How to Enhance Your Cognitive Performance – Part 3: Game Changers for Memory

“I have a terrible memory!”  

Whether it’s names, dates, numbers, course material, or just conversation points, many people feel that crushing statement! It comes with embarrassment, frustration, errors, and “forgotten” information, tasks, and even things we’ve promised. It’s no small matter! And it’s totally untrue!

The unvarnished truth is that adults have some 86 billion brain cells, or neurons. Assuming one word per neuron and 500 words on an encyclopedia page, that’s 172 million encyclopedia pages of information! Obviously, our brains are way more capable than any of us need!

So, if our physical storage area is so huge, why do so many of us feel that one of our brain’s primary functions – to remember – is greatly flawed? Quite simply, we lack the knowledge to operate this huge and, it turns out, highly sophisticated system! What’s needed is a system to manage the system! What’s needed is operator know-how. And Mental Networking provides both.

Mental Networking is actually quite simple. It’s a framework of deliberate steps to think your way to a goal. Here, I’ll reveal a Mental Networking framework that changes a “terrible memory” into a powerful, dependable tool!

Specifically, we’ll look at:

• Our Incredible Memory System
• Good and Bad Forgetting
• Game Changing Memory Tactics

Our Incredible Memory System

Our memory system is amazing! It’s like a fine-tuned sports car – one with 6 gears, amazing power, and incredible speed!  So, if you ever thought of your memory as a simple camera that should record all of your experiences exactly as you see them, upgrade your view! 

Our memory system is remarkable because it’s a multi-purpose system. It’s built with 6 subsystems that perceive, motivate, comprehend, process, store and retrieve information and experiences. And, like those gears, you can stop “accelerating” at any point and use the power you’ve gained so far. So, for example, imagine looking at your favorite scene – maybe it’s a game, a group of people, or a scenic view. Got it in mind? You can take in that scene and do any or all of these:

1. Let your 5 senses show you what’s there
2. Recognize the rewards, your motivation, and pursue or reject the experience
3. Get a quick short-term understanding
4. Process the information and experience deeply
5. Store long-term memories for later use
6. Retrieve the memories at a future time

Here’s a diagram to illustrate your multi-purpose system.

Senses and Rewards

These two subsystems determine how we take in information. And they do it in seconds! First, we register or perceive external data with one or more of our 5 senses. That simple glass of water in the diagram is something you have to see, hear, smell, taste, and/or touch in order to get inner awareness. Then, your reward subsystem immediately identifies this as useful — interesting, intriguing, desirable – or unneeded – boring, worthless, or even dangerous. With that assessment, the brain sends out a whole slew of bio-chemical signals that tell us to get it or reject it.

Short-term Memory

Short-term memory is a sketch pad. It temporarily holds information to find patterns, pull out obvious memories, and identify basics. This subsystem is short on time and room. Data lasts only a few seconds or up to a minute if we repeat it over and over. Short-term memory also has a very limited capacity: it holds about 5-9 bits of information and then wipes those out to make room for more incoming data.

Processing and Long-term Memory

Processing and long-term memory are two other systems that often work together. Processing is like your computer: it has many programs and options. They all combine the short-term bits with each other and with your background knowledge. It also uses deep thinking skills like comprehension and analysis to create new insights. Long-term memory is a storage mechanism, like a flash drive that you carry with you. Here’s where bits are catalogued and saved for future use. Various strategies get this job done, including processing, reviewing, practicing, elaborating, associating, and using mnemonics. There are no time or capacity limits in these subsystems.

Retrieval

The last subsystem is retrieval. When it works, we can recall the data or experience to short-term memory for another quick sketch to determine what we want to do with it. But, contrary to popular belief, this is not an automatic event. Retrieval requires practice, self-testing, or actual use to strengthen the pathways and make them permanent.

Good and Bad Forgetting

Forgetting is our label for unsuccessful recall. And while many people think of it as a personal failure, it’s actually very common. Without review, repeated research reveals that in just one hour after “learning,” we lose 50% of the information, another 20% in one day, and as much as 20% more in a month – leaving us with a dismal total of 10%.

But there’s good reasons for all of this forgetting. Our brains are actually set up to filter out the unnecessary and discard the unused data. Tossing what we don’t need keeps us from being overwhelmed and is an efficiency mechanism. With less useless “stuff” to go through, our thinking can quickly hone in on what matters. And if you haven’t used it, it’s like those old shoes that haven’t been worn in years: why keep them? Forgetting also helps us emotionally. It’s a kind of pain med that lessens the sting of many hurts we endure. In short, the brain prunes, and then our thinking blooms.

