Improving Your Memory (14 page)

1. Create a word or sentence using the first letters of the names of these downtown streets to help you remember them in order. In this case, it’s important to keep the letters in the same order as the streets.

Main

Adams

Lincoln

Rose

Brown

2. Try using this technique to remember the names of your friend’s cats.

Radar

Alice

Chloe

Create a Word: Expand Random Letters into a Familiar Word.

Sometimes you need to remember a group of letters that make no inherent sense, such as license plates or corporate names. In this case you can add more letters, often vowels, to form a familiar word.

EXAMPLES

On a license plate, you might form the word “extra” out of “xra” or “lefty” out of “lft.”

If you have trouble remembering the name of the company that manages your apartment building, PND, expand these letters to form the word “panda.”

EXERCISE: CREATE A WORD

Expand the following letters into words:

1. PLM ________________________________________

2. RBT ________________________________________

3. GLW ________________________________________

4. STR ________________________________________

5. HLD ________________________________________

Categorization: Group a List of Items by Category.

Categorization is the process of looking at a random list of items and seeing how to group them by category. It is easier to remember three categories that serve as cues for several of the items in the list than to remember each of the nine items separately.

EXAMPLES

These nine items could be grouped into three categories:

Canned goods: green chilies, cranberry sauce, tuna

Snacks: popcorn, chips, cookies

Liquids: milk, juice, soda

Imagine that you are trying to come up with a list of friends and acquaintances for an anniversary party. You might consider categories of friends, such as neighbors, work colleagues, church members, or card-playing friends. This technique would help you recall a larger number of your friends and acquaintances than a random thought process would.

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Improving Your Ability to Recall

I remembered that, and, remembering that, I remembered everything.

—Neil Gaiman

Everyone needs help from time to time recalling information—even when we know that information very well. When you know that the information you seek is in your long-term memory but you can’t recall it when you need it, there are three helpful techniques to turn to.

Cue Yourself: Search Your Memory Bank for Related Facts That May Serve as Cues.

When you can’t think of something that you know is stored in your long-term memory, you may find that merely thinking longer and harder does not bring it back to mind. You might try this instead. When you want to retrieve specific information from long-term memory, try thinking of related facts. These facts may serve as cues to trigger the information you want.

This technique can be used for recalling

• The name of a famous person

• The French word for “friend”

• The name of a TV show

• Where an out-of-town friend lives

• What you did last Saturday

EXAMPLES

Betsy was on her way to the library to get a DVD of her grandchildren’s favorite show, because they were coming for a visit. She thought she would recognize the title in the children’s section. When she got there, she discovered that there were hundreds of titles in that section, arranged alphabetically. Rather than spend her time working her way from A to Z in this section, she thought, “I should be able to come up with this title.” She began to search for cues that would trigger the name of the program. Betsy thought about the main character wearing a stethoscope and remembered that she was a doctor. She thought, “It is Doc Something ... Of course! It’s
Doc McStuffins
.”

Jamie: I met a woman at a party last week. When she introduced herself, I knew I had met her before. I remembered our interaction, but I couldn’t remember where we had met. After I left the party, I searched for cues related to our initial meeting that would trigger the information about where we met. I thought about how long ago the initial meeting took place, what we had talked about, who else was involved in the conversation, and my feelings about the interaction. It suddenly occurred to me that we had met at a fundraiser given by a coworker.

EXERCISE: CUE YOURSELF

See if you can recall the two candidates who ran for president of the United States in 2000. If you don’t immediately know, search your memory for related facts that could serve as cues for this information.

Alphabet Search: Go through the Alphabet to Jog Your Memory.

Alphabet search is the process of thinking through the sounds of the letters of the alphabet from A to Z to see if one will serve as a cue to jog your memory.

EXAMPLES

If you’re trying to remember the name of someone you have just met, run through the sounds of the alphabet. Hearing the sound of the letter “m” may trigger the name Mike.

You want to describe the food you ate last night to a friend but can’t remember the word “fettucini.” You might go through the alphabet hoping that the beginning sound of one of the letters will cue your memory.

EXERCISE: LETTER CUES