Strategies in Improving Memory and Age-Related Thinking Skills
Public health column on memory tricks suggested by the July 2017 Harvard health newsletter, including repetition, note-taking, associations and chunking.
Forgetfulness can sometimes be embarrassing. Whether you're a student who's trying to get over and done with a recitation class or a guest in a party who's struggling to remember names and faces, being forgetful can put you in some difficult situations. Difficulties can happen to both the young and the not so young, but it is more common in the latter. But like in an organization where rank has its privilege, age-related memory problems also has its ready excuse – "senior moments" as they say it is. If you're having some memory problems, the July 2017 Harvard health newsletter suggests the following tricks to improve thinking and memory.
The memory process
Memory involves three processes: encoding, recording, and retrieval. The brain encodes (takes in) new information; it then records (stores) the information; finally, your brain retrieves information when you need it.
Memory tricks
1. Repeat what you hear out loud. Repetition increases the likelihood of recall. Your brain will record the information and you will be able to retrieve it later on. Each repetition gives your brain another opportunity to encode the information. "The more the encoding the greater the recall," explains Dr. Joel Salinas, a neurologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
2. Make a note of people you need to call, errands to run, and appointments. "We are much better at recognition than recall," Dr. Salinas explains. "With recognition, such as reading a list, you have additional hooks or hints that help you find the information you're looking for."
3. Make associations. Make connections or associations between new and old information. Connect a person's name to something familiar. For example, if a person's name is Dominic, imagine that person inside the Santo Domingo Church. Create a story around a shopping list. "Our brain is good at sequences. It's like looking at a flow chart. Putting things in its proper order or sequence in a story helps improve memory. For example, if your list includes coffee, bread, and butter, the story could revolve around having breakfast meeting with your favorite relative over coffee and buttered bread.
4. Divide information into chunks. If you're tasked to memorize a long poem or a song, memorize it in portions until you complete the whole. If you're trying to memorize a speech in a wedding or a wake, focus on getting only one sentence or idea down at a time. Not the whole speech in one take.
