Have you ever wondered why people don’t seem to know much ‘general knowledge’ these days? You are not the only one who wants to know why.

Researchers at Columbia University conducted an experiment to find out if  people remembered the information they looked up on Google, in the same way as students recall facts they believe will be in a test.

Dr. Sparrow and her collaborators, Daniel M. Wegner of Harvard and Jenny Liu of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, staged four different memory experiments. In one, participants typed 40 bits of trivia like this one – “an ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain” — into a computer.

Half of the people thought the information would be saved in the computer; the other half thought the items they typed would be erased.

Result?

“People did not make the effort to remember when they thought they could later look up the information later”.

Does having a computer affect what we remember?

Do YOU try to think about the answer to a question or do you go to Google to look up the answer?

Try it for yourself.

Here’s the question:
Are any countries with only one color in their flag?

Did you think about flags — or did you want to go online to find out?

Participants in the study were asked to remember both the question itself and which of five computer folders it was saved in.

The researchers were surprised to find that people remembered the folder better than the question.

Result?

We don’t bother to remember if we know we can find the information later.

We rely on our family, friends and co-workers as well as computers and reference material to store information for us. If we know someone else (especially Google!) knows, then we don’t make the mental effort to commit the information to memory.

Dr. Sparrow concludes that human memory is adapting to new communications technology.

“Google has become our primary external storage system”.

So, what does this study mean for you?

It is research-based proof of the fact that your brain needs prompting if you want to remember something without relying on Google or someone else.

Three Lessons

1. Focus on information you want to remember.
2. Connect the new facts to something you already know.
3. Rehearse the new information. Repeat in after a few minutes, an hour later and the next day.

What can you do right now to start building a better memory?

It’s never too late to start re-growing YOUR brain connections.  The science is clear that it’s the best, non-prescription protection against memory loss.  Fill in the Memory Check box below and you’ll get two things:

1. A quick self-analysis of how sharp your memory is right now.
2. A brief 6-part course that will give you some easy-to-follow tools to help you build your memory and keep it fit.

Written about in the New York Times, July 14, 2011

And I knew exactly what she was going to say!

The eeriest feeling came over me as my mind was jumping ahead of her sentences and I only just stopped myself from completing them for her. I haven’t seen Megan for at least two years and I only knew her brother as a little boy when we were all at school together. I couldn’t have known about his accident …… could I? Was this what people call déjà vu?

I've been here before - deja vu?

If it was, then I had just become one of the nearly 70 percent who admit to getting this feeling at least once in their lives.

A higher percentage occurs in people 15 to 25 years. Anyway, the sight, sound, taste or even smell of something leads us to think that we’ve experienced before, although we know that we couldn’t have.

Déjà vu is a French term that literally means “already seen” and it has several variations, including déjà vécu, (already experienced); déjà senti, (already thought); and déjà visité, (already visited). French scientist Emile Boirac, one of the first to study this strange phenomenon, gave the subject its name in 1876.

There are more than 40 theories as to what déjà vu is and what causes it, and they range from reincarnation to lapses in our memory processes.

I’m still trying to work out why I knew what Megan was going to say. I even knew what the coffee shop was going to look like, although I can’t ever remember being in there before.

The most common misuse of the term déjà vu seems to be with precognitive experiences — experiences where someone gets a feeling that they know exactly what’s going to happen next, and it does. But it is important to remember that déjà vu is experienced during an event, not before. Precognitive experiences — if they are real — show things that will happen in the future, not things that you’ve already experienced.

Hallucinations that are brought on by illness or drugs sometimes bring a heightened awareness and these are confused with déjà vu. False memories that are brought on by schizophrenia can be confused with déjà vu as well. Unlike true déjà vu, which typically lasts from 10 to 30 seconds, these false memories or hallucinations can last much longer.

I don’t think I was having a hallucination! Actually, scientists don’t all agree about why these experiences happen. Déjà vu occurs in individuals with and without a medical conditions.

Several psychoanalysts attribute déjà vu to simple fantasy or wish fulfillment, while some psychiatrists ascribe it to a mismatching in the brain that causes the brain to mistake the present experience for something similar that has happened in the past. Hence the feeling of familiarity. Then again, many parapsychologists believe it is related to a past-life experience that may have been repressed or forgotten.

