Answer to Question #244833 in Psychology for Prof.

Question

How is memory related to intelligence? Consider examples from your own experience.

List 3 strategies that you use, or will use, to enhance your memory.

Answer 1

Working memory is a psychological construct that focuses attention, and it is commonly viewed as a temporary storage that holds and manipulates information. Intelligence on the other hand is a general cognitive ability associated with efficient higher-order thinking such as reasoning and problem solving skills. Working memory, in particular, is strongly correlated with intelligence in children and adults. For example I perform better on a working memory task and in the same manner I also tend to perform better on an intelligence task. More intelligent adults are thus more efficient problem solvers, because they have to beckon up less energy.

The following are the strategies one can do to improve his/her memory; firstly, is to sleep after learning. When one sleeps after learning or reading the memory gets refreshed and he/she is able to remember he/she had read. Going to sleep after reading also eliminates a lot of environmental stimuli that might interfere with the learned content. Second strategy that one can do to improve his/her memory is to generate and test yourself. This can be done by making up questions yourself and then testing yourself on them. This involves active involvement with the material and actually strengthens the encoding of material to be learned. Another strategy to improve one’s memory is by use of visualize concepts. Many people benefit greatly from visualizing the information they study. Paying attention to the photographs, charts, and other graphics in your textbooks also improves your memory.