How good is your memory?

In My Humble Opinion
1

How good is your memory in the following areas?

  1. Numbers
  2. Names
  3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?)
  4. Procedures (how to perform a task)
  5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?)
  6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information)
  7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812)

Bonus question: Is your memory better when someone tells you something verbally, or when you read it?

My answers:

Numbers - I have a ridiculous memory for numbers. If I’ve ever written it down or dialed it, I remember it. I know my driver’s license number, credit card numbers, auto insurance policy number, my Dell express service codes, bank routing number and account numbers, even my Windows XP product key. Never mind phone numbers. I don’t make an effort, it just happens.

Names - I can’t remember names for shit. Sometimes I forget a person’s name ten seconds after I’ve been introduced.

Faces - I’m okay with faces. Not as bad as with names, but fairly often I see someone and say “I know you, but I’m not sure from where.”

Procedures - I can remember procedures fairly well, as long as there is some justification behind it. Meaning, if they say “Don’t do this because the gasket will fail.”, then I won’t do that - if they just say “Don’t do this”, I’ll forget.

Speech - I can never remember famous quotes, I always mangle them. I certainly cannot replay conversations word-for-word.

Random facts - In one ear and out the other, like names. Vocabulary quizzes in foreign language classes were horrible.

Concepts - I have an excellent memory for things that I can tie together in some kind of concept, or story. I can study for non-mathematical exams by flipping through my notes in the hour before the test, and absolutely ace them.

If you told me that a piston is a thing that moves up and down, I would forget that in thirty seconds. If you told me how an engine works, I’d remember that for months (including the fact that a piston moves up and down).

Bonus - I cannot remember anything that people tell me. It has to be written. Come to think of it, I have no trouble remembering names when they are written, only when I’m introduced to someone in person.

How about you guys? I’m curious about what patterns will emerge in the answers.

2

  1. Numbers – fair to poor, and getting worse as I age.

  2. Names – In books, good; in person, terrible.

  3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?): terrible

  4. Procedures (how to perform a task) – very good

  5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?) – soo so

  6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information) – much much too good for my own good.

  7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812) – excellent

Bonus: when I read it.

3

Numbers - Good. This includes passwords.
Names - Fair.
Faces - Excellent. I don’t always remember immediately where I know them from: work, school, friend-of-my-sister’s, but I’m very good with faces.
Procedures - Very good, excellent if I’ve done them more than twice.
Speech - Excellent. This also applies to song lyrics and movie quotes.
Random facts - Excellent. I kick butt at trivia games.
Concepts - Excellent.
Extra - I have excellent visual memory. My husband leaves his keys everywhere; most notably, lately, in the guest bathroom sink. “Have you seen my keys?” is a constant question I hear and I am confident he’ll never divorce me—he’d never be able to drive to a lawyer’s office without me. This bonus extra memory skill also pertains to remembering what area of the page pertinent info is on—I was super-popular during open-book tests!
Bonus - I learn best by writing it down. I used to study by re-writing my notes.

4

  1. Numbers Surprisingly good, considering that my mind isn’t much good for arithmetical calculations. I have to care enough to commit them to memory if I am to remember them for keeps (as opposed to for only 20 minutes) but once lodged there they’re memorized for the long haul. Wanna know my telephone number from when I was 8?

  2. Names Pretty awful

  3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?) Worse than pretty awful. Mostly I just don’t recognize people until I’ve seen them in context a couple hundred times and I won’t get the name that goes with the face unless it gets mentioned a couple dozen of those couple hundred times

  4. Procedures (how to perform a task) Excellent

  5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?) No, not word-for-word. I remember ideas, not words

  6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information) Varies. I’m good at trivia and yet I’m inclined to not notice things, too

  7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812) This is what I’m best at, comparatively speaking

5

For me the difference in memory is a matter of long-term and short-term memory. I can remember phone numbers and birthdays of a lot of kids I went to kindergarten with almost 30 years ago. Same goes for random facts, events, concepts that I learned years in the past.

