In this science outreach series, scientists present different scientific topics to the general public in a laid-back atmosphere in an art gallery.

The December 2024 event:
Memory for Artwork is Predictable
Presented by Prof. Wilma Bainbridge
University of Chicago
(full abstract below)

Art in the gallery introduced by Michael Chambers.

PRESENTATION BEGINS AT 8 PM.

Exciting science, art and socializing.
Donation bar.
Vegan snacks.

Events are always free and open to all, so feel free to invite others.
Hope to see you there!

Parlour & Ramp Gallery is at 2130 W. 21st St.
Easily accessible by the pink line (Damen stop) and the Damen Ave. (#50) bus. Some street parking available.
https://parlourandramp.com/

Facebook event page,
https://www.facebook.com/events/1082801176963880/.

You are invited to join the Art of Science Facebook group,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/308458645920283/.

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Memory for Artwork is Predictable

A piece of art can mean different things for different people — it can elicit varied emotions or interpretations based on the person viewing it. However, despite these idiosyncrasies, a recent study run by the Brain Bridge Lab at the University of Chicago found that people are surprisingly similar in the artwork they remember in a museum visit. This is because pieces of art have an intrinsic memorability, where some pieces tend to last in memory while others fade, owing to visual features within the piece.

Prof. Brainbridge will describe an artificial intelligence (AI) she developed with members of her lab that can take in an image and predict people’s chances of remembering it. They found that this AI could correctly guess what pieces people remembered in a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. As a follow-up, the lab ran a nationwide art contest challenging artists to create the most memorable or forgettable pieces. These pieces were showcased in a month-long exhibit in Chicago’s South Side, testing visitors’ memory. Again, artists were successfully able to manipulate people’s memories and the AI was able to predict people’s memories as well.

Images of the paintings from the art contest can be seen at
https://brainbridgelab.uchicago.edu/artcontestgallery/.

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Wilma Bainbridge is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago, where she researches the interaction of perception and memory using behavioral, computational, and neuroscientific methods.

She received her B.A. in Cognitive Science from Yale University and her Ph.D in Brain & Cognitive Sciences at MIT. As faculty, her work has been recognized by awards including an Association for Psychological Science Rising Stars Award, the F.J. McGuigan Early Career Research Award, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Neuroscience.

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Image credit: Joanna Li

Official Website

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Tags: Art of Science: Memory for, Artwork is Predictable, Chicago, Lower West Sied, Parlour and Ramp, Wilma Bainbridge