Test Your Memory - Bird List - 1

Here is a list of birds; review this list for 10 minutes:

thrush
woodpecker
vulture
ostrich
turkey
raven
penguin
bittern
eider
gull
parrot
owl
avocet
egret
willet
goose
gadwall
flamingo
bluejay
flicker
blackbird
finch
pheasant
sparrow
bobwhite
flycatcher
vireo
swallow
booby
frigatebird
chickadee
crow
brant
gannet
albatross
swan
bunting
goldeneye
chicken
dove
cardiral
grackle
longspur
rooster
catbird
grebe
waxbill
scoter
condor
grosbeak
siskin
coot
grouse
killdeer
crane
heron
yellowthroat
cuckoo
hummingbird
wren
curlew
ibis
weaver
dipper
jay
waxwing
dowitcher
junco
thrasher
tern
teal
warbler
tanager
surfbird
stork
stilt
spoonbill
snipe
skimmer
shrike
shoveler
shearwater
sapsucker
sandpiper
robin
roadrunner
redstart
rail
quail
puffin
pintail
phoebe
petrel
oystercatcher
ovenbird
oriole
nuthatch
nightingale
mockingbird
magpie
loon
lark
kingfisher
kestrel

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Now, read the following article to spend some time before getting back to the above exercise:

Want to improve your memory? Try 'Moonwalking with Einstein'
http://www.citizen-times.com/
May. 27, 2011

It is not necessary to have a photographic memory to become a memory champion, and one can improve memory using mnemonic techniques. Joshua Foer, a journalist by profession, wrote about his experience and journey to become the “U.S. Memory Champion” in the book “Moonwalking with Einstein.” It is a commendable effort to address and explain the intricacies of the art and science of remembering everything.

Underlining its importance, Foer says that a great memory is the essence of expertise because who we are and what we do is dependent on what we remember. Our identity itself depends on memory, without which we cannot connect our past and future with the present.

The author presents comprehensive research on how memory works and how it can be improved using mnemonics. Our lives and memories are anchored by major events and novelty unfolds our memory.

Routine events are hard to remember, whereas unbelievable, extraordinary and abnormal events are likely to be remembered for a long time. When it comes to text, speeches and poems, we must recognize that we tend to pay attention to the big picture and not the details.

Further, our internal memories are associational and nonlinear. So, one of the memory techniques is to convert routine things like digits, dates and names into visual and engrossing images in an imaginary space. The author argues that an image cannot be created without dwelling on these words, names and digits. He says that the art of memory is learning how little of an image you need to make it memorable.

Foer suggests that how you spend your time practicing is far more important than the amount of time you spend. He supports this observation by citing research findings that the number of years one has been doing something correlates weakly with level of performance.

Unless you constantly and consciously challenge and then monitor improvement in performance, you cannot reach new levels of performance. The author suggests that we can do this by pushing ourselves beyond the comfort zone. Learning from mistakes is a key aspect to improve our performance.

The book is useful in providing detailed information about how one can make efforts to improve memory and its importance in our daily lives despite having the greatest external memory repository — the Internet and the plethora of search engines that can help you retrieve any external information. Further, it is important to realize that human minds have more potential than we realize.

This book assumes significance for any student because memory plays a critical role in learning and acquiring new knowledge. The author argues that learning and memorizing complement each other; you cannot learn without memorizing and you cannot memorize without learning.

He further contends that today's education must foster learning the art of remembering to supplement commonly known tenets of progressive education, such as fostering reasoning ability, creativity and independent thinking.

Vittal Anantatmula, an associate professor in the College of Business at Western Carolina University, teaches project management and is the director of graduate programs in project management.

[source: Want to improve your memory? Try 'Moonwalking with Einstein']

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OK, now, take a pen and paper and just in 15 minutes write a list of birds out of the above list! Do not refer to the list, just use your mind! Your mind should be kept totally busy during this 15 minutes only by remembering the birds!

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Check your list! How many items are in there?

90+ Perfect! Your memory is already in an excellent shape!

70+ Good!

50+ You have an average memory!

Less? You need to be more serious on training your memory. After 24 hours, do this exercise again. Do this exercise again and again, until you could write a list with, at least, 50 items.

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How to Improve Your Memory

At-a-glance

How to Improve Your Memory

May 10, 2011 By By: Andrea Morales


Don’t you hate it when you’re rushing out of the house, but then all of a sudden you realize you forgot your book upstairs? Just as you get upstairs, you forget where your book is? This happens to me all the time and I bet it happens to you too sometimes. Well, fortunately, there is a way to help improve your memory.
First of all, stay positive. If you are always telling yourself, ‘I have a terrible memory, I can’t remember anything!’ then you will most likely not be able to improve your memory. Stay positive; tell yourself that you can improve your memory. Once you convince yourself that you can, the next steps will be super easy.
Most of the time, you can’t remember your friend’s phone number because it’s just a bunch of random numbers. This also happens with many other things, such as their address or how much you spent when you went shopping, etc. Luckily, there is a way to help you remember this useful information. The first thing you can do it write down your friends’ number. Using the first letter of each number, create a sentence. If you can’t do this, make a story. Using your friend in the story is even more helpful.
Usually, you can remember something more easily if you can visualize it. For example, if you want to remember to pick up you little sister from a friend’s house, imagine her in a house with the time you need to pick her up shining brightly. You will probably forget that, so try your hardest to make the image as shocking and emotional as possible.
When you go out shopping, it’s hard to remember everything you put down. Try making it easier for yourself by categorizing the individual things from the list. For example, group together the type of shorts you want to buy and the shirt, etc. Doing this should make your shopping much easier for you.
You always hear your teacher telling you to study days before your test, but sometimes this is the wrong thing to say. Studying days before is the best option, but you can also do it the day before. When you study for days, it stays in your head for a longer period of time and can help you with finals, but if you find yourself really busy and unable to do this, it’s fine. If you do study the day before, the material you are studying will only be remembered for a short period of time.
Doing all of these things can help you, but the most important is organizing your life. Put items that you use on a daily basis in the same spot everyday. Use a daily planner to keep track of appointments, due dates, and other important tasks. Being organized can leave extra room for more things to memorize or remember.
Memorizing something can be easy if you use these simple steps. You will be memorizing pi in no time!

source: How to Improve Your Memory

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