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Memory
Quote
- During coffee break: “The reason I have such a wonderful memory for names is because I took that Sam Carnegie course.” - Martin Buxbaum in Table Talk
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What People Forget
I was relieved to find out that I’m not the only one who forgets things. Everyone does at one time or another, according to Karen Bolla, A Johns Hopkins researcher. These are the things people most often forget:
And if you can’t remember whether you’ve just done something, you join 38 percent of the population.
Our Daily Bread, December 27, 1996
Remember Names and Faces
We are all so vain that we love to have our names remembered by those who have met us but once. We exaggerate the talents and virtues of those who can do this and we are ready to repay their powers with lifelong devotion. The ability to associate in the mind names and faces is a tremendous asset to a politician and it will prolong the pastorate of any clergyman.
William Lyons Phelps, American educator and literary critic, quoted in Bits & Pieces, June 22, 1995, p. 17
Forgetful
An older couple had trouble remembering common, day-to-day things. They both decided that they would write down requests the other had, and so try to avoid forgetting. One evening the wife asked if the husband would like anything. He replied, “Yes. I’d like a large ice-cream sundae with chocolate ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry on top.” The wife started off for the kitchen and the husband shouted after her, “Aren’t you going to write it down?” “Don’t be silly,” she hollered back, “I’m going to fix it right now. I won’t forget.”
She was gone for quite some time. When she finally returned, she set down in front of him a large plate of hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, and a glass of orange juice. He took a look and said “I knew you should have written it down! You forgot the toast!”
Source unknown
Memory Improvement
A man went to a memory improvement seminar and was excited about what he learned. A friend asked him what the name of the seminar was. “What’s that flower in the garden, long stems, thorns, bright red...” “Oh, you must mean a rose?” “Yeah, that’s right. Rose, what was the name of that seminar I went to?”
Source unknown
Learning and Recall
Do you feel as if you’re a million years behind in one or more of your classes? Do you have trouble recalling anything when you hear the word “test”? You might do better if you tried a few simple learning techniques.
When you study, what position are you in? Research shows lying down is the poorest position for learning. Sitting up is much better. Standing while learning is better still. And walking while learning is best of all, provided you’re in familiar territory and don’t stumble over anything. And if you are firmly gripping something while in any of these positions, they you increase the level of learning for that position. So the best position would be to walk while gripping your book.
Another tip is to study in the place where you will have to recall the material. Studies show that environmental cues help trigger our memories.
It’s so important, whenever possible, to sleep following your study. Unless you are very fatigued, you’ll find it best to study at night and review in the morning. Sleep improves retention greatly because the brain has time to consolidate the material without added interference. So if you are studying for a lot of tests, it would be good for you to take a nap several times a day.
When you’re studying a series of subjects, one right after another, make sure the subjects are dissimilar. If you finish studying Spanish, don’t switch right to English.
Students who have recall problems on tests should check their diets—it’s recommended they cut out all sugar and make sure they’re getting enough vitamins. You won’t believe the difference it makes in your grades.
We have two memory processes in our brain. Our short-term memory is designed to handle details we need for a brief time, but don’t want to clutter our minds with forever. Facts we want to remember indefinitely are processed in the area of the brain set aside for long-term memory.
To send material to the long-term segment of the brain, repetition and drill are very important. If you review any given bit of information for as long as 60 minutes, even over the course of a few days, that material will register almost indefinitely.
If you had two hours to spend in studying a subject, should you do it in one sitting or should you break up the time into 10-, 15- or 20-minute segments? Breaking up the time will improve your learning efficiency.
There are a couple of additional tips that may help you. First, in serial learning, where you have a long list or a whole chapter to master, the first part will be easiest to remember and the last is the next easiest. So if you wan to remember everything equally well, spend a little extra time on the part just past the middle. The last little trick involves “chunking.” The average brain has the capacity for holding seven bits of information at any given instant for immediate recall. Knowing this fact, you can make things easier by dividing up a chapter into five parts and then divide each of those parts into five, and so on. You should be able to amass a greater amount of material in a far shorter time—and be able to recall it. -
Elden M. Chalmers, Campus Life, December, 1979
Memory—The Art of Attention
Improving one’s memory is not all that difficult. Most of us simply don’t expend the time or effort required. “The true art of memory,” wrote an English historian, “is the art of attention.” We can improve our memories by simply putting our minds to it and by following a few simple rules:
1. Remember to remember. Telling yourself that you want to remember this or that fact and concentrating on it will improve your memory immediately. We remember what we WANT to remember.
2. Sharpen your observation. Pay close attention to what you see and hear. Use images. Shut your eyes and try to SEE it. Notice details. Really LOOK at things. Few people actually do.
3. Practice recall. Forgetting is most rapid soon after learning. It helps, therefore, to make a deliberate effort to repeat and review immediately. Repetition will help fix the fact or image in our minds.
4. Concentrate. Eliminate distractions. The mind is at its best when it is centered on one thing at a time. Avoid such things as fatigue, noise, and competing visual images during the time you are trying to learn.
Bits and Pieces, October, 1989, p.
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