INTRODUCING:
THE MEMORY MAP
The Memory Map is the newest ride in Epcot that illuminates memories and how they work. In the modern neuroscience world, our memory is a complete mystery, although we have some insight on how it works. In this ride, we will travel through the brain to learn about different types of memories, how they work, the concept of false memories, how to strengthen memories, and the future of learning about memory. The ride will consist of 3-D objects, screens, 4-D sensations, animatronics, and sounds to help explain what the memory is. Each car, that holds a maximum of 8 people (4 rows; two per seat) will have speakers in each row, as well as a screen that will display the brain and you traveling through it.
At the beginning part of the ride, the introduction will explain the concept of the ride, most likely beginning with "Who are you? Any answer you have to that question uses your memory. Whether you are referring to your name, your personality, or even just an image of yourself. You know who you are through the amazing network within your brain." Philosophy also plays a large aspect in memory, especially since it's not well understood.
The first part of the ride will explain the cells in the brain, which is known as a neuron. The character, Neura, will be an animated cartoon/animatronic throughout the ride who will guide the riders through the brain. She will describe herself along with her sisters and brothers as "railways" within the brain that connect to each other. She will describe them as stations, shown at the picture below, and will explain how there is a start and finish, along with a track for the train to go on. There will be animatronic neurons riding trains from one station to another, delivering messages. She will then show a picture of her family, which will be a network of neurons upon a side screen.
The next part of the ride, after the riders meet the family, explains the most basic part of memory. Neura will first explain implicit memory, which is memory that we use without even realizing it (i.e. walking, skills, etc.) We start at the Cerebellum, which means "little brain", that is in charge not only for motor function, but classical conditioning. The ride then explains what classical conditioning is through Pavlov's dogs, which will be depicted by animatronics. Mickey will make an appearance as "Pavlov", who will be introduced as a 19th century human physiologist and found out this famous psychology phenomenon by accident! After classical conditioning is explained, fear conditioning (that takes place in the amygdala) will be explained briefly. Fear conditioning is similar to classical conditioning, but uses associations through fear. There will also be an example of classical conditioning given, so that the riders can see how it applies to every day life. For example, if the ice cream truck rides by every day and you hear the song and get ice cream, if you hear the song without the ice cream truck, you will have the urge to have ice cream!
We travel up to the brain (as the ride moves on, the map will show where the riders are in the brain; Next, we move up to the basal ganglia (which consists of a lot of different structures) which is important for skill learning. Neura explains that skill learning takes a little bit of work and is slow to learn, but once you learn it you don't need to pay attention anymore. She relates it to riding a bike, which will be shown by neuron animatronics (her brothers and sisters) learning a bike, doing it well, then showing off by doing other things as well. She further explains how this relates to muscle memory and why practice leads to perfect. She also explains a task, which will be shown through a video at the end of this section, on a neuroscience test, known as the mirror task, that tests a person's ability to of skill learning. Anybody can do this task if you have a mirror! She adds in about the myth of if you practice something for 10,000 hours, like shooting hoops, you will be able to do something perfectly because you trained your brain how to memorize the correct motions.
The ride then moves from implicit memory, to explicit memory. Neura first explains how explicit memory is the memory that everybody thinks of, where people have to think through what they know and retrieve information from their memory! She then explains that there are two different types of explicit memories: semantic and episodic. Instead of explaining them, she gives questions to differentiate the two. An example of semantic memory is "When did Columbus sail the ocean blue?" Semantic memory is based upon facts that we have learned throughout our life, as in "who is the current president" or "what is the color of the sky". This type of memory is tested within school. Episodic memory is more autobiographical, like "what did you eat for breakfast today?" These types of memories are in the upper parts of the brain, like the temporal lobes, which will be shown on the map.
Neura will then go on to explain the working memory (shown above) which is in the prefrontal cortex, which is the place within your brain that gives humans the most advantage over other animals. This is where higher functioning, like planning, goes on, as well as pieces of your personality. Neura explains what working memory is, which is also known as short term memory, as opposed to long term memory which was what we learned about before. Short term memory is useful for retaining short pieces of information about 7+-2 sections. This is why phone numbers, social security numbers, and license plates are 9-10 numbers/letters long; in order to remember it easier. However, short term memory does not work at all for memorizing facts for tests, because you need long term memory for that. In this part of the ride, there will be animatronics taking tests by memorizing numbers, and their answers will appear on the large screen showing the right and wrong answers, depicting how short memory does not always go to long term memory.
Neura then teaches some techniques to make short term memories turn into long term memories. Repetition is key, along with chunking (grouping numbers/letters), singing the list of things to remember to a tune, and the Method of Loci. Neura will then explain the Method of Loci, which will be this part of the ride and will be used at the end to see if it worked. The Method of Loci is when you place items that represent larger concepts in a made up room. Intellects in the old times, like priests memorizing the bible, used this method, and people today use it, too. The example can be, remember this list: moon, heart, and knife. We create rooms to insert these objects: the moon can be sitting in the science room of our house that let's us know where the moon is at all times (the ride will show a case of a moon), the heart will be put in our favorite place in our house because we love that room so much (the heart will be placed in a library), and the knife will be placed in the kitchen since we will be using that later to chop up some lettuce (the knife will be placed in a kitchen setting). Neura will then end this part of the ride by saying that everyone will be tested upon this list at the end of the ride.
The last part of the ride will discuss the future of memory, but before the future there will be a quick introduction to false memories and flashbulb memories. There's not much to represent on the ride about these two, which is why they will be quick. Neura will mention that memories are sometimes unreliable and the less vivid they are, the more our mind will distort them. In addition, if something emotional happens to us, especially a large event (the example is always 9/11) we will remember that memory vividly. Lastly, Neura and her family will discuss the future of memory (i.e. how to make people remember better, curing Alzheimers/dementia). Lastly, they will ask everybody to recall the 3 items: moon, heart, and knife.
The Interactive Memory Room/Connecting Gift Shop
When the ride ends, the riders will enter a fun play room to play around with their memories! This will include the drawing Skill learning test, the priming test (which wasn't discussed in the ride, but is also a part of implicit memory), and other quick cognitive tests that result in the memory. These lists will test upon short term memory (aside from the skill learning test), so they will include short lists. All of the cognitive tests will be on screens and people will be able to choose which test they would like to do. Here are some examples:
The gift shop will include merchandise for all of the attractions within the new Wonders of Life pavilion, as well as some historical merchandise from the old one.