Science & Tech
Wish you had a better memory?

Illustrations by Liz Zonarich/Harvard Staff

January 16, 2025 1 min read

Take our research-based quiz for tips on improving recall when it matters most

Have you ever struggled to remember somebody’s name at a party or crammed for an exam only to blank during the test? In their 2023 book “Why We Forget and How to Remember Better,” brain scientists Andrew Budson and Elizabeth Kensinger, both Harvard alums, explain how memory works and offer research-based tips on optimizing your ability to recall. They helped us develop the following quiz so readers can test how much they really know about memory.

1. You’re more likely to master a new skill, such as playing tennis, if you practice:

Seven hours once a week

One hour a day for seven days

2. Six weeks of exercise can do which of the following?

Release growth factors in the brain

Improve memory

Enlarge the volume of the hippocampus

All of the above

3. Which of the following images is a real penny?

A

B

4. Each time we retrieve a memory we may subtly or even radically change the memory permanently. True or false?

True

False

5. We can thank research by Harvard psychologist George Miller for the length of:

Driver’s license ID numbers

ATM PINs

Phone numbers

Library card numbers

6. Memory and performance degrade while multitasking. Which kind of multitasking is more difficult to pull off? Concentrating on…

Two verbal tasks at once, such as remembering a grocery list while reading a poem

A verbal and a visual task at once, such as remembering a grocery list while reading a map

7. When trying to remember an acquaintance’s name, avoid:

Taking a deep breath and trying to relax

Thinking of a time that you were with them

Thinking of another fact you know about them

Thinking about names that might be theirs

8. You’ve been studying for hours and now facts are starting to “melt together.” Sleeping will help you free up brain capacity. True or false?

True

False

9. Which of the following substances impair memory?

Coffee

Cannabis

CBD

10. The strategy for remembering information called “method of loci” or “memory palace,” developed by the ancient Greeks, involves:

Being present and in the moment when trying to recall information

Associating information you have difficulty remembering with major landmarks

Visualizing a building you are familiar with and walking through it in your imagination

Using architectural principles to build memories from the foundation up

11. When stressed out, your fight-or-flight response kicks in, heightening your ability to recall critical information you need in that moment. True or false.

True

False

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