When you clicked to move on it then asked you to fill in the boxes with as many words as you could remember, spelled correctly. You then had to pick your age group, your gender and what country you were from. Upon hitting the check my memory button it told you how you compared with similar people to you who also took this test (How good is your memory- Memory Test, n.d.).
Of the twelve words I could recall 7 of them. The explanation of the test results explained that on average our short-term memory can hold an average of 7 chunks of information (names, numbers, etc.) + or - 2. So if someone scores between 5 and 9 of the words on the list, their short-term memory is working at an average capacity (How good is your memory- Memory Test, n.d.).
The more that one repeats something the more likely they are to remember it. Things start out in ones short-term or working memory and then are moved to long-term memory. The ability to retrieve information that is stored in long-term memory depends a lot on how it is coded. The better things are coded the easier that it will be to recall those pieces of information. It is also easier to recall a thing if one associates that piece of information with something else. The association helps with the coding which ultimately helps with retrieval. If I had associated the words during the memory test, I might have been able to recall more than seven of them.
Scientists are always trying to figure out how the human memory works and yet many things about human memory and many of the ideas and theories about it are still quite controversial. A good theory of human memory should not only recognize a set of processes and stores, but also be able to help answer questions about how long it will take to retrieve information and when information will be forgotten or become inaccessible. The theory must specify properties of the processes and stores. In other words it must specify if a store might have a maximum capacity of information that it can hold at a given time. Knowing a store's capacity and what...
Ignored information doesn't stay there very long. New information quickly writes over the old, a process sometimes known as interference. Processed information is not only protected from interference, it progresses at a higher-level as to figure out what it means. Once information is processed in this way, it can be encoded into the short-term store (STS) (Human Memory, n.d.).
Memory tests are a great way for scientists and researchers to try and come up with solid theories on how the human memory really works. Figuring this out will go a long way in helping people to retain memories especially as they grow older. There are constantly new developments being made in order to help people improve their memories in order to improve their quality of life.
References
How good is your memory- Memory Test. (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2009, from Psychologist
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Human Memory. (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2009, from NASA.gob Web site: http://human-
factors.arc.nasa.gov/cognition/tutorials/ModelOf/Knowmore1.html
Human Memory Encoding, Storage, Retention, and Retrieval. (2005). Retrieved June 3, 2009,
from Intelegen Inc. Web site: http://brain.web-us.com/memory/memory_encoding.htm
Memory Loss. (2004). Retrieved June 3, 2009, from Aetna InteliHealth Web site:
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/31393/31397/347125.html?d=dmtCon
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Memory (psychology). (2009). Retrieved June 3, 2009, from MSN Encarta Web site:
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761578303
