Answer Archives

      

Your Memory Medic is W. R. Klemm, D.V.M., Ph.D., author of
Thank You Brain For All You Remember. What You Forgot Was My Fault

These responses to reader questions are intended to support and extend material in the book.. Click here for more about the book.

INDEX
 

Amnesia

Dear Memory Medic:

I have memory lapses for many things that apparently occurred around a year and half ago. My school work suffered greatly then, and my friends tell me about things we did that I do not remember. This was about the time that I divorced my husband, but other than that there was nothing unusual going on. I was not drinking alcohol, which I understand can cause "blackouts" of memory. What do you think the explanation is and is there anything I can do to restore some of these memories? Blacked out in Texas.

Dear Blacked Out:

The cause was most likely your divorce. That is, it was all the negative emotions that are inevitably associated with divorce that caused the memory failures. Anxiety, anger, depression, and other such negative emotions and the associated mental stress all prevent memories from forming normally. The result may be blackouts, such as you experienced, or memories that you can recall but which contain significant errors. In my book, I have a whole chapter on the role of emotions in memory. While negative emotions often have a devastating effect on memory, positive emotions usually make it easier to remember everything you want to remember.

As for the question that you asked about restoring the lost memory, I am afraid there is little you can do. Getting numerous cues from friends may help resurrect some of the memories. You may benefit from some "priming effect." that would make things easier to learn a second time. This might help you in the school work with information that you need to remember as pre-requisite for your current courses. Maybe you have experienced the priming phenomenon with foreign language. If you take a course in Spanish, for example, and don't use it, you will forget much of the language. But if you have a need to study it again, the learning progresses much faster. Memory Medic

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Calendar Dates

Dear Memory Medic: I need to remember calendar dates, for example, birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, etc. Dateless.

Dear Dateless: I just put a lot of this kind of thing into my PDA. The problem is I have to remember to check my PDA. That would not be a problem if I had this stuff in my memory, I read the paper and reassure myself that I know what the date is. Then, I call up my memory images for that date, and voila!. One basic approach is to associate an event that can be translated into an image for that date. Visual imaging is without question the best way to remember things that are abstract. For days of the month where there may already be a known event, making such images can be pretty easy. Take July 4, for example. Make an image (fireworks, the U.S. flag, a revolutionary war scene - whatever), and make that the association link to what it is you are trying t remember. For other dates, you can use the number peg or coding scheme that I describe in my book, integrating it with your standard image for the months. For example, for something you want to remember on February 11, the month image might be a box of candy shaped in a heart (February is the month for Valentines) and the box of candy  might be kicked through the goal posts at a football field (goal posts look like an 11). If it is your wife's birthday you want to remember, visualize her kicking the box of candy through the goal posts (and attach whatever emotion to the scene that fits (that is, she may not like candy and is kicking it to get rid of it or she does like candy and gets a thrill over getting candy and kicking it through the goal posts in celebration. See her jumping up and down after the field goal. The emotion component of the image is important for memory, for reasons that I explain in my book. Memory Medic

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Computer Passwords

Dear Memory Medic:

I have to use a lot of computer passwords, for all sorts of things such as my Windows password, on-line bank account, Yahoo, my Web site, and many others. How can I remember all these? Also, the problem is made harder because the tech people tell me that my passwords should have numbers in them. Any password I create turns out looking like nonsense syllables, which everybody has trouble memorizing. I don't want to write the passwords down or save them in the computer, because other people might find them. I need some kind of clues to help me remember each password. Clueless in Virginia

Dear Clueless:

You are right. Multiple sets of nonsense syllables are almost impossible to remember. You need a strategy that creates passwords that make sense to you, but are nonsense to anybody else. The key is to use words that are easily associated with a given requirement and that can readily call up a visual mental image. It is crucial that a mental picture comes to mind. Don't memorize the word, memorize the picture, which in turn gives you the word. Then you stick some meaningful numbers in the word in a systematic way. Let me give you an example. Suppose you want to create a memorable password for your bank account. What mental image immediately comes to your mind for the word "bank?" That image would probably be different for different people. What is important is what is the default, automatic image for you. It might be a picture of cowboys robbing a bank, or a stack of money, or your credit card bill, or whatever. Whatever it is, use the word for that image as the core of your password. For example, if your default image for bank is a stack of money, use "money" as the core of the password. Then stick in some digits. You might use your age, which has the advantage that you could change the password every year to match your new age. The digits need to go into the word in some set pattern. Examples: 2money1, mon21ey, money21, m2one1y. Now, if you are still afraid you might forget, you can write down your password list in the the form of alias cues. For example, for the money, your cue might be "cash register." Anybody who found your list would not know that cash register was an alias for money. And they certainly would not know your number scheme.