About a month ago, someone asked me about a loan I had dealt with about eight years ago, two months into my first job at the firm. Without thinking, I went and built an Excel model that I haven’t run since 2000 and answered the caller’s question.

But I have no short term capacity. If I am looking for a phone number, I have to write it down or its gone before I finish dialing. I will forget your name five seconds after you tell me. By Monday I will have forgotten the name of the movie the wife and I saw over the weekend.

6

  1. Numbers - this one has actually improved. Now instead of hopelessly bad, I’m just bad.

  2. Names - say I work with you for 2 weeks. In 3 months I will not remember your name. (Unless you’re a funny person of either gender or a hot guy.)

  3. Faces and people - Unless it’s been years since I saw you last, most of the time I recall where I know you from, but obviously I don’t remember your name if it’s been 3 months…

  4. Procedures- my memory for this sort of thing is great.

  5. Speech - I remember conversations very well. Even dumb ones. And accidentally memorize lyrics to songs I’ve heard only once.

  6. Random facts - I am a fount of useless trivia.

  7. Concepts and stories - I also have an excellent memory for this sort of thing as well. It came in handy as a student because anything I read twice I memorized. In high school I had teachers caution us you couldn’t get decent grades doing so in college, but they were wrong.

7

Some stuff sticks, some stuff doesn’t. How’s that for a critical analysis?

My uncle told me a story once about giving an wrong account number to a bank teller. Turned out that what he remembered was the serial number of his rifle from his days in bootcamp–50 years earlier.

My theory is that it’s all there, but access is often a problem.

8

Here goes…I never realized what a mixed bag my memory is…

  1. Numbers - depends…does the number have any significance now? If so, I might remember it; if not…I got nothing.

  2. Names - Pretty poor unless I read or write them.

  3. Faces and people - Excellent - and I can usually remember their voices even better - it is truly uncanny

  4. Procedures - Very good if I either read the directions (ha!) or am shown how to do something.

  5. Speech - Not usually very good…but I will remember the salient points.

  6. Random facts - generally pretty good if they are in an area of my interests.

  7. Concepts and stories - Concepts are excellent, but stories are zip. I cannot remember any jokes, although am adept at puns.

8 My addition…I am getting poor at random times in remembering specific words. For example I couldn’t remember the word “transistor” today, even though I could describe one and tell how it works and compare it to a vacuum tube. Ah, the aging mind!

9

  1. Numbers
    Not very

  2. Names
    Awful

  3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?)
    Not very

  4. Procedures (how to perform a task)
    Good

  5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?)
    Very good

  6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information)
    Very good

  7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812)
    Very good

Bonus question: Is your memory better when someone tells you something verbally, or when you read it?
No difference, though I find that technical things need to be drawn (not written.)

10

  1. My memory is remarkably good when it comes to numbers when you consider who shabby my memory is in other areas. If someone tells me their phone number I won’t even have to write it down. I can even remember my grade 7 locker combination and most of the other ones. I also know all of the information off both my credit cards.

  2. I can’t remember names for shit. My GF took me to meet all of her friends on the weekend. I can’t remember one single name. I dated a girl for a month once and couldn’t remember her name.

  3. I can remember faces quite well. If I’m watching a movie I can always come up with other rolls even the smaller characters have played.

  4. If said procedure is important enough I’ll write it down. My memory for procedures isn’t very good until I’ve performed them a number of times.

  5. No memory at all. I need to write things down. In university I had impeccable notes. I am darn lucky I could write fast. I was always jealous of people who could remember what the prof said w/o writing it down.

  6. I have so many useless facts floating around upstairs it isn’t even funny. At times I remember things I didn’t even remember I knew. Today I remembered how heavy a baby blue whale weighs (3 tones - next time you give birth, count your blessings). Heaven only knows how that got up there.

  7. I’m pretty good here.

Bonus: read, definitely but I do remember some of what I hear if I really focus.

