Page 1 of 1 [ 3 posts ] 

Cardamine
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

User avatar

Joined: 15 Oct 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 22
Location: UK

29 Sep 2014, 3:18 pm

I've seen lots of posts from people who say that they have a poor short term or working memory. But - I have a bad memory for everything - for short term stuff eg where i put my wallet, but i also have a bad long term memory. I often read that aspergers people have great long term memories and memories for facts, but mine is terrible. I can never remember facts i've read even if i am interested in the subject.

It's as if i have the aspergers, without the beneftits of aspergers. Does anyone else also have a bad memory for facts? Any ideas on whether this is common, or what might cause it?



Kruger
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 7 Sep 2013
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 17
Location: USA

29 Sep 2014, 6:07 pm

It probably has to do with working memory. See how much you can remember by listening instead of reading the material just as another test. For me, anything to do with language is difficult to remember. Images and whatnot are straightforward and simple to remember, so the brunt of my entire memory consists exclusively of nonlanguage stuff. The main way I learn is by translating things into representative diagrams or images, which can be done sometimes as I go but not always. It's a frustrating bottleneck, yeah.

Here, take this to test your verbal working memory: http://www.cambridgebrainsciences.com/b ... digit-span
(I can only do 6 when not depressed, so now I struggle at 4-5)

And this one for the visuospatial working memory:
http://www.cambridgebrainsciences.com/b ... pan-ladder
(My best is 11, but that was taken in July 2013 when I wasn't depressed. I can do 8 now)



Last edited by Kruger on 30 Sep 2014, 7:21 am, edited 2 times in total.

Cardamine
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

User avatar

Joined: 15 Oct 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 22
Location: UK

30 Sep 2014, 4:08 am

Interesting - thank you. Will do the tests and report back.

I suspect it does have a lot to do with deppression as i have been depressed most of my life. Having said that though, i had a bad memory for facts as a child too, and was far better at subjects like physics where in exams you worked out the answers and didn't have to remember lots of info.