4 ms·
I believe studies of note-taking suggest a link between retention and the physical act of writing. My habit is to imitate writing the person's name on my palm s
by canhascodez 8y ago
I believe studies of note-taking suggest a link between retention and the physical act of writing. My habit is to imitate writing the person's name on my palm several times after an important introduction.
In general though, my brain is not optimized for this. I rely in no small way upon having a digital extension to my memory. Usually, not being able to remember months and years of my life is more of a personal concern than not being able to remember names or faces. But, it's not clear that the broader issue is solvable, so I write on my hand, and apologize for the necessity.
- pandler 8y agoOne of the few things I remember from that one neuroscience class I took in high school was that the more physical senses you involve in something, the more likely you are to remember that thing. I think you’re totally right about writing something down, even if it’s just miming the act of writing. It’s the same effect, I think, where writing down a reminder means I remember it even when I lose the reminder note.
- dweekly 8y agoI also read it was a good idea to use multiple senses, so now I lick people when I meet them and they never forget meeting me.
- m-i-l 8y agoThat's a good tip about making the motions to write the person's name on the palm of your hand. One thing I noticed not that long ago was that if I heard someone's name, e.g. if they spoke it to me, I had little chance of remembering, but if I saw the name written down, e.g. I saw it on a name tag, I actually had a much better chance of remembering. I assumed that is because my memory was more visual. But maybe it is simply because of more senses being involved.