In examining this topic, several psychological terms are referred to concerning anterograde amnesia. First, the concept of declarative memory is an important concept to understand when examining anterograde amnesia. This is the facts that one can clearly recall from memory. Decay theory and interference theory are also two significant psychological concepts when considering anterograde amnesia. These two theories refer to the way in which one forgets information. Decay theory views forgetting in the light that traces of memories simply deteriorate. Interference theory explains that prior traces of memory are simply distorted by newly learned information.

            Anterograde amnesia relates to the topic of perception which has been previously discussed in the class very explicitly. Not being able to develop new memories has a profound effect on how one perceives their environment due distrust which would develop from their inability to develop new memories. This inability would also serve to constantly reset the individual’s perception of the world to their perception of the world around the time that the condition began. Anterograde amnesia can be viewed as not only an impairment of memory, but it can also be seen as impairment to one’s ability to change their perception of the world.

            In considering anterograde amnesia patients, the condition would be useful in providing a better understanding of what information is more likely to be retained for longer periods of time. A potential research question would be to ask, “How can information be retained for longer periods of time?” Several studies have been conducted to learn more about the effects of anterograde amnesia on patients. In the research conducted by Dewar, Della Sala, Beschin, and Cowan (2010), evidence was found that interference of newer information had a strong effect on the individuals’ difficulties with maintaining information for long periods of time. This provides sight into not only the condition of anterograde amnesia but also how regular people retain and forget information. The research of Diamond and Rozin (1984) found that information that was broken to smaller units could be retained for much longer periods of time. This type of insight into how memories are retained serves to show that several factors regarding how the information is learned and stored affect how well it is retained.

            In popular culture, amnesia is sometimes seen as a tool that can be used to clear out the memories of an individual like in the movie Paycheck (Chang, Davis, Hacket, & Woo, 2003). Popular fiction has utilized research on anterograde amnesia in the case of Paycheck (Chang et al., 2003) to erase the main characters memories for the purpose of protecting sensitive information. This use of anterograde amnesia research shows how such research can be used to protect information from being revealed because the individual would no longer remember the secrets to divulge the information to others. The uses that popular fiction sees for amnesia research serve to advance the deletion of memories as opposed to current research that is aimed at improving memory efficacy. The text book and current research view anterograde amnesia as an obstacle to be overcome while popular fiction has turned it into a tool to be used for the advancement of self-interested individuals.

            There are several implications for the research involved with anterograde amnesia. The research could be used to improve teaching techniques in school so that the information could be presented in a way that would allow it to be better retained. The research could allow for sensitive information to be deleted from one’s memory as can be seen in Paycheck (Chang et. al., 2003). More optimistically, the research could be seen a positive step into fully understanding how memories are preserved in the mind of an individual over periods of time. If the breaks that occur in anterograde amnesia patients are discovered, these links could be corrected in the patients and also strengthened in regular individuals to improve the memory capacity of average people and improve the quality of their lives.       

            In conclusion, anterograde amnesia serves as a unique condition that prevents individuals from making new long-term memories. Through research on the topic, many of the details about how memories are stored and translated in the mind can be unlocked. Popular fiction holds a more pessimistic view on research into anterograde amnesia. Popular fiction sees the research to be used to further the self-interest of corporations and powerful individuals. In comparison to current research, popular fiction is considerably more pessimistic. Research into the effects of amnesia truly does show potential for future improvements. 

1. Change the text colour frequently. Write each word, sentence, or line in its own colour. This makes your brain have to constantly change its focus, causing it to pay more attention to what you are reading. This trick is supported by a number of independent tests that indicate it really does improve your memory.

2. Change the font. If something is hard to read, but still readable, it takes more effort and time, which again forces your brain to retain more of what you read.

3. Break up big paragraphs. Huge blocks of text are hard for us to swallow. The same piece of text, when broken up into several smaller paragraphs, is easier to remember for the majority of people.

4. Read it aloud. Don’t mouth it, actually say the words you read. By using your voice, lip and tongue muscles, your brain has much more to associate the memory of what you read with. On average people retain three times as much information this way.

5. Have a friend read it in a low voice. This only works for ladies. If you are female, studies show that you remember things read in a deep voice better than things read in a neutral or high voice. If you are friends with someone fitting this description, have them read your text and record it, and listen to it a few times.

