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Memory Building

Discussion in 'Health and Wellness' started by Gina B, Jan 28, 2012.

  1. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    Do you have any tips and tricks to help improve or retain memory?

    I've had ongoing issues, but in times of stress, it becomes a major problem that impacts my life and can be dangerous.

    I'm looking for ways to work on it. I actually used to work with people on this, but those were Alzheimer's patients and the focus was on remembering very basic things like recognizing the sound of a vacuum cleaner or verbally talking through how to brush your teeth so they'd remember how to as long as possible.

    I'm looking more for stuff like remembering you're cooking, remembering appointments, being able to focus on conversations and keep one up without forgetting what I or the other person just said, remembering directions. That's a weird one, but I can travel the same way every day for months and months and then forget it one day.
     
  2. Scarlett O.

    Scarlett O. Moderator
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    I used to have a lot of memory exercises up my sleeve .... but alas - I have forgotten them. :laugh:

    Seriously, I would be interested in hearing the answers to this question also as one of the symptoms of my perimenopause is memory "malfunction". I don't like saying memory loss as I am afraid I may never find it again. :tongue3:
     
  3. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    I use word association

    for example if I need the stock number off a vehicle (say its 6670) I think the years I spent in high school.

    If I see a license plate # of GIW8084 - I would think of Gina is Wonderful and then the years Reagan was elected.

    If I meet Richard Carter- I think of the two Presidents.

    Oh, by the way what are we talking about :laugh: :smilewinkgrin:
     
  4. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    Salty, I like how you think!

    Scarlet, if we ever meet and I start reaching up your sleeve, don't slap me. I'll be looking for those memory tricks. :laugh:

    Association is a wonderful thing. My biggest concern though is the dangerous stuff, such as forgetting about stuff cooking. I've done it more than once. Poor hubby has also turned around more than once because I couldn't remember if I turned something off. I try to remember to check everything, but then I forget if I did or not. *sigh*
     
  5. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    Just think: Is Hubbys temperature getting hot? Did I turn off the stove?
     
  6. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    I know from reading posts on here that guys get bashed for saying they have hot wives, so if I turn that around, will I get people mad at me too if I say I always think my husband is hot? :laugh:
     
  7. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    Gina
    You burn me up :smilewinkgrin: :D
     
  8. PJ

    PJ Active Member
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    Ha! It's definitely a peri thing. Umm ... I was gonna say something else, but I've forgotten what it was! :D
     
  9. glfredrick

    glfredrick New Member

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    Great question...

    Salty explained one of the ways that those who seem good with their memory cope. There are several other ways that I and others use.

    1. Familiarity -- the more one knows about any given topic the easier it is to recall it when needed. That means that the more time we spend reading Scripture the easier it is to recall when needed, which is different from a plan of intentional memorization. Same goes for other topics.

    2. Teaching -- when one is forced to teach information it often becomes more clear and ingrained into the memory banks. Of course, the first couple of times it may require other memory tools to be in place.

    3. Acrostics -- Using acrostics as a memory aid is one of the most familiar tools out there. We recall the means of prayer by ACTS -- Adoration, Confession, Thanksfgiving, Supplication. We recall the doctrinal tenets of Calvin's soteriology by the TULIP. We realize that BOB spelled backwards is still BOB (just checking to see if anyone is paying attention).

    4. Placement -- Ancient Greek and other philosophers and poets used the device of placement as a memory aid. The way this works is to visualize a familiar room or place then attach a specific memory to each item that one can visualize in their mind. Using a livingroom as an example, one might see the chair on the right and remember that Christ sat down at the right hand of God. Seeing the picture on the wall above the chair reminds us that Christ has a plan for us that is a beautiful picture. The television set reminds us that God is always watching, etc. Of course, one would incorporate other elements into this technique in place of the very easy examples I've given here. I have used this technique to recreate 20 page documents with precise technical theological and doctrinal terms for final exams in very difficult theology coursework with much success.

    5. Patterns -- This is where you memorize in a grid something that is rather complex, and where you let one element assist with the memory of other elements. I've used this for Greek and Hebrew paradigms, and for exams could reproduce the entire paradigm chart that I could then used to quickly resource myself in grammar exercises. Start with a filled-in grid or chart, then look for common patterns. These are easy to remember and one can fill them into the blanks of a new chart or grid quickly, then the remaining individual issues often follow their own patterns, and from what is already listed one can rapidly fill in the balance.

    6. Visualization -- Here (different from placement) one visualizes the terms that one desires to remember. That requires good sight memory but a lot of people remember what they see better than what they hear (your face looks familiar but I cannot recall your name). Some take this a step farther and use a particular feature to recall information about a person or place. "Big Nose Dude" becomes Larry, because Larry on the 3 Stooges had a big nose, etc.

    7. Flat out memorization until it sticks -- This is the grunt work of memorization, where you just repeat and repeat and repeat until you have it nailed down, then use it often so as to recall it. I use this for phone numbers, computer passwords (though not as much as one might think) and other numbers and words critical for work or church. We do this with dates for birthdays, etc.

    8. A code of sorts -- This is my final technique and by it I mean that I may use a very familar phrase -- often in a foreign languge -- then tack on a pre-determined code on the end or beginning of that term to make it unique for every application. This is my password technique and using it I can easily recall over 100 indivudal computer passwords.

    Hope this helps! I use all the techniques above and can generally retain what I process, even if I go through it rather quickly (I read at 750 WPM) with above 90% retention. After having read 10,000+ books I now have quite a storehouse from which to draw, but that does not mean that I don't have to continually re-process and memorize. That is a daily thing! But, it is quite effective. For the most part, I do not look up stuff I post on the board except to fact check a bit and I do look up citations to make sure they are accurate, but I already know what I'm looking for before I go searching based on my prior work.
     
  10. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    My first name is Bob. When I introduce myself, I say "Hi, my name is Bob - but I spell it backwards". The other person will laugh for a moment and smile.

    No one has ever forgotton my name!

    Otherwise, you also gave some great pointers in your post.

    boB
     
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