I know that I had an eerie experience in that coffee shop but it looks as if there’s a lot more investigation to be done before I can tell you, for certain, why.

Actually, until you find yourself searching frantically for a name you really know quite well, you’ve taken the skill of recognition for granted. But it is actually a very complex process and it isn’t until your memory has let you down, that you begin to realize this.

Oh, no - I've forgotten his name!

To remember and recognize someone you have to bring together an amazing range of stored memories that, if you remember, come together quite unconsciously. These include, for example, facts about someone from your semantic memory (same school/married Sally/three daughters/drives a Lexus), the relationship the person has with you (I know him/played football on the same team) and episodic memories (we visited a bar last time we were in town) and then, the person’s name. At the same time you may have an emotional response to the person (I don’t get on with him, really). If there is a malfunction in the remembering process, it could be because you are distracted by other thoughts, stress or maybe too much alcohol …. Or it could be, if the person is only slightly known to you, that you did not encode the information well enough into your memory. Remember, it takes seven seconds of processing to establish a memory trace.

Tips for Remembering Names and Faces:
1. Pay attention to the person and try to be genuinely interested in them. Notice any distinctive features of the face.
2. Focus on the name and process it a little. Ask questions – Is that Graeme with an ‘e’ or an ‘h’? Does McCallum mean you are Scottish?
3. Link information you find out about the person with other facts you already know about someone else. E.g. If Bill drives a Lexus, for example, link him to another person you know with a similar car. Imagine them having the cars cleaned at the same carwash.
4. Try to take time a few minutes after meeting the person to review what you know about them. The name, visualize the face, say the facts that you know – and review these several times over the next few days.

For more information on this topic, read Memory Loss Nearly Cost Sam His Job

Get these right and you won’t forget important dates again!

You mightn’t realize it, but your brain is designed to forget – that’s right, to forget!

No, it’s not a misprint – your brain is working hard all day forgetting things so that you are not having a brain overload malfunction.
Imagine what it would be like if your memory remembered every detail of every moment of your day. It would be like a camera clicking every nanosecond.

Your clever brain filters out everything it thinks you don’t need.

So you have to give your brain clear signals about the things you want to remember.
How do you do that?
Well, it’s a big topic to cover here (full story in Seven Second Memory) but grab these 4 easy ways to help you remember:

1. Focus on what you need to remember.

Don’t expect to listen or look for a second or so and expect to remember. You need to concentrate for seven seconds if you want to remember something later. Try it, it will seem a long time but, if you spend this time repeating, connecting or visualizing the data, you will remember it.

2. Use ONE diary.

Put everything in there so that you are not looking through several places each time you want to check something.

3. Get your surroundings organized.

Establish places for all of the items that you regularly lose, and use them! Hooks for your keys, drawer for your wallet, mobile, glasses and diary – all need a defined place where you put them. Concentrate while you place them there!

4. Give your brain some help!

To remember appointments ahead of time (using your prospective memory) give your brain as many ‘hooks’ as you can. In your mind , embed the details of the appointment in as many ways as you can. I’m meeting the accountant on Thursday at 9.30 am. What is his/her name? Where will I park the car? Which floor of the building is it on? What do I need to take? What questions will I ask? Where will I go once I have left that appointment at 10.30? Use as many senses as you can – visualize the clock, building and face of the accountant, ‘hear’ the questions you will ask, ‘feel’ the papers you will need to take, and so on. Are you already thinking that you haven’t a spare seven seconds to do this?? Well, think of how many minutes you waste trying to remember the time, day, location and name if you haven’t committed them to memory. It’s a no-brainer!

Forgetfulness can ruin your confidence and your life.

When you forget something important, you feel all at sea and your confidence can take a serious hit.

But this does not have to be the story of your life. Taking a few easy actions can quickly provide certainty in your memory, every day.

For many more tips and fuller explanations of how you can regain your youthful memory, get Seven Second Memory Plus Six Other Powerful Memory Techniques. Rewire Your Brain For a Youthful Mind. Dr. Allison Lamont, PhD & Gillian M. Eadie, 2009.

You’ll be glad you did!