Quality of sight picture vs. speed vs. actually seeing

[HighVelocity]

Ok, bear with me for a second. I'm not sure I can explain this in a manner that's understandable but I'm going to do my best.

Lately I've been trying really hard to remember every aspect of a match that I've shot, after it's all over. Picking it apart in my mind, so to speak. Stage by stage, target by target, shot by shot. I am getting my hits and I'm calling every shot because I know without looking at the target, whether there's a hit, or not. I also feel like I'm operating at a good speed based on final scores.

What's bugging me is that when I'm picking it all apart, after the fact, I almost NEVER remember seeing the sights. I KNOW that I see them because when I pull a shot, I see it's because the front sight wasn't where I wanted it to be, right at the moment it happens. Why can't I see a sight picture in memory?

I'm not a shrink, don't have a psych degree and it's been months since I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. There's got to be a good explanation for this, right?

Edited September 24, 2008 by HighVelocity

[NMBOpen]

Let me preface this by saying I've NEVER stayed at a Holiday in Express...

From your description, you are seeing desirable results (hit - move on, miss - make up), so the process of getting those results is relatively inconsequential and not recorded - sort of like the drive home from work - you got there but don't remember any details along the way, unless something forced your attention, like a deer suddenly in the road. I would need to shift focus to the process rather than the result to see what seems to be missing.

[BritinUSA]

Your sub-conscious is probably processing the sight picture; Trying to analyse what is happening after the fact is very difficult and can be counter-productive.

There's some interesting stuff on this subject in a book called 'Blink'

[Jake Di Vita]

I don't know, and honestly wouldn't really worry about it. Conscious thought during the stage could be a factor.

If the performance is there, I'm less inclined to need to know why. It's when performance starts suffering that diagnosing technique is critical.

[Genghis]

From what I remember from Cognitive Psyc, there are three kinds of memory: iconic, short-term, and long-term.

Iconic memory is what you will "see" in your mind's eye if you close your eyes right now - the burned-in image recorded momentarily in the part of your brain that receives visual input. It fades in a few seconds, and is normally not stored permanently.

Short-term ("echoic") memory is your memory of what you heard in the last few seconds. For instance, most people can remember seven items in a list, plus or minus two.

Long-term memory includes everything that is permanently stored in your brain. The theory is that none of this info actually disappears. Rather, "forgetting" something is actually the inability to recall it, rather than the loss of the info. Info is only stored in LTM if it is meaningful to you, or if you make an effort to remember it. For instance, you might permanently store theforementioned list of items by repeating them over and over. Or you might make up a song or sentence that uses them all in order (like Potsie did), or find some common thread that ties them together.

Someone with more recent psyc classes may want to chime in and correct anything I misremembered.

I can imagine you remembering certain memorable shots, whether they be particularly difficult or outcome-determinative for the match. But it would be very difficult to actually memorize an image of each shot in a match being fired.