The most infuriating form of memory failure is a mental block. You feel sure the detail you need is somewhere in memory, but it is as if a brick wall has sprung up to hide it. Memory blocks can strike at any time and range from mildly irritating lapses in mid-conversation to catastrophic memory failures in the middle of an exam. Fortunately, some tricks can help you to overcome them.
Work With The Alphabet
If you are trying to remember a name, getting the initial letter is often enough to bring the whole of it to mind. Say the alphabet slowly to yourself, pausing after each letter to allow tire for the process of association to work. Sooner or later, you will encounter a letter that ‘feels closer than the rest. Once you think you have hit the right letter, say it out loud. This can help bring the right name or word to mind.
Deal with Intruders
When you are struggling to find the right word in conversation or when writing, you may find the wrong word surfaces repeatedly and seems to get in the way of the one you need. Take a closer look at this intruder. It is likely to correspond in a number of ways with the word you want. You will often find that it starts with the same letter, has the same number as the syllabus, or is associated by meaning with the word you need. Use these clues to sound out similar words or say aloud a number of sentences that express the meaning of the word you are looking for. This helps to open up a path to the word you want.
Switch Your Attention
Sometimes, too much effort to remember seems to create a mental block or make one worse. Switch attention to something entirely different – go and make a cup of tea, read the paper, or absorb yourself in a crossword. By consciously not trying to remember the piece of information, you may find that the answer surfaces of its own accord. This phenomenon has been called the ‘law of reversed effort ‘ and often works well in tip-of-the tongue situations where you feel the answer is tantalizingly close.
Use Free Association
Free association of ideas around a topic or word is widely used in psychoanalysis to give an insight into an individual’s unconscious mind. You can use a similar technique when you are trying to bring to mind a particular name – perhaps the name of an actor in a film you saw recently. Begin by concentrating hard on what the person looks and sounds like and describe any distinctive characteristics or physical features. Think about the film and name any other films the actor appeared in. Try to picture any co-stars and remember their names. By focusing on all the associations you have with this person, you may find the name will suddenly slot into place as part of the bigger picture.
Sleep On It
Memory problems occasionally resolve themselves overnight. In these cases, it is rather as if your unconscious mind has been working away at finding the solution while you are asleep. In rare circumstances, you may actually dream of the answer to a problem. However, ‘sleeping on it is more likely to be effective because it gives existing memories an opportunity to surface without interference from other thoughts and ideas so that they come to mind more easily the next day.
Re-Establish Context
Revisiting the situation in which you experienced something can help to bring back a memory – but just imagining the situation can be almost as effective. If you are trying to remember an address given to you at a party, imagine yourself back there. Who were you talking to? How did the conversation go? Or if you are searching for the name of the composer of a piece of music you heard on the radio, imagine yourself back in the original setting, the music sleeping over you and then the radio announcer’s voice saying who the piece of music was by. Similarly, thinking back to the circumstances in which you first learned something can assist recall in an exam or test – a process known as reintegration.
Try Relaxation
Stress is a major factor in mental blocks, and it is easy to panic if the right information does not emerge straight away, especially in a high-pressure situation such as a job interview. If this happens to you, breathe deeply, reassure yourself, and concentrate on one task at a time. Think of the object of your search as a goal to work towards rather than a problem to be overcome. Allow thoughts to surface, but don’t try to force the right one to come – it will emerge in its own time.
