How to do your memory test

Today while thinking on what to write I came with an idea of writing on testing your memory. Again, it sounds like checking your pc, but it is not what I am really talking about. I want to write a few useful ideas on how to test where you are regarding your remembering skills. You have to see whether you are progressing or regressing in the area. In order to do that, you have to ask yourself a number of questions and to answer them. You will also have to decide whether you want to make some improvement or you are just happy with the way things are at the moment. 

Let me give you a word of encouragement first. Daily forgetting happens to everybody and it is not a very serious problem. Even those who practice various memory techniques experience that. And it will probably not be a sign of Alzheimer or something similar. However, you see more and more of forgetting you should ask yourself whether it is not a good time to start exercising your brains. 

So, let us do a little testing. 

1. How much do you remember about things you did yesterday?

2. What about today? How much do you remember things you did today?

3. How many things you can remember (from shopping list) without actually making a list?

4. Can you remember people names easily?

5. Can you remember people phones easily?

6. Can you remember driving directions easily?

7. Do you remember of your friends’ birthdays without any problem?

8. Do you often forget where you parked your car after you get out of the shopping mall?

9. Do you find having problems to calculate elementary tasks from calculus ‘like five multiplied by seven’?

10. Do you forget what you promise and fail to remember to do things from your daily routine?

I might go on and on, but if most of the answers to the question are ‘yes’ you should get worried about the state of your memory. Better safe than sorry! Start training it and if that does not help you might also consult your doctor (just to be sure you don’t have something serious to worry about). 

Ok, I will try to continue the topic tomorrow and talk about something that might help you to identify whether you have serious memory problems or not.

Have a nice day.

See also:

Most common memory problems and disorders and their causes

Most common memory problems and disorders and their causes

Memory problems and disorders

Real (not seeming) memory problems are symptoms of psychical disorders. If a person is not able to concentrate his attention at all and does not remember most ordinary things it can be a sign of depression or neurosis. Our memory, first and foremost point to our general psychical state. In case of some diseases, memory strengthens in an unhealthy way.  It is called hyper amnesia. In this kind of situation, a person may remember unpleasant things from distant past: all bad things he/she has done, how others wronged him/her and etc. When one is ill with some mental diseases he/she might often have a memory disorder that is called par amnesia. In this case, an individual may not remember some events and he fills in the “gaps” by fictitious ones. If par amnesia gets stronger he is no longer able to comprehend which events were real and which ones are fictitious. 

Memory disorders: amnesia – partial or complete memory loss

Scientists researched people with such kind of problems and they got a lot of information on how human memory works. Anterograde amnesia is when a person does not remember current events. Retrograde amnesia when one does not remember events before damage to the brains had been done. Study of amnesia case confirms existence of previously discovered different memory types. Motory, perceptual and even cognitive skills are (and very quickly restored) and facts are forgotten.

Various memory areas contain both personal and general facts. In this situation a person may remember general facts how many months and seasons a year, or how many days a month has, but he does not remember personal facts (who my family is). There could also be childhood amnesia. Sigmund Freud was the first to coin the term. He first noticed that his patients do not remember what was up to three or even five years. A lot of current research confirms that. Freud explained this kind of amnesia stating that a child pushes out all sexual and aggressive impulses that he felt for his parents. However, this kind of amnesia encompasses all the areas of memory. There has been developed a more acceptable explanation regarding the fact and it was: there is a big qualitative difference between the way children remember (how information is encoded) and how adults do it. Adults do it immediately, attributing it to some categories, schemes and children do it without any associations. It resembles eidetic memory in a way. 

Memory exercises for solving remembering problems and disorders

People who complain about weakening of their memories can definitely improve them. One of the best ways to do that is to try to learn poems by heart and likewise study foreign languages. It is a very effective way, but it requires a lot of patience and time. Therefore, those who are willing to undertake the practice should not do than a few simple exercises a day. This will have tremendous effect on: memory, social life, relationships and many other areas of life.