Everyone can improve their working memory power in various ways. Firstly, we have to know what is working memory? This type of mental process is also known of short-term memory. Its duration ranges from a few seconds to several minutes. People who suffer from a severe working memory problem usually have a repetitive behavior. The working memory is believed to represent the foundation of both intelligence and reasoning.
One of the best ways to improve working memory is to make lists. People who are organized seem to have a better short-time memory. In addition, creating a virtual image of each in the list helps people to recall faster. By doing such associations, people can actually improve their memory. In addition, they may realize connections between the items of the list. When this is done, people are able to remember the order of the elements.
Being organized helps in the first place, but the improvement is also realized by the fact the people write things down when they create lists. Another similar method involves writing down the notions that must be memorized and deleting them one by one, as soon as they are stored in the memory. Writing the information is particularly effective in students that have memory problems.
Another way to improve working memory is to play certain games that require mental processing. For example, one game involves putting some playing cards faced down and making pairs. The cards are revealed one at a time, observed for a few seconds and put back.
It is recommended to use 24 cards in 12 pairs, for a real memory challenging game. Also, memorizing the order of the cards from a deck may also improve working memory, although it seems useful. Usually, people are able to memorize only the last 7 notions that they face with. Trying to memorize the order of the cards will improve this fact.
The notions that must be memorized must be connected, for the best results. Story telling is also one of the games that improve working memory. People must observe the notions and create a story that contains all the items.
Abstract notions, such as numbers, are memorized with difficulty by most of the people. Connecting them to something that can be recollected easier is helpful. In mathematics, for example, the formulas are given together with the one that has discovered them.