Do you remember what day it is? Where are you? What is your name? If so, there is nothing wrong with your memory. Forgetting names? Mix up dates? Cannot memorize National casino slots online providers? Don’t know where you put your keys? Not remembering plans? That’s okay, but there are ways to do it less often.
How to Fix Memory Errors
We often complain that our memory fails us because we mistake some features of it for irregularities. In reality, it is not our memory that is failing us, but rather our habit of evaluating this brain function by analogy to a computer, where any oddity with memory is a sign of hardware or software problems. Our memory doesn’t work like a computer; it doesn’t have a hard drive or its own department in the brain. It is not even one process, but many interconnected processes running at different levels. And in order to get the most out of memory without disrupting it, we need to learn to understand it.
You Forget What Just Happened
They call you the name of a new acquaintance at a meeting, and you immediately forget it. Unpleasant, embarrassing, but most importantly – why?
Because you do not remember it. While receiving this information, you were focused on something else and just ignored it. As a result, it lasted in your sensory memory for the allotted three seconds and disappeared forever.
What to do? Politely ask again. And for the future, information in short-term memory is encoded as sound. To remember a name you have heard for the first time, pronounce it yourself at least once. It works without fail.
You Can’t Remember Lists, Numbers, or Quotes
You’ve just read a card number, reached to type it into a website to pay and – you can’t remember anything. No, it’s not a sign of dementia, it’s perfectly normal.
Why? Because short-term memory operates with short blocks of information – from 5 to 9 elements. But there are a lot more digits in the credit card number – as many as 16.
What to do? Break long sequences of numbers into short blocks of two or three elements – that’s how we remember phone numbers. If it’s a to-do or shopping list, you can categorize them: short-term memory is geared toward structuring information. You can give blocks of information personality with the help of emotionally colored associations.
You Remember Things That Didn’t Happen
You remember so clearly that you were sailing as a child that you don’t believe your eyes and ears when you see the pictures and hear your relatives tell you that in fact you were just launching a toy boat in the fire pond.
Why? Actually, the information itself about long ago events doesn’t go anywhere. The amount of long-term memory is virtually unlimited. But new connections between neurons can “overlap” old ones, creating unusual effects such as deja vu. Technically, false memories are not that far from what we think of as real memories. Scientists have found that memories of long ago events are constantly being “rewritten” in the light of accumulated experience.
What to do? Nothing. Rewriting personal history is a natural psychological process. For example, Freud believed that this is how we push unpleasant or painful experiences out of the mind. So, maybe it is better not to remember that ship – what if it sank, causing you mental trauma.
You Forget What You Have Planned for the Day
You arranged in advance to meet with an acquaintance after work, but at the appointed time you forgot about everything because of an interesting conversation with your colleagues.
Why? The future, which does not yet exist, interests the brain no more than the past, which no longer exists. If life and well-being do not depend on the planned work, it always pales in the background of current tasks. The principle here is simple: if during the day you have something important or exciting to do, you are almost guaranteed to forget about the plans.
What to do? Use the automatic reminders on your smartphone. But if you like to test your willpower, you can try to develop the skill of reacting to certain triggers, for example, accustom yourself to think about the planned activities at the sight of some detail of the interior.