6. Write it out. Similar to reading aloud, this uses more muscles, and by doing more things connected to what you read, your brain has an easier time making memories.

7. Explain it to someone. This forces you to rephrase things and think about it in terms of someone else, a good exercise for shaping it into a form your brain can easily swallow.

8. Read it over and over. This is fairly obvious. If you read something (actually read, not skim) seven times, you are almost certain to remember its contents. This changes depending on what topic you are reading – if you need to memorise a page of numbers, it takes a lot more work because there is a lot more information that a page of ideas, which take more words to explain and therefore are fewer on each page. Basically, humanities and the arts don’t need to be read as much as science and mathematics to remember it well.

1. Change the text colour frequently. Write each word, sentence, or line in its own colour. This makes your brain have to constantly change its focus, causing it to pay more attention to what you are reading.

2. Change the font. If something is hard to read, but still readable, it takes more effort and time, which again forces your brain to retain more of what you read.

3. Break up big paragraphs. Huge blocks of text are hard for us to swallow. The same piece of text, when broken up into several smaller paragraphs, is easier to remember for the majority of people.

4. Read it aloud. On average people retain three times as much information this way.

5. Have a friend read it in a low voice. This only works for ladies. If you are female, studies show that you remember things read in a deep voice better than things read in a neutral or high voice.

6. Write it out. Similar to reading aloud, this uses more muscles, and by doing more things connected to what you read, your brain has an easier time making memories.

7. Explain it to someone. This forces you to rephrase things and think about it in terms of someone else, a good exercise for shaping it into a form your brain can easily swallow.

8. Read it over and over. Depending on the topic, you will need to read it more or less. Humanities and the arts don’t need to be read as much as science and mathematics to remember it well. 5-10 times works for most things.

9. Write a dot-point summary. This forces you to rephrase and summarise what you have read.

10. Draw pictures or make a song. How many song lyrics do you know? Lots? If you are musical, convert your text to song form and it will stick. If you are artistic, draw pictures illustrating the text, or insert photos, and it will stick better.

You might also like: How to become an expert in half an hour, learn latin in five minutes, and how to be more intelligent.

There are two types of false friends; one is the innately false, the person who has befriended you to use you, the other thinks so little of you s/he is willing to believe anything which casts you in a bad light. A few, of course, are trying to plase your current ‘enemy’ so attack you to curry favor.

For example, a person you haven’t heard from in years  attacks you for something done in the past, something you don’t remember at all.  Before trying to defend yourself, fall silent.  If you re on email or the phone do not respond, end the call.  If in real life, go away.  

The facts are very clear.   If you had offended someone twenty years ago they have had twenty years to vent their speen.  They haven’t.  As you have no guilty feelings you have contacted them or put yourself in a position for them to contact you, but all done with a clean spirit.  This is because there is nothing you have done.

Clearly,  there is a third party who is using you to distract. Especially when  s/he is the one sho is gulty.

There is no reason to explain why you couldn’t have done/said; because the person who has done the act has worked very hard to cast blame on you.   That the other is willing to forget reality and accept the new version says more about them then you. 

Silence works wonders.   it allows the stooge to reflect and perhaps realize they are being used.  And best of all, it protects you from another false friend.

Tips to Improve Your Memory:

1. Overlearning

Overlearning (learn more) means that the learning effort that exceeds the basic mastery of the particular subject matter. Overlearning occurs when a particular response or reaction came after the students do the learning for that response out of the ordinary way. Many examples can be used to overlearning, including Pancasila reading text on every Monday and Saturday, allowing students to the memory of the material is more powerful Civics.

2. Extra study time

Extra study time (extra time to learn) is the effort to increase the allocation of study time or additional frequencies (frequency) of learning activities. The addition of a specific allocation of time to learn the material means students learn more hours, for example, from one hour to one and a half hours. Additional frequencies increase the frequency of learning means that students learn certain materials, for example, from once daily to twice a day. Tips are considered strategic enough because it can protect the memory of forgetfulness.

3. Mnemonic device

Mnemonic devices (memory tricks) are often simply called a mnemonic that means special tips to become a “hook tool” to include mental items of information into a common system of students. This mnemonic artifice are manifold, but the most notable are as described below.

