INTELLIGENT MEMORY --- IMPROVE THE MEMORY THAT MAKES YOU SMARTER
by Barry Gordon and Lisa Berger. Viking, 2003
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (vii-viii)
INTRODUCTION (pxi-xv)
1) What Is Intelligent Memory? (p1-10)
[1] Picking Up Where Ordinary Memory Leaves Off 13
[2] How It Works 14
[3] Three Parts of the Engine 17
[4] Becoming a Better Thinker 19
2) Testing Your Intelligent Memory Attention (p11-42)
[1] Scratch-Pad Memory 116
[2] Memory Storage 121
[3] Connections 126
[4] Problem Solving 130
[5] Mental Mistakes 135
[6] Your Score 140
3) Improving Your Intelligent Memory (p43-48)
[1] Enhancing Attention 144
[2] Expanding Scratch-Pad Memory 145
[3] Coring More Memories 145
[4] Sparking Connections 146
[5] Solving Problems 146
[6] Working Creatively 146
[7] Preventing Mental Mistakes 147
4) Enhancing Attention Focusing (p149)
[1] Thoughts Training
[2] Familiarity Helps 151
[3] Attention Lapses 152
[4] The Attention Bottleneck 153
[5] Automatic Attention 156
[6] Exercises 161
5) Expanding Scratch-Pad Memory
[1] How Good Is Your Scratch-Pad Memory? 169
[2] Word Recall Test 70
[3] Digit Span Test 71
[4] Chunking 174
[5] Making Tight Chunks 177
[6] Exploring Possible Patterns 178
[7] Reassembling for Meaning 179
[8] Finding Models 180
[9] Exercises 181
6) Storing More Memories (p187)
[1] Limitless Space 188
[2] Familiar Company 190
[3] Elaboration 192
[4] Elaborating for Meaning 195
[5] Redundant Locations 196
[6] Visualizing and Mnemonics 197
[7] Repeating and Rehearsing 199
[8] Spaced Practice 100
[9] Your Brain's Second Shift 102
[10] Exercises 102
7) Sparking Connections (p107)
[1] Do You Make Connections? (p107)
[2] What's So Funny? (p109)
[3] Building Better Connections (p110)
[4] Stretch for Novelty (p112)
[5] Forming a "web" with Analogies (p113)
[6] A Long, Loose Chain (p118)
[7] Giant Steps with Bainstorming (p119)
[8] Incubating for Creative Connections (p120)
[9] Exercises (p122)
8) Solving Problems (p129)
[1] The Nature of Problems (p129)
[2] Looking for Solutions (p137)
[3] Learning from Looking (p139)
[4] Ways of Thinking (p141)
[5] Checking a Solution (p148)
[6] Exercises (p149)
9) Working Creatively (p157)
[1] Making Great Leaps (p158)
[2] Inside the Artistic Mind (p159)
[3] Lessons for Making Creative Connections (p162)
[4] Exercises (p163)
10) Preventing Mental Mistakes (p165)
[2] Generalizing to a Wrong Conclusion (p165)
[2] Faulty Connections (p166)
[3] The Value of Slower Thinking (p168)
[4] Expect Fallibility (p770)
[5] The Perils of Pressured Thinking (p171)
[6] Good Solution but Wrong Mental Process (p171)
[7] Applying Likelihood and Odds (p173)
[8] Testing Conclusions (p174)
[8] Listening to Common Sense (p175)
[9) Rethinking a Problem (p177)
[10] Exercises (p179)
11) Ideas for Using Intelligent Memory (p183)
[1] At Home (p184)
[2] At Work (p189)
[3] At Leisure (p199)
12) Your Intelligent Memory Plan (p203)
NOTES AND SOURCES (p209-219)
REVIEWS OF BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR = Dr. Barry Gordon is one of the world's leading experts in the study and treatment of memory and language disorders and neurological diseases. For almost twenty years he has directed the Johns Hopkins University's Division of Cognitive Neurology and Neuropsychology.
Lisa Berger is a professional writer who has specialized in health and medicine for more than twenty years.
SUMMARY = Offers guidance in expanding intellectual powers, featuring exercises and self-administered tests that can be used to enhance and sharpen minds at any age.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION = Intelligence. Creativity. Common sense. All of these important skills require memory, and this book demonstrates how memory can be both learned and improved by anyone, no matter how old they are or how "absent-minded" they consider themselves to be. Barry Gordon, a world- renowned expert in memory research, explains the components of what he calls "intelligent memory"—paying attention, storing information, creating connections, and retrieving information—and shows, through examples and exercises, how to use these tools to increase our intelligence. Combining groundbreaking science with practical self-evaluation quizzes and memory-strengthening exercises, Intelligent Memory is a much-needed tool for anyone at any age who wants to be a more intelligent, creative person.
From Publishers Weekly = Gordon (Memory — Remembering and Forgetting in Everyday Life), who holds an endowed chair at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and is the director of the Memory Clinic, presents his concept of intelligent memory. Differing from ordinary memory because it involves more than simple recall, intelligent memory refers to the process by which the brain makes connections between pieces of information. These connections are used to solve problems, generate creative ideas and provide insight. Essentially unconscious, intelligent memory works with lightning speed.
With freelance writer Berger, Gordon explains in accessible prose how to strengthen this memory by pursuing a series of mental exercises. Gordon believes that in order to navigate the complexities of the modern world, a skilled intelligent memory is essential. The exercises for the reader focus on the three defined aspects of intelligent memory: paying better attention, expanding conscious (or scratchpad) memory and learning to store more memories. For example, storing memories can be enhanced by relating new information to something that is already known. If someone is told that a snake with yellow stripes is dangerous, it will be easier to remember if the color yellow is mentally linked to a yellow traffic signal that symbolizes a warning. Although many of the exercises are challenging and fun to try, only the most motivated readers will persevere through all of them. – Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Return to: Thoughts Category Abstracts