Read the article about memory, and then answer the following questions.
How good is your memory?
Some people can easily remember facts and figures. Others struggle to recall things, or need strategies to help them. One helpful strategy is using mental pictures. For example, if you regularly confuse Arctic and Antarctic, think of looking up at an arch and down at an ant, and you’ll never confuse them again.
What many people don’t realise is that memory isn’t just an ability. It’s
also seen as a sport by some people. Although it doesn’t require any physical activity, you have to learn techniques and do lots of practice – as you would if you were learning football or tennis, for example. One simple technique is applying the rule of five: if you review what you’ve learned five times, at specific intervals, you won’t forget it.
There are many memory competitions that people can take part in. One of these, the World Memory Championships, has been held every year since 1991, with the exception of 1992. The competition format and regulations were first set out by Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene, who together came up with mind sport as a term. The first winner was Dominic O’Brien, from the UK, who went on to win seven more times. He has written several books on ways of developing memory, which anyone can do by trying out various techniques, such as using memorable sentences. For example, if you need to remember the four-digit PIN number 4626, the sentence ‘This number is secret’ could help you, as the number of letters in each word matches the digits in the PIN number.
The competition usually consists of ten separate memory tests. These test competitors’ abilities to remember things like sequences of binary numbers – 10111001, for example – but they start with having to recall a set of names and faces. Other tests are on the order of abstract images, and a sequence of unconnected words. That’s all before the final test in which competitors have to memorise the order of a pack of cards, in the space of only five minutes. Competitors all have their own methods for doing these tests at speed, some of which are fairly complex. But anyone could try what’s known as the link method to remember a list of words. For the words torch, grapes, ring and milk, imagine a sequence of events which connects these objects. You could shine a torch on a bunch of grapes; inside one grape you see a diamond ring; you squeeze the grape, and the ring falls into a glass of milk. Or you could try a similar technique, the body system. This could involve imagining the torch on your head, grapes hanging from your fingers, a ring in your nose, and so on.
The mind sport of memory is governed by the World Memory Sports Council, which supervises competitions around the world, and issues awards. These include the title of World Memory Champion each year, and also International Grandmaster, which is the greatest achievement anyone in the sport can get. The council has a clear vision; part of this is to make the sport more popular in all continents. The sport began in the UK, and is particularly well-known in China, although people from over two dozen countries have received awards. Another target is to make memory an Olympic sport. After all, chess is already listed as one, meaning that it can (but not necessarily will) be included in future Olympic Games. Perhaps speed reading, which is one of five mind sports linked to education, might even be considered too.
So, what are you waiting for? Start improving your memory right now!
Why is memory considered to be a sport?