Here are some other tips:

• Create an acronym."Now is the time for all good persons. . ." yields the password NitTfaGP. For complexity add a character - %NitTfaGP.
• Transform words by substituting some characters for letters. So "GeekSpeak" becomes "G33k$p3^k".
• Do the unexpected with characters and place them at the beginning or middle of a password instead of the end.
• Create a memorable word, but move your hand up one row on the keyboard and add characters. "GoFishing" becomes "T9R8wy8ht".
• Convert words to numbers.  See the number code scheme on p. 73 of my book. For example, "blue moon" converts to 9532. If you want 8 digits, repeat this string or make the second set backwards (95322359).

Memory Medic

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Dementia vs. Alzheimer's

Dear Memory Medic: What types of lapses are associated with “normal” memory loss as opposed to dementia? Interviewer, Farris Foundation

 Dear Interviewer: There are several formal tests that make this distinction.  Based on a survey of 31 studies that compared 1,144 Alzheimer's patients and 6,046 healthy people, the best test is the California Verbal Learning Test. A simple screening test can be found at this Web site: http://www.aricept.com/memory1.php . This test is not diagnostic, but can give a hint as to whether a doctor visit is wise. A neurologist is needed to make a diagnosis and to distinguish Alzheimer's dementia from other kinds of dementia. Memory Medic.

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Directions, Remembering

Dear Memory Medic: When I travel, I always have trouble remembering the directions people give me on how to get to a new place. Maybe that's why men don't like to ask for directions. Any advice? Lost in Del Rio.

 Dear Lost: Well the first problem many people have is that the directions that are given often have errors in them. For example, you may be told to go to the "third stop light and turn left," when actually it is the fifth stop light. So, one thing you need is to get redundant information, as for example, the name of the street at the stop light where you are supposed to turn. This leads to the second problem: namely, that typically the information is rattled off so fast that your working memory can hold it all. In my book I talk about working memory capacity limitations, such as the usual limit of 7 + 1 for numbers. Therefore, you need to get the person giving directions to slow down and you need to write down the key points. You should make a diagram or simple map and label landmarks where you are supposed to turn or stop, along with road or street names. Approximate distances help, but bear in mind that may be quite wrong. Now since you should not be looking at your map and driving at the same time, you need to memorize what you have drawn. Typically, the structure of the lines representing the roads is easy to visualize. At each turn point, you need to construct a visual image of a key landmark (see my book's comments on the value of bizarre visual images). Road names should also be visualized.  Suppose you were given these directions to get to a restaurant: "go three blocks and turn left on Oakwood Drive (gas station on the corner). Go to the second stop light and turn right at the fire station on Ridgeway Lane. Then go four blocks until you come to Walgreen drug store and turn left on Raceway. Go to the second stop light (public library on the corner) where you turn right and go four blocks on Dellwood Road.   The restaurant you want is on your left. The drawing of this pathway looks like the end-on view of two stair steps, viewed from the right-hand view of the steps. Here is an example of an image scenario that I might use.  First, I make the trip on a skateboard, in my mind's eye of course. I represent the first three blocks as three bricks on top of my skate board (I can alternate black and white so it is easy to count them visually). When I skate into my first landmark (the gas station, which I visualize as a big gas tank), I represent turning left by seeing my left leg on the skateboard, pushing off with the other leg. Now my skateboard turns into the trunk of an oak tree (Oakwood Dr.) and on it there are two green lights (representing two stop lights) at which point I run into the next landmark, the fire station (which I can visualize as a fire truck that is blocking my path). Now I see myself turning right, by seeing my right leg on the skateboard, which at this point turns into the back of a Rhodesian Ridgeback dog (Ridgeway Lane). I skate along on this dog, which has four bricks on its back, indicating four blocks, at which point I run into a green wall (Walgreen drug store). Now I shift to my left leg on the skateboard (turn left), which now becomes a miniature race car (Raceway). In the back seat I have two stoplights and when I run into the next landmark, the library, the car is visualized as plowing into a stack of library books. At this point, I see my right leg on my vehicle, which at this point becomes a Dell laptop computer, with four bricks on it (representing four blocks on Dellwood Road). Lastly, I shift to my left leg, which reminds me that my restaurant is on my left. Memory Medic.

