Buckle up, this project is a train wreck of my thoughts. If you are ever confused while reading this, please let it be known, me too. I don’t know what is going on either.
When I saw that we were given this assignment, I was happy, because I got to write about something I find interesting. This was quickly followed by “wait, what am I interested in?” See, my problem is that I’m interested in a lot of things, (WWII, Greek mythology, psychology, music, and much more) and it’s hard to choose just one. So, what if I write about something that relates to all my passions?
Furthermore, this got me thinking about a problem that many people have, including myself: retaining information about things that you are not interested in. Why is it that I can memorize the lyrics to infinite songs, but not remember a simple math formula? How come I can remember countless facts and recite them to a point where people tell me to shut up, but I can’t remember what I had for breakfast? (Oh wait, that’s because I forgot to have breakfast.)
That led me down a 2:00 am search to find answers. And finally, I remembered how I spend most of my free time. I mean, I was literally doing it then.
I present: my passion!
-Searching answers to random questions I have into the unholy hours of the night-
See, it’s perfect! It relates to most of my passions, since a lot of them are found through research. It also perfectly captures my issue with not being able to sleep until I get answers to a question that I have.
The only problem is that I cannot search for this passion on EBSCO. (Darn it, I just hate it when the holy grail of school-approved information doesn’t support googling how staples are made!)
So, what if I turn this passion into a question? To do that, I need to back up a bit. Remember when mentioned that most of my research happens in the middle of the night? Yeah. Well, I’m going to make that into a question, and I’ll make it a lot more interesting. It’s a question I’ve had for a long time:
Why do I retain information better at night? / What is the optimal time of day to retain information?/How does memory work in general?
Yup, we’re going there.
So, this question is perfect. I am literally doing something I’m passionate about IN THIS SCHOOL PROJECT! I am researching a question I have!
After a while of researching, I found a few short articles. However, I did have to use some other sites and previous knowledge to fill in blanks.
Our memory, for the most part, is not accurate. Even the clearest images in your head are not perfect. You may have heard of something called the ‘Mandela effect,’ where a certain memory is distorted, yet the person believes it is totally accurate and complete. The Mandela effect can also occur in a group of people, where they all believe the same incorrect fact or situation. The iconic Star Wars quote, “Luke, I am your father,” is an excellent example of this. In reality, the line spoken is “no, I am your father.” Another example of the Mandela effect occurring in a large group of people is the famous Forest Gump chocolate/life metaphor. I hate to do this to you, but the quote is “life was (not is) like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” I’m not lying- look it up. This occurs because your memory is constructed and changed depending on what you believe makes the most sense, and how you gauge the probability of the event occurring.
There is no exact answer to what the best time of day is to retain information. On average, between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm are the best times for productivity, and between 4:00 pm to 7:00 am are the worst times. However, this changes substantially from person to person. Some people retain information better in the morning, and some better at night. As an example, people with ADHD usually find that they are most productive during the night.
When being taught how to do something, talking with energy and/or hand gestures significantly improves the likelihood of recalling the details. This is one of the many reasons why song lyrics are usually easier to memorize. They have lots of notes and unique segments. They have flow, rhythm and rhyme, which gives your brain a chance to predict what the next lyric may be. This makes them more memorable.
While doing research, (some from 3:00 am research sessions) I found some helpful tasks you can perform to better remember and memorize things.
If you write something down, you are 67% more likely to remember the information. This is especially effective if you are writing in color, eating, or smelling something. It sounds strange, I know. This is so effective because it activates different parts of the brain, which makes you more likely to remember the subject.
Finally, one of the most effective ways to remember a task is to perform it yourself. I KNOW you don’t want to do your math homework, especially if you understood the lesson… but kinesthetic learning is the most common learning style. It goes to show just how powerful repetition is!
Thank you for reading, I hope you were able to understand this and learn something new!