4. Rhyme (Rhyme),

the poem is made in such a way that it consists of words and terms that students should keep in mind. This poem would be better if given the influence of notes that can be sung. Kindergarten children singing vang contain moral messages can be taken as an example the preparation of mnemonics.

5. Abbreviations,

which consists of the initial letters of a name or term to keep in mind the students. Example, if a student is going to make it easier to remember the name of Prophet Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, to abbreviate it by ANIM. Preparation of abbreviations should be done in such a way as to attract and have a distinct impression.

6. System is said peg (peg word system),

a kind of mnemonic techniques that use components that have previously been occupied as a pin (a nail) new memory hook. Said wedge component is shaped like a pair of red-saga, the hot-fire. These words are useful to remember the words and terms have the same character as: blood, lipstick; pair of heaven and earth, hell, and the words / other terms that have the same character (color, flavor, and so on).

7. Losai method (Method of Loci),

the tips of mnemonics that use special places and famous as a means of placement of certain words and terms that students should keep in mind. The word “loci” itself is the plural of the word “locus” meaning place. In this case, the names of cities, streets, famous buildings can be used to place the words and terms that are less relevant in a sense very similar characteristics and circumstances. Example: the name of the capital of the United States to remember the name of the country’s first president (George Washington), and round the building to remember the name of the attorney general of Indonesia. If the teacher requires the students name the last, he could tell the students that “traveling” to places such.

8. System keywords (key word system).

Mnemonic tips on this one is relatively new compared with the relatively kiatmnemonik other tips. These tips originally developed in 1975 by two experts in psychology, Raugh and Atkinson (Barlow, 1985). Keyword systems are usually engineered specifically for learning foreign words and terms, and is said to be quite effective for teaching a foreign language, English for example. These systems form a list of words that consists of the following elements: 1) foreign words, 2) key words, ie words of the local language at least the first tribe to have a voice / pronunciation is similar to the word being studied; 3) the meanings of foreign words.

Professor Richard Wiseman, Hertfordshire University Psychologist has helped to create an iPhone application to find out if our dreams can be influenced.  The application, available today (Monday, April 9) will be used to gather data as part of a mass experiment as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, where it is assumed the findings will be made public.

The application is called “Dream: ON,” and can be downloaded for FREE from the iPhone “app” store, and there is a plan to create a version to be used on Android phones in the near future.

How it Works

Before going to sleep, select the time you want to wake up, and choose your ideal dream scenario soundscape from those offered.  You then put your phone on the mattress close to your head, face down.  The application has an in-built motion sensor to decide when you are dreaming by recording your movements. 

Since there are three phases to sleep, (deep, light and REM), the application will be able to differentiate which stage of sleep you are in because during the first two stages, the body is restless.  However, when you are in the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage, the brain paralyzes the body.  This is also the “dream” phase.

The application waits for the REM phase and then plays the chosen dream scenario, and will wake you up within a minute of this phase ending.  By waking you within a minute (which will be close to your chosen time to wake), there is a high chance that you will remember your dream, and are then invited to record your dream to the online database.

There are even soundscapes (recordings) that may encourage “lucid” dreams, whereby you know you are dreaming and can influence what happens in your dream. 

The experiment can potentially gain some important insights to the unconscious mind, and provide valuable information in helping individuals with sleeping disorders, and maybe, help professionals learn more about how we interpret our dreams.  Too Sci-Fi for you?  Share your thoughts in the comments below. 

Read Donnah Clark’s Other Articles here:  http://www.triond.com/users/Donnah+Clark

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The brain assists not only in identifying between various elements but also in keeping in them in mind. Memory thus, shapes a significant part of the brain.

Nevertheless, since there are a lot of stuffs to remember, it is normal to overlook many of them. Therefore, the saying “utilize it or mislay it” relates to the brains as well.

This implies that if you work out the brain, your memory will be better and you will be able to retain stuffs in memory quite well. There are diverse memory methods for those who are desirous to increase their learning functionality. They are described as follows.

Using Mnemonics

In the Mnemonics strategy complex details are instructed in a simpler form thus making it effortless to keep in thoughts. In this strategy, the details to be recalled are crashed down and protected as easy-to-retain details.