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Dreams, Remembering

Dear Memory Medic:

People tell me it is helpful to remember dreams. For example, people get good ideas in their dreams, but the ideas are of no use if you can’t remember them. I know I dream a lot, but come morning, I don’t have a clue what I dreamt about. Clueless.

Dear Clueless:

Dreams are important. During dreaming, the analytical, frontal cortex part of your brain — think of it as a critical censor — shuts down, and the rest of the brain remains very active and is free to roam about creatively. Not only are good ideas generated, but many psychiatrists believe that dreaming is the brain’s way of letting off psychic steam. Dreaming can be therapeutic.

To remember dreams, first of all, review what happened during the day before going to sleep. End up reviewing and being thankful for the good things that happened. Then tell your brain that you expect it to remember what you dream that night. Give your brain a pep talk. In my memory book, I explain how positive expectations about memory actually promote good memory.

As dreams occur, some of them will wake you up (sometimes you wake up because you have to go to the bathroom or are hungry). In any case, don’t move until you replay the dream, without editing, in your conscious mind. Replay the dream just as it happened; at this point, don’t analyze or edit it. This provides the opportunity to make sure you register the dream and gives you some rehearsal time. Remember, at this stage, the dream content is still on the scratch pad of your working memory and is easily lost by any stimuli or new information. Obviously, it helps if you write down a little summary or doodle some representative pictures. I have a neat little note pad by my bed, called “Nite Note,” that turns on a little night light when you remove its pen to make a note.

When you get up for the day, rehearse your dreams again. Analyze the really interesting ones. They are trying to tell you something important. Even when you can’t figure it out, just be glad you had the dreams. While the dreams were occurring, your brain was consolidating many of the memories of the prior day (see details in my book). Memory Medic

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Flash Cards

Dear Memory Medic.  I use flash cards to help me memorize things like foreign language words. Is that a good way to memorize. Flasher.

Dear Flasher. The answer is yes and no. But for the way that most people use flash cards, the answer is no. Flash cards, where you have the question on one side of the card and the answer on the other, does provide rehearsal, and all memorization requires rehearsal. But the typical flash card use is pure rote memory, and that is not efficient. Moreover, it can lead to a false sense of security if you don't shuffle the card deck during each rehearsal. Without shuffling, the ordering of the cards provides cues that help you remember, but real-life test situations will not likely present the memory challenge in a predictable order. Flash cards can be especially effective if you put drawings, icons, or other non-verbal cues on one side of the card and memorize these representations for the words you are trying to memorize. My book explains why images are much easier to remember than words. This way you won't have to rehearse so much, and the memory is likely to last longer. Try it. You will like it. And don't forget to shuffle. Memory Medic.

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Lecture Notes

Lists (Items in Ordered Sequence)

Dear Memory Medic:

While driving my granddaughter 100 miles to her home, I noticed that she was rehearsing memorizing the Presidents. Over and over she would repeat, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, ... By the time we got to her home, she still had not gotten much past the first 10 Presidents. Surely there is a better way. Better Way

Dear Better Way:

Your granddaughter had these problems because she was trying to memorize by rote.  This is the absolute WORST way to memorize anything. As I elaborate in my book in the chapter, Memories Hang Out With the Right Crowd, memorizing works best when you can make associations. Moreover, the associations are much more powerful when they are visual images. Your granddaughter could have used a peg list, in which each number in a series has an associated visual image. For example, the number 1 goes with tree, because a tree trunk looks like a 1. The number two goes with switch, like a light switch that has only two modes (on/off). Each of these images can be used as pegs to associate the new item that you want to memorize. For example, you could remember Washington as the first President because we all know that he chopped down a cherry tree (you could visualize seeing him chopping it down). The problem is that you have to have constructed and memorized 43 pegs for all the Presidents. That might be worth doing though, because you can use the peg list over and over for other purposes.