Bad forgetting is the kind that brings on the errors, frustrations, and hopelessness. It can be traced to operator error. And that’s a great thing, because as operators we then have the power to fix our “terrible memory” experiences. What we need to do is change the tactics that don’t run the 6 subsystems and the whole pipeline well. Here’s a list of common error-producing tactics and their subsystem origins:

• Senses: 
  • Not paying attention to our sense impressions; being distracted
  • Multi-tasking, splitting our attention.
  • Not being present: thinking about something else or some other time
• Rewards:
  • Boredom; not being interested in the task or content
  • Negative thoughts of task failure; dreading the job
  • Criticizing what we see, hear, smell, taste, or feel

• Short-term Memory: 
  • Taking in too big a chunk of new information at one time
  • Cramming or massed practice in a short time period
  • Stress and hurry. Skimming and skipping parts
  • Believing that short-term awareness is the same as long-term memory
• Processing:
  • Skimming and skipping information
  • Not understanding the words and/or message
  • Not seeing how the parts fit together
  • Not connecting the new information to what we already know
• Long-term Memory:
  • Not labeling and consciously cataloguing the information.
  • Not using memory building methods like processing, review, practicing, elaborating, associating, and using mnemonics
• Retrieval:
  • Not self-testing to make sure the memory is clear, complete, and accurate
  • Not trying to recall the information

Don’t despair! You undoubtedly identified with many of these operator errors. You are not alone! Most of us have not been taught about the memory system, the tactics that don’t work, or the strategies that do work. So, for most people, there’s no way to avoid these forgetting methods. But there is a solution! Read on!

Game Changing Memory Tactics

To operate a system, you need a system! And a Mental Networking framework that’s built to handle all 6 subsystem is what’s called for. It’s also the take charge solution for your forgetting issues. Here’s what it is and how to use it.

First, there’s a goal. The objective of this system is to build a FORT, or stronghold, of memorable information. How? Use 4 simple steps and deliberately think this way:

Step 1: Focus your attention with positivity

• Concentrate. Be in the moment. Pay attention to your sensory perceptions.
• Identify something interesting, beautiful, or useful in the situation, content, or task.

Step 2: Organize to understand

• Break long or complicated data into what feels like very easy chunks.
• Put words and / or pictures to your perceptions. 
• Follow up with thoughtful processing. Link pieces together. Make logical connections like similarities, differences, causes, effects, sequences, etc.
• For texts, courses, long and/or complicated information, make notes.

Step 3: Re-view to create memorable memories

• Consciously call out good, memory labels for the chunks and pieces.
• See the information in a different way: highlight it, reorganize it, explain it in your own words, visualize it, draw pictures, etc.
• Associate it with other things you know. 
• Practice any doable parts. 

Step 4: Test for accurate retrieval

• Ask yourself a question; see if you can answer it well (without peeking).
• Fix unrecalled parts: sketch, process, and create memories for each one.
• Repeat your self-test in a few hours and then in a few days.

Here’s a simple but common example. Say you’re at a party and a friend introduces you to someone new. Let’s imagine it’s a man by the name of Terry Winford.

Want to recall his name later? FORT it! 

Focus  

• Make sure you hear all the sounds of his name. 
• Be interested in him: pay attention to a pleasing key physical feature or something you want to know about him. 

Organize 

• Say the name slowly to yourself. 
• Think deeper. Listen to his voice and message. 
• Ask questions about what he says.

Re-view

• Associate his name with things you know. 
• Terry may remind you of your cousin whose name is Terry, Terry Bradshaw, or a cute terrier dog. 
• Winford might remind you of the wind and a Ford truck.
• Note: memorable associations are personal and not always logical.

Test

• Try to recall his name. Use it in the conversation, three times if possible.

TIP: If you forget his name, ask him what it is. Names are important to people and they’re flattered when you want to get it right!

In the End …

Memory is not one thing. It’s an amazing set of these 6 subsystems that work in order: Senses, Rewards, Short-term Memory, Processing, Long-term Memory, and Retrieval.

Forgetting can be good or bad. It’s an asset when the brain prunes away unneeded and unused information. That prevents overwhelm and makes us better thinkers. Bad forgetting – the kind that makes us think we have a “terrible memory” – comes from tactics that don’t operate the subsystems well. But we can control and fix that!

The Mental networking framework for memory changes all that! With these 4 steps, you can build a FORT, or information stronghold:

Step 1: Focus your attention with positivity

Step 2: Organize to understand

Step 3: Re-view to create memorable memories

Step 4: Test for accurate retrieval

These simple steps are memory game changers!