1. The most immediate reason you don't remember names is, you don't think you can. "If you think you can, or if you think you cannot, you are probably right." It is almost impossible to do that which you think you can't do. And when you think you can't remember names you don't even pay attention let alone put forth the effort. This is a self limiting misconception, and can only be corrected by proving to your self that you can REMEMBER NAMES.
2. Often you don't even hear the person's name. It could be that they are not speaking clearly, it could even be they have one of those powerful hand grips, and crush the fingers of everyone they meet. What is comical about that is, they use the strong pressure just so you will remember them. The problem is once you do not hear their name your brain takes the position "We already forgot that name." Now you have to work extra hard just to defeat the position your brain has already taken .
3. More often than not you are thinking of something else, like what you can do for them, how you can help them, what they can do for you. But do you say "I wasn't listening", no cause that would sound like you don't care, so instead you say/think "I can't remember names". Do this a couple of hundred times and that is what is playing in your mind at the moment you are meeting people.
4. Since you do not already know the person you are meeting they just are not important to you yet. So you do not do anything to make sure you remember. You must value them before you hear their name to enhance your chances of remembering. "The probability of creating a memory is enhanced by the activity of value systems." P 98 A Universe of Consciousness G. Edelman & G. Tononi.
5. Sometimes you are just overwhelmed, you are meeting so many people that you think, you cannot remember them all, so in democratic fashion you forget them all, just to keep everyone equal.
6. You aren't using the brain the way it developed. For the vast majority of the history of our species we did not have written words. We remembered everything by rhythm, and chants, and dance. Now almost everything we learn is through the written word. We allow our keen ability to learn by listening to atrophy, social conditioning plays a role "Never believe anything you hear".
7. Probably the worst reason of all is, you think you can fool people so you don't have to remember their name. On one internet blog the statement goes something like this, "When you don't remember someone's name just ask "How do you spell your name again? And if you forget it again just use the same technique and they will never notice." This is like adding insult to injury. What can be a rather small injury, unless of course this is one of your best customers, friends, or worse, is turned into an insult. Read (You are not smart enough to know or notice that in fact I forgot your name AGAIN).
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Human Brain Memory
Ooops, forgot your keys in the car? 41520..41570..what's Betty's phone number? What was Julian's brother's name? Missed your best friend's birthday?? Missed the appointment with your doctorr?
There are countless times when your memory must have let you down.
When you look into the human brain memory, you will discover just how complex it really is. There are two different types of memories and both are important in our everyday lives and both can deteriorate as time goes by. For having a powerful memory you need to make optimum use of your brain both left and right.
Let us know more about the human brain memory and how it works.
There are two different types of human memories. The first is short term memory and the second is long term memory. You do not need to hammer your brain for remembering things but master skills that will help you have a terrific human memory.
Short term memory is the type of memory that deteriorates the quickest. It is used to read and to recall information not long after we have experienced something. So you could have recently watched a television program and you are trying to explain it to friends and family. In order to explain it, you would have to recall the information from your short term memory. Also as you read something, your short term memory will hang onto the first part of the sentence and continue as you carry on reading.
The short term memory does have a limit as to how much information it can store. However, if you clump pieces of information together it can help to increase the capacity of the short term memory. For example, a hyphenated phone number is easier to remember than a single long number is.
The long term memory is designed to store information for years at a time. Your long term memory will have information from your childhood as well as from your years growing up. So if you want to recall information from the past, it will be coming from your long term memory.
Now generally the long term human brain memory is composed of two parts. There is the episodic and the semantic memory. The semantic memory contains facts, skills and concepts that we have learned from our past experiences. Our episodic memory contains what we remember from our experiences in serial form. So you basically put together what happened again and facts can actually get changed.
Another fact about the long term memory is that whatever goes into our short term memory will automatically go into the long term memory too. However, the long term memory chooses to either store the information or delete it. It will determine whether you need the information again and if it is considered that you don't need it, it will be removed. So the human memory is quite clever in that way.
