| 00:00:01 |
00:00:08 |
The things that he wants to remember. To
insure Dave learns his new technique. |
| 00:00:08 |
00:00:15 |
Tony sets him a test that he hopes will
provide Ann with a well earned rest. I am |
| 00:00:15 |
00:00:22 |
going to give you a list of 20 items and
you are going to memorize the list. |
| 00:00:23 |
00:00:28 |
You are going to buy the items you need.
And you are going to cook a wonderful |
| 00:00:28 |
00:00:33 |
meal for the family. I have difficulty
getting a sandwich. |
| 00:00:34 |
00:00:39 |
Over the next few days Dave spends his
time memorizing the shopping list. On the |
| 00:00:39 |
00:00:43 |
menu is the family’s favourite. Roast
beef with all the trimmings. Dave needs |
| 00:00:43 |
00:00:48 |
to transfer the list from his short term
to his long term memory. To do this he is |
| 00:00:48 |
00:00:52 |
encoding it. By visually linking each
ingredient to landmarks in the order they |
| 00:00:52 |
00:00:57 |
will appear on his usual coastal walk. |
| 00:00:58 |
00:01:07 |
Smoke stacks, parsnips. Coaling tower for
big tins and fruit tins for the trifle. |
| 00:01:08 |
00:01:12 |
I am looking up to see the ships in the
harbour. Some coloured orange, some red. |
| 00:01:12 |
00:01:15 |
Reminding me of carrots. This way of
storing the information will make it |
| 00:01:15 |
00:01:19 |
easier for Dave to retrieve it from his
long term memory. In the correct order he |
| 00:01:19 |
00:01:22 |
needs to. |
| 00:01:23 |
00:01:27 |
So the day of reckoning arrives. And Dave
heads to the supermarket armed only with |
| 00:01:27 |
00:01:31 |
his memory. |
| 00:01:36 |
00:01:40 |
What I can see now from the end of the
peer is the big old house. And that is |
| 00:01:40 |
00:01:45 |
the main thing I can see. And the main
thing for our meal is the beef is it not? |
| 00:01:45 |
00:01:49 |
We are looking down the coast and we can
see the brass burns with really hot |
| 00:01:49 |
00:01:53 |
ovens. And we need really hot ovens to do
Yorkshire puddings. |
| 00:01:54 |
00:01:58 |
As Dave makes his imaginary walk along
the coast each item is ticked off the |
| 00:01:58 |
00:02:01 |
list. |
| 00:02:03 |
00:02:08 |
What do you think of that? 20 items. Your
Dad is a memory genius. Dave’s shopping |
| 00:02:08 |
00:02:12 |
has been a big success. All he has to do
now is to cook the lunch. And as every |
| 00:02:12 |
00:02:17 |
good cook knows. The most difficult thing
about a roast is to get everything on the |
| 00:02:17 |
00:02:22 |
table at the same time. And that means
cooking things in the right order. The |
| 00:02:22 |
00:02:26 |
roman room method also allows him to do
this. As he retraces his steps on the |
| 00:02:26 |
00:02:31 |
pre planned root. Dave seems to be
progressing well. |
| 00:02:32 |
00:02:35 |
Alright. Has everybody arrived. Our
distraction means he has trouble keeping |
| 00:02:35 |
00:02:38 |
his mind on the job |
| 00:02:43 |
00:02:49 |
You can see the flair stacks and it
reminded me of upturned parsnips. Which |
| 00:02:49 |
00:02:54 |
should be in. And as lunchtime approaches
the potatoes are not the only thing at |
| 00:02:54 |
00:03:00 |
boiling point. There is no time for booze
you see. I have time. |
| 00:03:01 |
00:03:06 |
Just stand and think. What else are we
having. |
| 00:03:07 |
00:03:11 |
We are having soup. Yes. Hurry up. Where
are you going now? I am going to wee. Go |
| 00:03:11 |
00:03:16 |
on then. Bloody hell. 3 hours and 19
ingredients later, he has almost done it. |
| 00:03:16 |
00:03:20 |
There is just one more thing. Where
should I put this beef. Success. There |
| 00:03:20 |
00:03:24 |
you go. Cheers. |
| 00:03:30 |
00:03:34 |
Our next test was first pioneered by J.