11
  1. Numbers — depends on whether I can associate them with something else or not. I still remember the phone numbers of several classmates I had to memorize once as part of a class exercise, but it took me four months to memorize my ZIP code here in Switzerland. It’s 4 digits (I’m used to 5) and I don’t know where said digits come from (with Spanish ZIPs, I do).
  2. Names — say what? Badges should be compulsory, damnit. And worn in a place where trying to read the name doesn’t make it look like you’re staring at your coworker’s crotch.
  3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?) — oh hell yes. I’ve been able to tell someone who thought I looked familiar that we’d sometimes take the same subway line; he swore up and down he never took it and was mightily surprised when a couple months later I greeted him… in that subway.
  4. Procedures (how to perform a task). Only if I understand the logic.
  5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?). Word for word no.
  6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information). I got banned from Trivial Pursuit games in my dorm, they would call me in to referee (sometimes the answer in the cards and the answer given would be different but both correct).
  7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812) Yeah but of course if I haven’t used them in 20 years I do need a refresher.

I’m good at learning both ways, but mostly I’m a “hands-on” learner. I was that weird student (apparently there’s one every year) who does better in the “problems” than the “theory” part, because I’m better at remembering concepts and at applying them than at remembering word-for-word definitions and symbol-for-symbol demos. Makes me unusually good at training other hands-on learners, too (most “peons” in factories are like this).

12

I remember 25 years ago I went to school with a kid from Sierra Leone who’s name was Foday Tarawali Del Pieve Gobi Fortier. (sp?)

13

1. Numbers- Very good. I can remember license plate numbers and phone numbers from over 20 years ago. I’ve never had to carry an address/phone number book around with me.
2. Names- I’m terrible with names. I have to meet with the person at least three of four times before the name sets in. I am often embrrassed to run into someone I just met whose name I cannot recall after he/she has addressed me by name.
3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?)- If it’s someone I see regularly I’m good, but if I haven’t seen the person in awhile (several months) I may hesitate to ask myself, “Is that who I think it is?”
4. Procedures (how to perform a task) If it’s worded well with no ambiguity or vagueness, I’m fine. I do better with written instructions versus being told verbally. The other person often skips steps or makes assumptions that I may already know something that I don’t.
5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?) For the most part, but my recall usually turns into paraphrasing.
6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information)- I’m really good with this for some reason.
7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812)- I’m fairly good with this, really good if the subject is of interest to me.

ETA:
Bonus- I do better with written information since I can instantly re-retrieve information that may have been missed previously.

14

  1. Numbers - I’m only “OK” with basic math, besides that, I’m pretty bad, if not awful.

  2. Names - “Meh” Sometimes I’ll remember names, but In a classroom, It takes me quite a while to memorize every name.

  3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?) - I’m pretty good with this. I can often see a face I haven’t seen In a while, and more often than not I will remeber the person, though not necesarily the name.

  4. Procedures (how to perform a task) - Another “meh”. Truly depends on what I’m doing.

  5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?) - No.

  6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information) - Yeah, this is probably one of my strong points. I love memorizing random facts that enlighten my knowledge of certain things.

  7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812) - Yeah, this is also my strong point. If I am passionate about something, I wil often find a way to persuade others to think more about a subject. Sometimes, I even manage to change some people’s mind’s on an issue from time to time.

15

Iconic only - it serves me well.

16

Absolutely horrid for everything except #6. I am more likely to remember the year a certain movie was released than my best friend’s birthday.

17

  1. Numbers - eh, not so great. I have a heard time remembering phone numbers and, even though I’ve been at my job for 10 years, I still have to use the directory when calling coworkers.

  2. Names - scary good. We can have students come back after five, six years for whatever reason. I’ll remember the name and the circumstances associated with that name in minute detail. “Oh, yes, that student had anxiety issues and no wonder. Remember when his mother sat in our office crying because he was having trouble with his final project sophomore year? I wonder if he gained weight. He was awfully skinny.” Then we check the file, and sho’nuff, I’m right. Sometimes I have to hold back because it freaks people out.

  3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?) - Yes, but I have less confidence when presented with a face than with a name. Nevertheless, I often have to hold back because I’m so good it seems stalkerish.