Overall the human memory is a complicated thing. It deteriorates over time and it mainly has two sections to it. However, there are things that you can do to improve your memory power significantly. Various exercises have been developed to help you to train your brain to remember things more clearly and that can really help to keep the brain active and healthy.
There are countless times when your memory must have let you down.
When you look into the human brain memory, you will discover just how complex it really is. There are two different types of memories and both are important in our everyday lives and both can deteriorate as time goes by. For having a powerful memory you need to make optimum use of your brain both left and right.
Let us know more about the human brain memory and how it works.
There are two different types of human memories. The first is short term memory and the second is long term memory. You do not need to hammer your brain for remembering things but master skills that will help you have a terrific human memory.
Short term memory is the type of memory that deteriorates the quickest. It is used to read and to recall information not long after we have experienced something. So you could have recently watched a television program and you are trying to explain it to friends and family. In order to explain it, you would have to recall the information from your short term memory. Also as you read something, your short term memory will hang onto the first part of the sentence and continue as you carry on reading.
The short term memory does have a limit as to how much information it can store. However, if you clump pieces of information together it can help to increase the capacity of the short term memory. For example, a hyphenated phone number is easier to remember than a single long number is.
The long term memory is designed to store information for years at a time. Your long term memory will have information from your childhood as well as from your years growing up. So if you want to recall information from the past, it will be coming from your long term memory.
Now generally the long term human brain memory is composed of two parts. There is the episodic and the semantic memory. The semantic memory contains facts, skills and concepts that we have learned from our past experiences. Our episodic memory contains what we remember from our experiences in serial form. So you basically put together what happened again and facts can actually get changed.
Another fact about the long term memory is that whatever goes into our short term memory will automatically go into the long term memory too. However, the long term memory chooses to either store the information or delete it. It will determine whether you need the information again and if it is considered that you don't need it, it will be removed. So the human memory is quite clever in that way.
Overall the human memory is a complicated thing. It deteriorates over time and it mainly has two sections to it. However, there are things that you can do to improve your memory power significantly. Various exercises have been developed to help you to train your brain to remember things more clearly and that can really help to keep the brain active and healthy.
Photographic Memory Training Exercises
Photographic memory training exercises are used to develop and improve and individual's memory. Most techniques taught in books focus on the ability to retain and recall information when needed. However, photographic memory training exercises should focus on the learning process, rather than the memorization. It is the learning process that creates links in the mind, allowing it to recall the information at a later time.
There are many common photographic memory training exercises, such as list building, word association (also known as visualization and association) and story telling. These exercises are useful in remembering lists such as birthdays, telephone numbers, or your shopping list.
Whilst there is great controversy regarding the existence of photographic memory, it is without a doubt that these exercises when used, can train the mind to improve on its mental capacity and memory.
The best method that we recommend would be the picture game. This is one that can be adapted to use with children or adults, and the best element of this exercise is that it is fun. This makes it an interesting experience, and people are more likely to remember what they learnt and put it into practice. When working with children, it is also a good suggestion to involve a reward, as this will motivate them to work harder and pay attention to what you are trying to teach.
The Picture Game
This is a fantastic exercise for improving your sensory memory, especially your vision. Start with a simple picture that involves at least a foreground and a background. Study the picture for a minute, then put it away and see how much of it you can recall. For example, what were the people wearing? What colour was the house? How many apples were on the tree? These are simple questions which will inspire you to want to recall everything about the picture, making it a great exercise. With constant practice, you can move on to more complex pictures, and soon you will find yourself on the way towards developing a photographic memory!
There are many common photographic memory training exercises, such as list building, word association (also known as visualization and association) and story telling. These exercises are useful in remembering lists such as birthdays, telephone numbers, or your shopping list.
Whilst there is great controversy regarding the existence of photographic memory, it is without a doubt that these exercises when used, can train the mind to improve on its mental capacity and memory.
The best method that we recommend would be the picture game. This is one that can be adapted to use with children or adults, and the best element of this exercise is that it is fun. This makes it an interesting experience, and people are more likely to remember what they learnt and put it into practice. When working with children, it is also a good suggestion to involve a reward, as this will motivate them to work harder and pay attention to what you are trying to teach.