However, for your granddaughter's purpose, it would probably suffice to make a chained-image story. This should be done in clusters of six or so Presidents. For the first group, here is how I would create a visual story: I see Washington cutting down a cherry tree (because he wants the cherries for a banquet). The tree falls over on a stack of Sam Adams beer cases (beer will be served at the banquet). The banquet chef (Shef) sends his son (Shefferson ---> Jefferson) to see what the commotion is all about and to speed things along for the banquet. The little boy (Jefferson) runs back to the kitchen to report, where he finds the Alice in Wonderland "Mad Hatter" and his son (Madison). Mad Hatter's then is then dispatched to get in a boat and row (Monroe) to the shoreline where the tree and scattered beer cases are. He gathers up all the bottles and puts the beer cases (Adams again) in the boat.

These visual images were chosen because they are meaningful to me (Sam Adams is good beer). Your granddaughter needs to make her own images. But the point is that one simple little story, with vivid images, is almost impossible NOT to remember. And you can learn it in one trial! Memory Medic

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Medical Terminology

Dear Memory Medic:

I teach Medical Terminology, specifically for each organ system and then general terminology that is basic to Health Science Technology. I would like ideas to help cement these key terms in the minds of the students. I do flash cards, Jeopardy games and Wheel of Fortune games to help them learn. What is another way to learn medical terminology rather than rote memory? West Texas Teacher.

Dear Teacher:

This is a huge question. Your question is especially important because it provides the opportunity to show that many strategies, tactics, and gimmicks can combine to improve memory. My book has over 150 such ideas, and a few of them can be illustrated here.

The flash cards and games you use are excellent tools to support rote memory. The problem is the rote memory approach, which in general is very time consuming for the learner. However, if the material is learned as visual images, then rehearsal with flash cards and games will work wonders if the learner uses visual image cues to generate the answers. See page 70 of my book to learn why images work so well.

Many anatomical terms are logical. One of my rules is "don't memorize something you can figure out." For example, a muscle on the front of the forearm with tendons that terminate on the digits has three obvious characteristics: it is long, it acts on digits, and it extends the digit joints. Surprise! It could well be called a "long digital extensor."

Many medical words perform multiple duties. For example, if you think of "septum" as something that divides or separates, you now would now have a reasonable idea of what is meant by nasal septum, septum in the brain, atrial septum, ventricular septum, septum of an injection vial, etc. When I was a pre-professional medical student, most of us took Latin and Greek etymology, and that was a huge help. Hardly anybody does that these days, so that is not a practical option. But anatomy teachers could and should present a boiled down introduction of prefixes and suffixes, such as "peri-," "ab-," " supra," "sub." Also many syllables appear in medical terms. Knowing what the syllable means helps learn all the words that contain it (Examples: "lip," as in lipid, liposuction, lipase; "phil," as in basophil, eosinophil, acidophilic; "phag," as in esophagus, coprophagic, bacteriophage. See this Web site for word-stem help. A good class exercise would be to assign each student a small section of a medical dictionary and make a list of stems that recur in multiple words.

Medical, dental, and veterinary schools always begin their curricula with anatomy, and that is where most medical vocabulary is learned. It works, because dissection lets the students apply the terms to things they see in three dimensions, and touch. Multiple cues (visual and tactile) are associated with the corresponding words. If your students don't have an actual body to work on, use models that they can see and feel at the same time they are learning the words.

As for learning the words themselves, several things help. Acrostics help, such as "On Old Olympus Towering Tops, A Fat Ass German Viewed Some Hops" (first letter represents the names for cranial nerves, in order) (see chapter in my book on recall). Get your students to invent some acrostics to share with each other.

