Memory Tests

Today, let's take a few memory tests!

First, I took the short-term memory test and out of the 12 words, I remembered 10, which was more than I was expecting, but honestly, I remembered the tip where you assign meaning or used the words in sentences to try and remember them so I'm not sure if the test was valid in testing my short-term memory, as I simply could not recall at all the two words I forgot the meaningful sentence to. In general though, it's an effective but basic way to test. 

Next, I took the memory test for faces and of the 10 parts, I remembered 6, mostly through how distinctive I originally thought they were. I imagined the test would then show pictures of the faces and ask to pick a correct one but I was surprised that we were asked to pick specific features ourselves. I think if you're taking it for the first time, the test is pretty valid because you have to remember each specific piece, and not just how the face comes together as a whole, which really tests short term memory and not recognition. 

Finally, I took the picture memory test and of the 20 images, I remembered 13, which isn't too bad but I think the pictures should change because I accidentally went back to the previous page and came back, giving me extra time. In terms of validity, it seems to be a pretty basic but effective test. 

After taking my tests, I read an article on research by the NIH that has recently indicated how the brain may separate and store memories. Essentially, the research seems to indicate that there are groups of brain cells that are active when memory "boundaries" are experienced, such as watching one clip transition to another in the same movie setting (boundary cells), as well as cells active when a harder boundary, such as a clip from one scene cutting to a commercial or different movie entirely, is experienced, called event cells. When activity in both peaked, evidence shows that a memory is cut off and a new one begins, creating 2 separate memories. Isn't that cool?