The Picture Game
This is a fantastic exercise for improving your sensory memory, especially your vision. Start with a simple picture that involves at least a foreground and a background. Study the picture for a minute, then put it away and see how much of it you can recall. For example, what were the people wearing? What colour was the house? How many apples were on the tree? These are simple questions which will inspire you to want to recall everything about the picture, making it a great exercise. With constant practice, you can move on to more complex pictures, and soon you will find yourself on the way towards developing a photographic memory!
Great Life With Great Memory
The brain is a complex organ to which not even the most modern computers can compare. It controls all the body functions through complicated processes that even after all medical advancement of our time haven’t been fully mastered.
Now, among its most important functions is memory retention. This involves the process by which information usually about the past is recalled or restored to be of use in the present. The brain allocates within itself specific parts to handle storage and retrieval of information. As can be expected there is short-term and long-term memory. Short-term memory involves information that has been used in the not so distant past like the title of a book one has just read or a phone number just dialed. Long-term memory would be like childhood memories.
The importance of having sound memory capabilities cannot be underlined further. The good news is that the human brain can be conditioned and trained to retain more memory. Much like the way the body muscles can be exercised to become stronger, the brain can be trained to keep more relevant information to very great advantages.
The cerebral cortex, hippocampus and the amygdala are the brains storage areas to be precise. The more one uses or exercises the brain the better it gets at storing information. The first key to improving the memory is increasing concentration and keenness when taking in new information. Concentration causes the hippocampus to send instruction to the cerebral cortex to commit the data to memory. The more frequent this exercise is carried out the more the process is refined leading to better memory.
The main trick in ensuring an active brain is to break routines every once in a while e.g. trying a new job or strategy yet unused, trying to work with a different hand i.e. if one is right handed trying to write using the left hand. What this does is to engage the brain to get used to different kinds of input thus creating more information pathways.
Knowing oneself is a key to improving memory retention. Some people remember better things they see or hear. Customizing information into a form that most appeals to one’s senses is key to remembering more. This however should not keep one from using as many senses as possible in taking in information. One could practice reading aloud, creating visual aids and relating information to tangible things like colors and shapes.
Its important to arrange information as it comes in for easy retrieval when needed. This works the same way a well arranged room or desk becomes easy to use. This also extends to information back ups like diaries, phonebooks and which will enable fast and easy access to data when required. Relating new information to what one already has committed to memory. This familiarizes the information and will come in handy when trying to remember. It’s important for one to keep on reciting information and bringing it up in spaced intervals and maintaining a healthy attitude towards the process of improving memory.
Now, among its most important functions is memory retention. This involves the process by which information usually about the past is recalled or restored to be of use in the present. The brain allocates within itself specific parts to handle storage and retrieval of information. As can be expected there is short-term and long-term memory. Short-term memory involves information that has been used in the not so distant past like the title of a book one has just read or a phone number just dialed. Long-term memory would be like childhood memories.
The importance of having sound memory capabilities cannot be underlined further. The good news is that the human brain can be conditioned and trained to retain more memory. Much like the way the body muscles can be exercised to become stronger, the brain can be trained to keep more relevant information to very great advantages.
The cerebral cortex, hippocampus and the amygdala are the brains storage areas to be precise. The more one uses or exercises the brain the better it gets at storing information. The first key to improving the memory is increasing concentration and keenness when taking in new information. Concentration causes the hippocampus to send instruction to the cerebral cortex to commit the data to memory. The more frequent this exercise is carried out the more the process is refined leading to better memory.
The main trick in ensuring an active brain is to break routines every once in a while e.g. trying a new job or strategy yet unused, trying to work with a different hand i.e. if one is right handed trying to write using the left hand. What this does is to engage the brain to get used to different kinds of input thus creating more information pathways.
Knowing oneself is a key to improving memory retention. Some people remember better things they see or hear. Customizing information into a form that most appeals to one’s senses is key to remembering more. This however should not keep one from using as many senses as possible in taking in information. One could practice reading aloud, creating visual aids and relating information to tangible things like colors and shapes.