A most powerful approach is to use mental images as cues (see chapter, "Memories Hang Out With the Right Crowd" chapter in my book). Actually some medical terms were originally created in this way. For example, the brain structure, hippocampus (which is Latin or Greek for a sea horse), looked like a sea horse to the anatomist who first named it. It doesn't look like a sea horse to me, so I would have to use a different image. If you know that seals break open shell fish on their bellies (actually it is sea lions that do that), you could envision yourself with a shell fish on your own abdomen, and that would help you think of "seal" and in turn help you remember the sound-alike, coeliac. Or to help remember that words containing "glosso" have to do with the tongue, visualize sticking out your tongue and seeing it so shiny (glossy) that you see yourself in your tongue as if it were a mirror. ... well hopefully you get the idea. I know such images are silly, but that is what makes them memorable. Even when you can't make a good image, the mere effort will often work. For example, to visualize the name for the part of the stomach ("fundus") that makes HCl, you might try to see a bunch of cells in the top part of the stomach holding out hands, begging you to give them money to "fund us" to stop making acid that upsets your stomach. Memory Medic.

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Multiple-choice Testing - recognition memory

Dear Memory Medic:

Which is a better indicator of learning, the traditional multiple-choice question (Type I) or a question where all the answers are correct, but only one choice answers the question (Type II). I ask this because the high-stakes testing program in my state uses Type II questions and teachers are tempted to test students in that way too. Tested Out in Texas.

Multiplication Tables

Dear Memory Medic:

Names and Faces

Dear Memory Medic:

I am assisting a teacher this Fall, and she wants me to learn the names of all the students right away. There are over 140 students, and I find this task overwhelming. Overwhelmed By School

Dear Overwhelmed:

I discuss this problem in several places in my book, particularly on page 74. First, keep the student names in their class category. When they are part of a definable group (like their class) there are many class-specific cues that will help (like other kids whose names you learn easily, who they sit near, etc.). Then, first learn the easy ones. Some names and faces will come easily and they can serve as cues to help you with the others (for example, student XX sits next to Josiah Podrangle). Look for something unique in each student, either appearance or behavior. Then make a mental image that links their name to their uniqueness. Example: the kid who sits at the back and doesn't talk to anybody is named Johnny Baker. Picture him sitting on a commode (john) at the back of the room, with a Baker's hat on, alone and not talking to anybody.

Another important thing is to spend a few intense minutes with one student at a time, registering the name, using the name in conversation, and learning about the student. Some of the information you will glean will serve as cues that help you remember the name. After class, you can even write down the name, the cues, and the image of student that you know will be hard to remember. Finally, don't expect to do it all at once. Learn 5-10 kids each time you meet with them. It won't be long before you know them all. Memory Medic

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Plays (& word-for-word tasks)

Dear Memory Medic: I know that trying to memorize by rote is not efficient, but what am I supposed to do when I have to memorize something word-for-word? For example, I do a lot of plays, and the only way I know to memorize my lines is by rote memory (which is a real pain and takes a lot of time). Frustrated Thespian in Takoma.

Dear Frustrated: I sympathize. One approach to this problem is to begin by identifying key words in each sentence or short groups of sentences. Then image each key word and link the images sequentially to each other. For short lines, you might even use a number peg system. See my book for more details on imaging. You still have to do a lot of rote memory, but having the key words locked in gives you strong cues that will speed up memorizing the actual words that go with each key word. Memory Medic

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Reading

Dear Memory Medic:

I am in my opinion a slow reader (I can read and understand words by the way) and often when I read a paragraph, I forget what I just read!!!!! When I read a book or publications I often forget what I just learned or I might forget it all in a weeks time. What do you think my problem is? Do I lack the attention span to retain the information? Its funny, as I seem to take in everything I see on TV, like what I see on science and nature channels. Slow Reader

Dear Slow Reader:

I see at least two problems. One is that you said you were a slow reader. Slow readers invariably expend too much mental effort on individual words, rather than clusters of words and the ideas represented by those clusters. As you read, you need to be thinking about the ideas and memory facts, not the mechanics of reading. There are reading clinics that have machines that can help you with this.

