The best ways to beat absentmindedness are amazingly simple—and totally fun
Courtesy of Prevention
Is there any better advice than your mother's adage to "Put things back in the same place," or the used car salesman's habit of repeating your name over and over?
There's plenty! But that doesn't mean that your mom and the salesman aren't on to something. Many of the old-fashioned tips work--if you establish a habit of using them. But there are also new ideas, variations on classics, and specific--and fun--ways to sharpen your recall.
Here's something you can do right now, right where you are, to improve your memory:
Repeat this sentence: My memory is better than I think it is.
What you believe about your memory can have an impact on how well you remember things, says Robin West, PhD, psychology professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville. When she had a group of volunteers attempt a difficult memory task, she found that those who were told that memory was a skill that could be improved with effort did better than those who were told their memory couldn't be improved. "It's a self-fulfilling prophecy--if you assume you can't do it, you don't put forth enough effort or pay as much attention, or do what it takes to succeed," says West.
Studies do show, however, that as we age we tend to experience declines in memory ability. But these declines are typically much less dramatic than you'd expect. "If there is a decline--and there isn't always--it's really, really slow and subtle," says Elizabeth Zelinski, PhD, associate professor of gerontology and psychology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
How subtle? She and her colleagues tested the memory of adults of different ages in 1978, and again in 1994, by asking them to try to remember a list of 20 items. Someone who remembered 17 items in 1978 might remember 13 or 14 when repeating the test 16 years later.
Next: Beat Memory Lapses