Its important to arrange information as it comes in for easy retrieval when needed. This works the same way a well arranged room or desk becomes easy to use. This also extends to information back ups like diaries, phonebooks and which will enable fast and easy access to data when required. Relating new information to what one already has committed to memory. This familiarizes the information and will come in handy when trying to remember. It’s important for one to keep on reciting information and bringing it up in spaced intervals and maintaining a healthy attitude towards the process of improving memory.
How To Make Memory Exercises Work for You
Once in a while you will find yourself doing strange things such as asking people the same questions several times and not realizing it, forgetting important meetings, leaving your phone in the house only to realize when you are halfway to the office and many other things. This is an indication that you may be experiencing memory loss. However, you don’t need to worry as there are ways you can jolt your brain to start being alert once more. Memory exercises will help bring your brain back to shape and stop acting insane.
Memory exercises will work only if you make yourself accept that you have a memory problem. Tell yourself that you have a problem and that you are going to work on it. Then tell your mind to start remembering things. Also acknowledge the importance of remembering something so that you know you have a reason for doing that.
If you decide to take up daily exercises such as playing your favorite games or going for short walks, then make it a routine and don’t forget. Be serious with them if you want to achieve positive results. Mind games such as Sudoku or cross word puzzles are also good brain jolting exercises and can really help your brain to be active.
Memorizing things can also help. Try to memorize people’s names to avoid embarrassments when you meet them later. If you are a student memorize the math formulas to help you remember them when you need to use them later. Also learn to concentrate when you are in class as this will help you later in trying to remember things during revision or during exam time. When you learn something new relate to something else you already know for better understanding and hence remembrance.
There are memory books available online that you can look at for tips on how you can improve your memory if you are not sure what to do. You can also enroll for memory lessons or sessions at your local gym because there you will find professionals who will help you recover your brain power much faster.
Stressful situations are not good for your brain so try to avoid stress as much as possible. Stress makes the brain tired and inactive and the rate of forgetfulness increases. Memory exercises will not work for you if you keep allowing yourself to be stressed out. Bad eating habits will also hamper your progress of regaining your memory back to normal even if you exercise a lot. Use properly balanced diets in your meals.
If you learn to sleep as required you will find that your brain is becoming more active. Memory losses are not only for people who are growing older in age but it can also affect younger people so memory exercises are good for both young and old. If you find that you are doing everything you can but there is no change, then perhaps you are developing an illness and it is time to consult a doctor.
Memory exercises will work only if you make yourself accept that you have a memory problem. Tell yourself that you have a problem and that you are going to work on it. Then tell your mind to start remembering things. Also acknowledge the importance of remembering something so that you know you have a reason for doing that.
If you decide to take up daily exercises such as playing your favorite games or going for short walks, then make it a routine and don’t forget. Be serious with them if you want to achieve positive results. Mind games such as Sudoku or cross word puzzles are also good brain jolting exercises and can really help your brain to be active.
Memorizing things can also help. Try to memorize people’s names to avoid embarrassments when you meet them later. If you are a student memorize the math formulas to help you remember them when you need to use them later. Also learn to concentrate when you are in class as this will help you later in trying to remember things during revision or during exam time. When you learn something new relate to something else you already know for better understanding and hence remembrance.
There are memory books available online that you can look at for tips on how you can improve your memory if you are not sure what to do. You can also enroll for memory lessons or sessions at your local gym because there you will find professionals who will help you recover your brain power much faster.
Stressful situations are not good for your brain so try to avoid stress as much as possible. Stress makes the brain tired and inactive and the rate of forgetfulness increases. Memory exercises will not work for you if you keep allowing yourself to be stressed out. Bad eating habits will also hamper your progress of regaining your memory back to normal even if you exercise a lot. Use properly balanced diets in your meals.
If you learn to sleep as required you will find that your brain is becoming more active. Memory losses are not only for people who are growing older in age but it can also affect younger people so memory exercises are good for both young and old. If you find that you are doing everything you can but there is no change, then perhaps you are developing an illness and it is time to consult a doctor.
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