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Wednesday, January 14, 2003
Since 1900
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 78
Professor uncovers the nature of memories
Associate Professor Michael Anderson
recently published a new study of what
the brain does when a person forgets
By Caron Alarab
Senior News Reporter
A University researcher is receiving interna
4 tional attention this week for a recent experi
ment exploring why people forget.
With a team of Stanford researchers, Associate
Professor of psychology Michael Anderson found
people can use certain brain regions to block mem
ories just as they do to control physical actions.
"It's no longer possible to say that human beings
can't actively forget," said Anderson, one of the na
tion's leading memory researchers. "Our research
demystifies the idea of memory suppression."
The findings, which were published in the
Jan. 9 issue of Science magazine, support Sigmund
Freud's controversial century-old theory about the
existence of voluntary memory suppression.
For the experiment, Anderson recruited Stan
ford researcher John Gabrieli and the two co-wrote
the Science article "Neural Systems Underlying the
Suppression of Unwanted Memories."
Ihe report details the steps and results of the ex
periment, which some experts say could help psychi
atrists aid people scanred by traumatic experiences.
Although the process could be applied to both
pleasant and unpleasant experiences, Anderson
said he doesn't want to get ahead of himself.
"We don't know yet if this can apply to emo
tional memories, but we also don't know that it
can't apply," he said.
Word play
Twenty-four people between 19 and 31 years
old volunteered for the experiment, during
which they learned unrelated noun pairs, such
as "ordeal-roach" and "jaw-gum." Anderson and
Gabrieli randomly divided the 36 word pairs
into three sets of 12. The first two groups were
asked to remember the first word of each pair
and then asked to either remember or forget the
second word, hence repressing memory.
For the purposes of the third group, the re
searchers had to determine a measurement for
"simple forgetting over time." By not asking the
group to either remember or to forget their pairs,
the researchers left the subjects to rely on their
natural memories without interference.
"People forget things over time, but not on
purpose, and we had to demonstrate that,"
Gabrieli said. "(Anderson) had shown he could
create those conditions in prior experiments."
In the second part of the experiment, the first
two groups worked on their word pairs while
being scanned in a functional magnetic
resonance imaging machine, which produces
computer images of brain tissue and function.
From these images, researchers determined
which parts of the brain are used for different
tasks.
After completing this phase, Anderson tested
the students' memory for all of the word pairs
and confirmed a previous finding — the more
often people avoid thinking about the second
word, the harder it became to remember it.
"People's memory gets worse the more they
try to avoid thinking about it," Anderson said.
"Ifyou consistendy expose people to a reminder
of a memory that they don't want to think
about, and they try not to diink about it, they ac
tually don't remember it as well as memories
where they were not presented with any re
minders at all."
Turn to BRAIN, page 6
In the spotlight
Lauren Wimer Photographer
Sophomore Ebba Corleto auditions in front of a panel of 11 Monday night for a position on the student-produced program “Duck U."
The show airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday nights in the residence halls on channel 14 and on channel 23 at 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Student producers of ‘Duck U’
are looking forward to filling
another term with news, sports
and a new dating game show
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
More than a dozen applicants wait
ed in the lobby on the first floor of
Allen Hall Monday night, chatting
nervously about sports, the audition
they were all waiting for or nothing at
all. A sign-up sheet circulated around
the room, which alternated between
moments of quiet chatter and uncom
fortable silence.
A woman exited a doorway down
the hall and entered the lobby. She
picked up the sign-up sheet and
called out the first name on the list.
Nobody moved. She called it out
again. A man stood up and
followed her through a door, down
a short hall and through another
room, which looks out onto a stu
dio. They entered it. The 11-mem
ber "Duck U" panel, made up of
show hosts, producers and re
porters, was already seated, waiting
for the first audition.
With the campus television pro
gram "Duck U" already in its second
Turn to DUCK U, page 12
PFC questions
validity of paying
dues to USSA
Tension arose when PFC members expressed
concern about providing $7,435 to the national
lobbying group for higher education students
By Chuck Slothower
News Reporter
Nine student groups won funding, one was defunded and one
was sent packing in a quest for more information at the ASUO
Programs Finance Committee meeting Monday night.
The successful groups gained budgets for 2004-2005 total
ing $289,277, with the Office of Student Advocacy and the
Oregon Marching Band accounting for the majority of
that sum.
The biggest controversy of the night, however, arose when com
mittee members expressed concern over the ASUO Executive's re
quest to fund the United States Student Association, a national
political lobbying group that advocates on behalf of students on
higher education issues.
The USSA originally asked for $20,000 from the University but
agreed to let funding increase gradually, resulting in an executive
recommendation for $7,435 to pay dues and provide for student
travel to conferences. ASUO President Maddy Melton and Vice
President Eddy Morales lent their support to USSA, resulting in
considerable tension.
"What makes this not a partisan group," asked PFC Sen. Colin
Andries. "Why should we hand this?"
Melton responded that the USSA is a political organization
but is non-partisan and does not lobby for particular candi
dates. Still, concerns persisted about funding a largely off-cam
pus organization.
"When you go off-campus and you go to a federal level, we as a
board really have to make sure the incidental fee is going to bene
fit students at the University of Oregon," PFC Chairman Adrian
Gilmore said.
Melton pointed to USSA's effectiveness in fighting for greater
spending for higher education, protecting the Pell Grant and reau
thorizing the Higher Education Act as proof of its worth.
"We raised the Pell Grant from $4,000 to $4,500," Melton said.
"If that doesn't benefit students at the University of Oregon, 1
don't know what does."
Regulations governing the incidental fee are clear that
Turn to PFC, page 12
WEATHER
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INSIDE
Campus buzz.12 Crossword.11
Classifieds.11 Nation & World.3
Commentary..2 Sports.7
i. i. k.i tJ t 1 LJ. 3
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