuro-developmental disorders.