The National Parks of America

Questions 14 – 17
The text has six paragraphs (A – F). Which paragraph contains the following information? Choose the correct paragraph (A – F).

	A	B	C	D	E	F
14 The claim that one workplace initiative may not be suitable for all businesses.
15 An estimate of how much time ancient humans spent working.
16 A reference to a politician who is interested in changing the way people’s working lives are organised.
17 The claim that today people are working harder but feel that their lives have not improved.

Questions 18 – 22
Choose the correct person (A – F) for each statement.

		A		B		C		D		E		F
18 One expression that is commonly used today may not be helpful because it oversimplifies a complicated situation.
19 After the experiment people had a higher opinion of the business and staff were happy to continue working for us.
20 Evidence shows that workers who are given more personal time actually spend some of that time on activities that benefit the company.
21 Over-working is a more significant issue than is sometimes realised and should be taken more seriously by those involved.
22 Involving staff at every stage of organising the trial was one of the reasons for its success.
List of people
A	Dr Gina McDowell
B	Carla Deng
C	Ryan Schmidt
D	Faisal Hadi
E	Dr Hannah Graham
F	Tane Robinson

Questions 23 – 26
Answer the questions. Write ONE WORD ONLY from the text in each gap.
What service was provided by the company in the New Zealand experiment?
23

What research method was used to gather data in the New Zealand experiment?

24
Which group of people reported that staff worked together more closely during the New Zealand experiment?
25  

According to Dr Graham, what problem outside the workplace might be addressed by working shorter hours?

First Memories

Psychologist Richard Worrington reviews research into our earliest memories.
People have sometimes told me they dread the question, ‘What is your earliest memory?’ Perhaps they find the whole notion too simplistic, like being asked to name a favourite film or book, when the choice is almost limitless. But we should welcome enquiries about our first memories – it is a compliment if others are interested in our lives and experiences. Besides that, the human memory is a fascinating area of study. Research shows that some subjects can provide rich details of a first memory very quickly while others struggle to come up with anything at all. Their range of memories is also predictably diverse, from holidays and injuries to routine activities such as walking in the park or having a family meal. Most studies show that around 25% of first memories are of a negative event, while nearly double that proportion are positive, and these findings are constant regardless of the subjects’ ages or backgrounds.

Historically, the topic of human memory in general most certainly attracted a great deal of scholarly attention. But our earliest memories were largely overlooked by researchers, which turns out to have been an important omission. Scientists developed a reasonable understanding of what we now call ‘semantic memory’, which is the ability to recall what might loosely be called data, such as dates, times or places in which a particular incident occurred. In general terms, semantic memory is fixed and static. However, there are other forms of memory, which collectively I call ‘subjective memories’, and these are much more fluid. For example, numerous experiments studying the memories held by witnesses to an event have shown conclusively that recollections of what happened can vary dramatically between individuals, and even in the same person over time. Our earliest memories are another example of subjective memory.

So what do we know about when, why and how our earliest memories form? Scientists today recognise what has been termed ‘childhood amnesia’. This is the finding that babies and toddlers do not form lasting memories. For the majority of adults, their earliest memories begin once the period of childhood amnesia has come to an end, at about three and a half years of age. These are the memories that will endure for the rest of their lives. However, beyond that fixed starting point much variation exists. For example, one study found that the earliest memories of American children were more likely to feature solitary play or events where they were the central character. Asian children, in contrast, tended to remember family or school events in which they might have played no central role. Based on the assumption that American society places greater emphasis on individualism, this implies that earliest memories are influenced by social priorities.

Another important idea is that of ‘autobiographical memory’. This is the concept that many people construct a narrative of their lives and select memories that contribute most forcefully to that narrative. This seems to be relevant to our earliest memories in the following sense. Once people reach maturity, they often develop a strong feeling of who they are, perhaps based on their chosen line of work or their interests. Studies show that, for example, the earliest memories of an accomplished sportswoman were of herself as a child athlete, whereas a chef recalled preparing a meal as a young boy. Thus, who we are now appears to have some bearing on what we choose to recall from long ago.

A picture is emerging, then, of the unreliability of our earliest memories. Certainly, studies show that some earliest memories are simply made up. However, these seem to be a small minority. Much more common is that our earliest memories may be pieced together from different elements of reality. They may feature an item that we do remember from our childhood, such as a pram or toy, but embellished in some way to include a larger event. Or they may feature information that actually comes from a photograph, a family story, a memory that we’ve heard from somebody else, or some combination of all of these. Research shows that some memories stand out from the rest as much clearer and more colourful. These are usually formed during what’s known as the ‘reminiscence bump’, which occurs between the ages of 16 and 25. But even these memories are no less likely to be created.

In fact, research shows that only so-called ‘flashbulb memories’ are likely to be completely true. These are memories that derive from events about which we have particularly strong feelings, perhaps of intense sadness or happiness. But most of our other early memories are, at least to some extent, chosen by us. The question is, though, does this really matter? They are still much-loved memories and perhaps we can learn about ourselves from them. Often these memories are strong indicators of who we are, or would like to be, and exchanging first memories with others fosters connection and intimacy. Such factors represent important elements of our humanity, whether or not the memory itself is completely accurate.