We want to remember things, right? It would be very inconvenient and annoying (and also frustrating) to never remember anything. Our whole lives would come to a halt. A big part of us remembering deals with our short-term memory, the limited things we can keep in mind at once. In particular, our working memory really may play a role in what gets transferred from short-term to long-term memory.
In working memory, we really get to think about what is in our minds. We can form new ideas. We can retain information. We can make meaning out of things. Working memory is quite important, and, without it, we wouldn’t be able to think.
Not only that, imagine without a working memory, we would never know who WE even are. Our identities would form, at least not with nearly as much complexity it does now. We couldn’t form new opinions, understand what we like and don’t like, or socialize in any meaningful way.
Working memory is so vital.
Given how important working memory is, we should probably figure out how to really make use of and improve our working memory capabilities.
Yet, it isn’t that easy.
We naturally already try to do this. And, according to research, we kind of do this poorly.
There are many potential techniques we can use to improve working memory in the moment; among the most common is a category of techniques called “rehearsal.” Rehearsal is any way we decide or automatically repeat information in order to retain it.
The research cited at the end of this article that I will be referencing does a review on 3 ways we might rehearse information: articulatory rehearsal, refreshing, and elaborative rehearsal.
Articulatory rehearsal is the most commonly cited variation which just means we are repeating the words in our head or out loud. If I asked you to remember this list, you would repeat it over and over until I ask you again to please tell me the items of that list: person, woman, man, camera, TV.
Person, woman, man, camera, TV
Person, woman, man, camera, TV
Person, woman, man, camera, TV
Does it work? Well, actually, no. It may work for some people, but on average, for adults, it doesn’t work any better than if you just spent more time with these words in general. There is nothing special about repeating the words that makes it stick in memory better.
Do I suggest not repeating words? No.
It probably IS helpful, just not as helpful as we think. AND, like I said, it does work for some people. In this case, for children, it seems to work. Children may benefit from the extra attention that they have to use to concentrate on the repetition of these words. For adults, we me already have enough attention, at least compared to children. I am not completely sold on that because there are many adults I know, that….well….whatever. Next technique.
Refreshing is more of an automatic process where in our minds, every now and again, our brain decides to go through the items of a list. If I give you list of person, woman, man, camera, TV and then a second list of human, female, male, picture, video, as I am telling you your next list, your mind is refreshing the first list. About 25% of people can consciously say they do this.
Does it work? No. Well, sort of. For the most recent items, you might be able to recall them a bit more quickly, but it DOES NOT help you remember all of the items. Again, time helps more than anything else.
The last technique that was reviewed was the elaborative rehearsal technique. This means we are trying to attach meaning or something else to what we have to remember in order to improve memory. If you have your favorite list you need to remember--person, woman, man, camera, TV—you may try to put these words into a sentence or attach these words to events in your own life.
Does it work? No. At least, it doesn’t improve working memory. It does, however, improve long-term memory, which is nice. That means, if you wanted to state the list right away, you may have trouble. But if I asked you tomorrow, you likely would be able to recall all the items.
So if this doesn’t work, what does? Well, I don’t think we have completely ruled out all of these options, and there are likely others (e.g., pneumonic devices). However, I do think it may be possible that it really is just time spent with information that allows us to keep information in working memory. That, and, we likely have to do other things beforehand to try and remember.
What do I mean by that?
Well, I mean that we can improve the general skill of working memory. Playing games, for example, may help (like I mentioned in this post). Trying to improve our memory on the spot is tough. But, if we have put time and energy into our memory beforehand, we will be better equipped to take on the challenges of remembering things as they come.
But, there are other things we can do as well. When we are less stressed, we likely have better memory. You have more capacity to remember things and more space in you to work with those ideas and concepts.
Eating in a healthy and clean way, generally, helps so much as well.
When you have adequate sleep (both in duration and in quality), you are able to have better brain functions in general. I’ll also be dedicating the month of May to this topic of sleep, in case you are interested in hearing more!
Are there techniques or general life strategies you take to improve memory? I’d be curious to hear what works (or doesn’t work) for you!
Until next time.
-Alex
Comments