Jacobson. 1887. And it has been used by |
| 00:03:34 |
00:03:38 |
memory experts ever since. It was
designed to work out how much information |
| 00:03:38 |
00:03:42 |
we can hold in our short term memory at
any one time, by getting people to |
| 00:03:42 |
00:03:46 |
remember number sequences of varying
length. It is called the digit span |
| 00:03:46 |
00:03:50 |
test. |
| 00:03:55 |
00:04:00 |
To test his subjects J. Jacobs gradually
increased the length of the digit |
| 00:04:00 |
00:04:06 |
sequence. But we are going to jump
straight to a seven digit number. Which |
| 00:04:06 |
00:04:11 |
you need to remember. 8, 6, 0, 2, 9, 1,
7. Right, just use your keypads to put |
| 00:04:11 |
00:04:17 |
down the right number. And you can do the
same thing with a pen or a remote control |
| 00:04:17 |
00:04:22 |
at home. |
| 00:04:23 |
00:04:28 |
Choose your option from the list on the
screen. |
| 00:04:30 |
00:04:35 |
Five seconds left. |
| 00:04:36 |
00:04:41 |
The correct answer was option three. . 8,
6, 0, 2, 9, 1, 7. If you have got that |
| 00:04:41 |
00:04:45 |
right you are doing rather well. How did
you do alright? Yes. I got it right. |
| 00:04:45 |
00:04:50 |
Struggled. You had a bit of a problem?
Yep. I struggled a bit. Did you? Yes I |
| 00:04:50 |
00:04:54 |
got the last two mixed up. |
| 00:04:55 |
00:05:00 |
Tests show that seven digits is about the
limit that we can store. If it is so |
| 00:05:00 |
00:05:05 |
hard holding number sequences in your
memory, it is not surprising we struggle |
| 00:05:05 |
00:05:10 |
at the cash point days later. But help
is at hand with eight times world memory |
| 00:05:10 |
00:05:15 |
champion Dominique O’brial. |
| 00:05:16 |
00:05:19 |
Welcome Dominique. Nice to see you! |
| 00:05:20 |
00:05:25 |
You are an expert at improving people’s
memories with the numbers so we will put |
| 00:05:25 |
00:05:30 |
you through a bit of a test. What I am
going to do is to give you a 20 digit |
| 00:05:30 |
00:05:35 |
number sequence. Which I would like you
to repeat. You will hear it now. |
| 00:05:36 |
00:05:44 |
2, 0, 3, 4, 9, 7, 2, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 4, 8,
9, 1, 9, 3, 0, 7.0:06:01-06:23What do you |
| 00:05:44 |
00:05:51 |
think. Okay, I will give it a go. 2, 0,
3, 4, 9, 7, 2, 1. Is that correct? Yes.3, |
| 00:05:51 |
00:05:59 |
5, 6, 7, 4, 8, 9, 1, 9, 3, 0, 7. Well
done! |
| 00:06:29 |
00:06:33 |
You were impressed? Yes. I think he did
rather well don’t you? Some people |
| 00:06:33 |
00:06:38 |
struggle with as you saw just seven digit
numbers. The trouble with numbers is that |
| 00:06:38 |
00:06:42 |
they do not mean anything in isolation.
So if you take the number 2, 1, 3, 9, 6, |
| 00:06:42 |
00:06:47 |
4, 1, 0, 2. It sounds horrendous but if
you break it down into chunks. Like 213, |
| 00:06:47 |
00:06:51 |
964, 102. It is more palatable. |
| 00:06:52 |
00:06:56 |
That is alright for short term memory.
But if you want to transfer it to your |
| 00:06:56 |
00:07:00 |
long term memory. I would break it down
into pairs of numbers. Like make up a |
| 00:07:00 |
00:07:05 |
story. So for example 21 is the first two
digits. 21st Birthday. You got a key to a |
| 00:07:05 |
00:07:09 |
door. It is a key to a tower. A
mysterious tower. And as you go up the |
| 00:07:09 |
00:07:13 |
steps you notice that there are 39 steps.
From the film 39 steps. |
| 00:07:14 |
00:07:19 |
What also comes into your head is a tune.
When I am 64. The Beatles. Think about |
| 00:07:19 |
00:07:24 |
that. When you get to the top of the
tower you see Tony Blair. |