Memory- Two Poems and Five Tests

I've always been fascinated with the concept of memory. I've even poetry poems about it.

In "a reflection on reflections (memory) I wrote about how memories fade and only key moments and bits and pieces remain.

"memories play like a highlights reel
"TOP TEN THINGS YOU MISSED WHILE BECOMING NEW"
pre-packaged, sorted, and prioritized
produced by the mind, ready for use by you

a dose of nostalgia and a few tastes and songs
mixed with a dream and a story you read
makes everything a bit fuzzy around the edges
until you can't quite trust your own head"

In "Time" I wrote about the desire to preserve memories even though time tends to wash them away.

"I would like to grasp the past and
Fold up my memories like an old quilt
Carefully bend and crease and slide into a drawer,
And take it out from time to time and always have it"

The intricacies of long term memory is interesting for both poetry and science, but today I took some short term memory tests.

1. Every Day Item Memory Test

This test was quite simple, it's just a matter of whether I could recognize a penny. Of course among different change I would be able to pick out a penny, but with the small details changed, I got it wrong. I guess this means someone could easily give me a counterfeit penny and I wouldn't know any better. This test was a quick and funny one but I think it made a good point about the way brains work. We remember just as much as we need to. 

2. Facial Feature Memory Test

I enjoyed this test. I did fairly well on it, identifying 7 of the 10 features. This was a true test of just visual short term memory. I think it was made easier by the fact faces are something we try to remember frequently so facial features may have more significant mental connections than just numbers. That being said, I couldn't come up with a specific strategy for the test like I could for some of the other tests.

3. Short Term Picture Memory Test

I didn't do as well as I wanted to on this test, and I think it's because I didn't think of my strategy right away. Once I thought of it, it was pretty effective though. I made a story about each column of pictures. For example, for the icecream, clock, guitar, and earth I thought "I eat icecream before it's time for my guitar lesson, which i take because I want to be an international star." It is easier for me to remember stories than just visual pictures. 

4. Number Test

I didn't enjoy this test as much as the facial feature one. I think trying to remember numbers reminds me of frantically repeating radio station contest line numbers so I can dial them to attempt to win concert tickets or a thousand bucks. I haven't won yet. Notably, the max number of digits I could remember on this test was 8. Most phone numbers are 1 area code + 7 more digits. So basically, my number remembering capacity maxes out at a phone number. Maybe this is because I never tried to memorize Pi in middle school.

5. Facial Recognition 

I've always wanted to see what Cher and Oprah would look like bald! In all seriousness this test was pretty cool. I got 87 percent accuracy, which is slightly above average. I felt pretty good about this. I wonder if memory skills are genetic, because my mom is the best at identifying every single actor in whatever movie we are watching, along with who they're married to.