The other problem is indicated in your last sentence. That is, you remember television material well. What's the big difference between television and reading? PICTURES. Words are harder to remember - for everybody - than are pictures. So the trick is to convert words into mental pictures. So, as you read a paragraph, if it is important to the purpose for which you are reading, make a mental picture of the ideas it contains. Then every few minutes, stop and rehears your mental pictures. In my book, there is a whole chapter (Memories Hang Out With the Right Crowd) on the importance of mental pictures and many tips on how to make mental images that promote memory Memory Medic

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Reviewing for a Test

Dear Memory Medic:

What is a good way to review for an examination? Overwhelmed

Dear Overwhelmed:

If you read my book you know how important pictures are for easy memorization. Because pictures provide such powerful cues for recall, I would start the review by focusing on the pictures, diagrams, and other graphics in your learning material (textbook, manual, Web site, ... whatever). A good way to do this is to copy the pictures and cut them out and indicate the source (page number, URL, etc.). Then, one at a time, try to remember everything that the picture represents. Doing this with a small group helps, because each person will tend to remember only some of all the material. Discussion of omissions will help the retention enormously. Each person will learn from others and everybody can test themselves as they go along. You will find yourself even remembering who filled in what gaps. Some member of the group also needs to check the original source material to make certain that nothing got left anything out or was misconstrued. As a group finishes one set of materials, it can trade the set with another group.

For text that is not represented by a graphic, you might consider making crude drawings on index cards to capture the essence of the ideas, and use the cards in the same way as described above for picture cutouts. Memory Medic

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Tip of the Tongue Problem

Dear Memory Medic:

I often have the problem of not being able to recall things that I know I know. It's a tip-of-the tongue problem. Examples include remembering the answer on a test AFTER the test is turned in. Another example is failing to remember the name of somebody I know well until long after the need has past. Any tips? Tongue Tied in Arizona

Dear Tongue Tied:

First, try to minimize the stress. Trying to force recall is counterproductive. You can't just demand recall by saying to yourself "think, think, think!" I discuss the effect of excessive stress on memory in the chapter of my book "We Get Emotional About Our Memories."

Secondly, try to think of all the cues that are associated with the original learning. As an example, I recently needed to remember the name of a former student who had published a research paper with me. His last name was Smith, which of course is not very helpful. I could not recall his first name. First, I had to fight the effect of a powerful distractor. What initially came to mind was Stan, as in Stan Smith the tennis pro. "Stan" was blocking any chance I might have to call up the right name. So I had to force myself to stop thinking about Stan. The next step was to think of all the cues associated with my student. I remembered his general appearance. I remembered as much as I could about his background. I remembered the research we did together. Then the name "Craig" popped into mind, but I knew that could not be right, because I knew a Craig Smith at the place where I work. But "Craig" sounded like the name I was after. Then I thought about the paper that my student and I had published and imagined the first page and our by-lines. "Greg" actually appeared on the page in my mind's eye, and I knew I had the right answer. The role played by associations and cues are discussed in the chapters on "Memories Hang Out With the Right Crowd" in my book.

So, in short, when you have this problem, keeping trying, without pressuring yourself. You may have to take a break from the recall chore. But as long as you keeping thinking about the cues associated with what you are trying to remember, it will probably come to you. Memory Medic

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Vocabulary

Dear Memory Medic: I teach middle school students, and so many of them are below grade level in reading ability. What can I do to help them get up to speed. Discouraged teacher.

Dear Discouraged: I know that this is a major problem. By this time in school, kids should know the alphabet and the basic notions about reading. What probably hinders them most is a poor vocabulary. Since they probably do know how to use phonics (SURELY YOUR SCHOOL TEACHES PHONICS), one thing that helps is to make a mental picture from the sound of each new word they don't know. Examples: "austere" could remind a kid of a steer (bovine) and picture two steers, one all gussied up with ornaments, shiny horns, polished hoofs, ribbons in the hair, etc. and the other steer very plain looking, with no ornaments; "combination" might make a kid thing of a wheat combine, which can be seen in the mind's eye as brining all the little pieces of wheat together into a small cereal bowl; "consultant" can be visualized as a Sultan, sitting on a throne with a whole crowd of people gathered around to get his advice.

Another thing students can do is to group words by family with a simple word that they already know. Examples: "continuum" (continue); rehabilitate (rehab); remediation (remedy); synthesize (synthetic). This illustrates a point I make in my book; namely, never memorize things that you can figure out. If you know what "continue" means, it does take much of a leap to figure out what "continuum" means. Only the subtle difference in meaning has to be memorized. It is not like starting from a blank slate. Memory Medic

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