Page 133 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

Develop a Brawny Brain • 117

ber the stops on the list in the order you will make
them. This planning session alone will rehearse the list
of errands in meaningful arrangements. Your brain
will take notice that this is important information, and
perhaps some of it will linger in short-term memory
long enough for you to accomplish your tasks.

Notice that we did not explicitly remember the list of
items at the cleaners. They probably will not require a list.
You most likely have the ticket for the cleaners, and if not,
the cleaners has a record of what you dropped off. Spend
your time and mental energy on the items for which you do
not have a ready prompt.

INFORMATION-PROCESSING
POSTASSESSMENT

Keep these various learning strategies in mind as you study
the next few paragraphs. For example, make associations,
develop mnemonics, look for hierarchies, and use repetition.
You are going out to finish the last of your holiday shop-
ping. You need to be sure that your uncle Lewis, your
spouse’s cousin Edward, and niece Shara each have two
gifts. The two gifts should total no more than $30. Lewis has
just bought a new Chevy truck. Edward is environmentally
conscious, and Shara is bubbly and energetic.
You already have bought several gifts during off-season
sales, with the intention of deciding who gets what later,
and have them stored in your closet at home. The items and
their values are

Aluminum-can crusher $10
Interstate highway map $15
Recycling bins $20

You decide to give Edward the can crusher as well as the
recycling bins and to give Lewis the map.