Page 230 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

214 • Chapter 7

For example, can you remember the details of the last
time you went to the bank? You probably can remember
going to a grandchild’s recital, however. Unique situa-
tions stick in your mind, while many instances of the
same situation may run together.
• If you are practicing one of the techniques or complet-
ing an exercise, distractions may make you forget
where you were. So if you get lost in the middle of an
exercise, perhaps you should find a good starting point
and go again. Try to notice whether you lose track of
what you’re doing with or without distractions.
• Some information never makes it to long-term memory.
Not paying adequate attention accounts for approxi-
mately 50 percent of reported memory problems. Con-
centrate on what you want to remember. Try to make
associations and use some of the techniques previously
discussed. The inability to rapidly form associations is
what accounts for much of the effect of aging on mea-
sured cognitive abilities. If you need to remember
something you need to do, concentrate and come up
with little sayings or rhymes, or even write it down so
that it will make more associations. The more you as-
sociate new information with items already firmly en-
trenched in your memory, the more likely you will be
able to recall the new information successfully.
• One of the most common complaints by the elderly
(and the young) is the increasing inability to recall
names and particular words. The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT)
phenomenon is when individuals know that they know
the name but cannot recall it at that particular moment.
Ninety-two percent of the time, when older adults say
they know a name but just cannot immediately recall it,
they are correct. They actually do know it. Therefore,
when people say they know something, believe them.
One research study demonstrated a 48 percent retrieval
success rate within two to three minutes without any
external aids.