  4. Procedures (how to perform a task) - average, I would say.

  5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?) - no, but I can give you the gist of a conversation very accurately.

  6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information) - again, crazy good. I’m the trivia Queen. Ask me about Henry VIII or which Lucy show had Mr. Mooney and which had Harry. I’ll sing the Virginia Slims commercial song. Whatever you like.

  7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812) - if it interests me, I am quite good at this type of memory. If not, I’ll zone out and nothing will sink in in the first place.

18

I’m probably around average in the memory department (although I do recall a brief memory of being in the world that was before this world).

The worst thing about me is that my nerves are shot, thus in certain situations (like a class room setting, for example) I feel like I’m trying to learn while standing way up on a tight-wire (whilst other folks are secure on a nice, wide sidewalk). And so for that reason my memory and ability to learn and focus isn’t always the best. Needless to say, it’s quite a curse, these crummy nerves. :frowning:

19

1. Numbers Not bad, but not fantastic. I can remember a phone number long enough to hang up with the person who gave it to me and dial it, but beyond that, I don’t push it.

2. Names Horrific, but mainly because I just don’t care.

3. Faces and people Possibly even worse than my memory for names. Bad name memory + bad face memory = very bad combination. “Hi, I’m Knead!” “Yes, we met last week.” “Oh, I’m sorry, I have a bad memory for faces.” “I’m Tom.” “If you say so.”

4. Procedures Pretty good. Despite never having written down the relatively complex VHS copying procedures I worked out between 2 VCRs in 2 rooms on 2 floors and involving 2 A/B switches, I still manage to do it right every time.

5. Speech Pretty good up to a point. I have lots of opportunities in my job to report complaints from the public to my superiors, and I do an excellent job of getting their exact words, but I document things quickly before I lose track of it in my head.

6. Random facts Astounding.

7. Concepts and stories Above average.

Bonus question: Is your memory better when someone tells you something verbally, or when you read it? Forced to choose, I would say that I’m better at remembering the verbal because if I read it, I will always assume that I can go back and read it again, so I don’t commit as much effort to processing it in the same way.

20

  1. Numbers – If I use the number often, as in a friend’s phone number or address, I’m pretty good. But let some time pass between hearing/learning it and I’ll forget it. I have at least two combination locks that are totally useless because of how long it’s been since I needed them and because I threw the little piece of paper with the numbers away. Duh!

  2. Names – Better than 75%. I’m almost useless on remembering a name on first meeting somebody. It takes the second or third repeat for it to sink in. After that, I’m good for years.

  3. Faces and people (when you recognize someone, do you know who they are?) – I give myself a 90% rating on this one. It may take some rummaging through my memory cells and may take up to a day’s time for it to click, but I can get most name-face connections with no problem. Example: I met a guy on the street when he and I were in our 20’s. We had been in the same first grade class. I called his name and after I reminded him where I knew him from he said he remembered me, too. (I can’t say I was convinced of that.)

  4. Procedures (how to perform a task) – Again it depends on how recently I did this thing. If over a year, not too hot. Maybe 30% overall.

  5. Speech (can you remember what someone said word-for-word?) – No

  6. Random facts (without any concept tying them together, just a bunch of random information) – 80%. I’m good at Trivial Pursuit on things that happened before I turned 50. Stuff later than that (say over the past 10-15 years) I never remembered to start with. I suck on recent trivia and know virtually nothing about Pop Culture since 1990.

  7. Concepts and stories (i.e. how a car’s engine works, what happened in the war of 1812) – Depends greatly on my interests. Maybe 50% overall and pushing 90% on the stuff I care(d) about.

Bonus question: Is your memory better when someone tells you something verbally, or when you read it? – I’ll go with 60% for things I see/read and maybe 40% on things I hear.

Additional categories you didn’t ask about:

Music – 80%
Directions – 80%
Smells – 80%
Where I put stuff – 70%
Things people did to hurt me – 70%
Things people did to make me feel good – 60%
Important dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) – 30%
Due dates (if not written down) – 30%