Black, R, Mushtaq, F orcid.org/0000-0001-7881-1127, Baddeley, A et al. (1 more author) (2020) Does learning the Qur’an improve memory capacity? Practical and theoretical implications. Memory, 28 (8). pp. 1014-1023. ISSN 0965-8211
Abstract
Our understanding of human memory has gained greatly from the study of individuals with impaired memory but rather less from outstandingly high levels of memory performance. Exceptions include the case of London taxi drivers whose extensive route learning results in modification of their hippocampus. Our study involves a group whose extensive verbal learning potentially provides a similar natural experiment. The Muslim faith encourages followers to memorise the whole of the Qur’an, some 77,449 words in its classic Arabic form. Successful memorisers are known as “Hafiz”. We tested 10 Hafiz, 12 background-matched Muslim controls and 10 non-Muslim participants, on their detailed knowledge of the Qur’an and on their performance on standard measures of verbal and visuospatial learning. We found no differences between the three groups in their capacity to memorise verbal or visuospatial material and hence no evidence of generalisation of learning capacity in the Hafiz group. More surprisingly, however, half of the Hafiz group did not understand Arabic but were equivalent in Qur’anic memory to those who did. Given the importance that meaning is typically assumed to play in long-term memory, this was unexpected. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these results for verbal memory and long-term learning.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author produced version of a journal article published in Memory. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Verbal memory, exceptional long-term learning, expertise, Qur’an |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Aug 2020 15:48 |
Last Modified: | 01 Sep 2021 00:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Routeledge |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/09658211.2020.1811347 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:164378 |