Whereas it may be challenging to remember elements otherwise, on the other hand mnemonics allows keeping in thoughts and remembering details. Normally students use mnemonics to keep in thoughts history times and other details.

They link the date with something that is recognizable and enables them to keep in thoughts the times or incidents effortlessly. Connection, visualization and place are the basic concepts to be used when crafting mnemonics.

Working out the Brain

Work out the brain similarly as the body requires work out to be fit and active, so does the mind require work out to stay sharp and targeted. Carrying out workouts for the thoughts is a sure way to maintain it functioning.

Dealing with crossword questions, number questions and other brain-teasing workouts creates the mind; function and assist remember elements in a better way and for years. When the concentration of the thoughts perks up, the learning functionality boosts up.

Have a sound sleep

Relax is an essential factor of memory. A brain that does not get full relax is unable to focus or stay targeted. This paved way to the details not being understood fully leading to it being overlooked very soon.

Hence, it is imperative that a person relax well to provide respite to the thoughts. A targeted thought is able to maintain elements for years.

Utilize Brain Fully to Retain Information

At times crafting mnemonics or making an effort to retain information in mind, you must use the whole brain. This implies that you should instruct challenging details by using pictures, colors, signs, vibrancy with movement and even spontaneity. Employing these aspects requires the whole brain and allows you remember elements better.

By Muhammad Irfan Zafar

Content Writer

illustration : daydreaming

A growing number of active memory a person has, they can be more daydreaming about something without forgetting the task at hand.

“Our results indicate that adequate planning is often done every day, like when on the bus, cycling to the office, or taking a bath, all supported by an active memory,” said Jonathan Smallwood, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain of Science.

“Their brains are trying to allocate resources to the most stressful issues,” he added.

When one’s mind began to lack of active memory, reverie or thoughts that stray from the topic could take over the main stage without realizing it.

For example, getting people to the house without remembering that there are things his way, or suddenly realizing that they flip through several pages of the book without understanding every word in it.

“It’s almost similar to the current state of your attention is so focused on my thoughts so do not remember reading any of your goals,” said Daniel Levinson, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Investigating Healthy Mind is also involved in the study.

The discovery was to be added to the latest research indicates that daydreaming could be a positive moment. For example, daydreaming is often associated with creativity. Researchers think that the moments of our most creative and inventive when it comes daydreaming. Levinson also noted the possibility that the most intelligent among us also have high levels of active memory.

Relying on our brains can be a pretty iffy proposition at times, and why is it that our minds seem to plot to humiliate us exactly when it is most effective? Some of these instances create memories that we will take to the grave with us. One instance comes to mind that the whole of the U.S. cringed to witness on television, when one of our Republican presidential wannabe’s could not remember which agency he was promising to eliminate. It was agonizing. Perhaps not for him as much as for the rest of the nation who could hear a pin drop while he squirmed. It can happen to anyone. Well, almost anyone.

There is a questionaire to find out what areas you need to sharpen. It is quite fine-tuned and personalized. It only takes a minute or two to fill out the questions and get registered.

The website at the bottom of this article provides a free five week brain training course. It is geared for your personal educational and age level, and is tailored to your own preferences and areas of need. It takes about fifteen minutes a day, and people report that it helps them improve in their ability to think better in areas of speed, problem solving, multi-tasking, concentration, memory, flexibility and other areas. It is like a tune-up for our cognitive processes. And who among us couldn’t use a tune-up?

Here is the website: http://www.lumosity.com/app/v4/personalization/surveys/training-program/survey_categories/your-memory/user_survey_responses/new

Not that easy?

People often describe being single as an unhappy experience. Never believe in what they say, for happiness is within yourself. It’s up to you whether you want to be happy or sad, whether you are single or not. You might be forced to be single, but you still have other options; would you prefer being a happy single, or the sad one?

Look at yourself

Check on the mirror. How do you look like? Do you like it or not?

Many people forget to take care of their self when they’re in a relationship, for they’re too busy taking care of their loved one. Now that you don’t have to take care of anyone else, it’s time to get yourself together.

One left,  more to go

Being single doesn’t have to make you alone, or lonely. Many people even have so much more time to catch up and have fun with their friends, families or relatives after they’ve returned to their single life.

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