In Touch with the Past: A Sensory Approach to Objects, Memory and Wellbeing

数字媒体的快速发展改变了人们接触和参与博物馆藏品的方式。然而，与物理人工制品的接触，特别是对物体的处理，继续提供强大的学习经验。现在需要更广泛的实证研究来了解个人感官如何促进学习和“意义创造”，并确定更高水平的参与是否会改善记忆力和幸福感。我将使用心理学、考古学、博物馆研究和创造性实践的方法和理论的创新组合来回答这些问题。这将涉及观众研究和实验，主要集中在圣安德鲁斯大学的桥梁考古收藏。

The rapid growth of digital media has transformed access to and engagement with museum collections. Nevertheless, encounters with physical artefacts, and particularly object handling, continue to provide powerful learning experiences. Broader empirical research is now needed to understand how individual senses contribute to learning and 'meaning-making' and to establish whether higher levels of engagement lead to improved memory and wellbeing. I will answer these questions using an innovative combination of methods and theory from psychology, archaeology, museum studies and creative practice. This will involve audience research and experimentation focusing primarily upon the University of St Andrews' Bridges Archaeology Collection.