| Wanna Double Your Memory? | | | | we think about our decisions. Your decisionsare often |
| When we surveyed a 1,000 high school and college | | | | based on your feelings (right-brain), specifically your |
| students andanother 1,000 executives about their | | | | amygdala. |
| memory, 89% of studentsand 91% of corporate | | | | Many of us will fight to the death to argue you |
| executives faulted their long-term memoryas weak | | | | decide solely by your powers of reason and logic. |
| to barely adequate. | | | | Nyet. We need to integrate emotion and logic to |
| The executives were concerned it would reduce their | | | | access our knowledge, life experiences and intuition. |
| personalproductivity and competitiveness for | | | | Left and right brain working togetherare stronger |
| promotion; the studentscould not care less.a) Fact: | | | | than either one operating alone. |
| Mental Imagery (pictures) is the | | | | Do your decide to buy a house or new car on pure |
| communicationlanguage of the brain.b) Fact: | | | | logic? Is it our needsthat drive us or our wants |
| Association (linking) is the language oflong-term | | | | (desires)? Imagery (mental movies) precede |
| memory. | | | | emotion,and is at least coeval with reason and logic |
| Nodding or Shaking | | | | to trigger our behaviors good or bad. |
| When you are listening to an associate or your | | | | According to Dr. Petty, a whole range of right-brain |
| significant other and youwant to strengthen the | | | | body movements, includingsmiling, frowning, and |
| relationship, not destroy it, look into their eyesand | | | | bouncing your leg up-and-down, affect our mood and |
| nod or shake your head appropriately. | | | | behaviors. These physical activities influence our |
| You are aware of the power of eye contact and | | | | attitudes to an extent we are unaware. A good |
| even offering positivefeedback by a nod or shake. | | | | mood absolutely impacts our confidence. We are just |
| How about influencing your own self-esteemby | | | | not totallyrational entities. |
| nodding or shaking your head? | | | | Memory |
| Physiological Message | | | | What do you like, what do you dislike, who do you |
| A study by Dr. Richard Petty, Ohio State University, | | | | trust and distrust? |
| and published in the | | | | Are the answers important? Sure, it directly affects |
| Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, offers | | | | your decision-making process. |
| evidence nodding andshaking of your head speak to | | | | According to Dr. Gail Tom in an article published in |
| your own brain. | | | | Basic and Applied |
| It tells yourself you have a strong sense of | | | | Social Psychology, nodding and shaking your head |
| confidence in your own thoughts (judgment). Wait - | | | | directly influences yourfeelings about what you read |
| you juice up your self-image whether your | | | | and hear. |
| thoughtsare in agreement (positive) or disagree | | | | Dr. Tom goes further and suggests nodding and |
| (negative). | | | | shaking serves a memoryfunction. The nodding |
| When you shake your head from side-to-side, it | | | | causes your increased preference, shaking |
| provides you with akick in the slats to your | | | | decreaseddesire for the idea, purchasing decision or |
| self-image. It means you do not trust your | | | | behavior required. |
| ownthoughts and serves to lessen your future | | | | She says, it focuses attention of the importance of |
| self-confidence. | | | | the somatic (body) elementof attitude. Both positive |
| Double Header | | | | and negative thoughts-and-feelings become part |
| We all know your left-hemisphere is the repository of | | | | ofour long-term memories laid down by our |
| your language skillstogether with reasoning, logic and | | | | hippocampus and amygdala. |
| analysis. Many are not aware of the powerof adding | | | | OK, we remember better what we practice |
| our right-hemispheric skills of holistic thinking, pattern | | | | (drill-and-kill), and reinforcememories we nod and |
| recognitionand intuition. How? Nodding and shaking. | | | | shake our head at. It appears involving our |
| It is your right-brain that triggers your brainstem, | | | | right-hemisphere by physical movements also triggers |
| thalamusand basal ganglia to complement your | | | | an access and retrievalof those memories. Cognition |
| language center. Now you are drivingyour | | | | and Physiology together produce a stronger recall. |
| three-pound coconut on all eight-cylinders by | | | | Endwords |
| supplementing cognitionwith physiology. | | | | Memory is the lion-tamer of learning. The Einstein Peg |
| Experiment | | | | and Link systemsare baby easy programs to help |
| Dr. Petty | | | | double memory permanently. |
| His research indicates your opinion (judgment) is | | | | What good is reading three books, articles and |
| confirmed or negated by your intention use of head | | | | reports instead of one, if you cannot take your |
| nodding or shaking. Whatever you read (text) or | | | | newly acquired knowledge and move it into long-term |
| hear (lecture)makes more sense if you nod and less | | | | memory? |
| if you shake. | | | | You got Procedural Memory for driving a car, typing, |
| If you intentionally nod while reading or listening, your | | | | computing and tying yourlaces. All automatic |
| mind become in greaterrapport with the written ideas | | | | (auto-pilot) activities function at a non-conscious level. |
| or verbal comments. Wanna increase your | | | | And you have Declaratory Memory including episodes |
| self-esteem? Nod once each paragraph; the result is | | | | (graduation day and thatcar accident) and personal |
| more than feeling good aboutyourself, it improves | | | | experiences of your life, together with semantic |
| your memory (recall) up 34%. | | | | learninglike math, chemistry and Spanish vocabulary. |
| Self-Validation | | | | Would doubling your memory offer you a unique |
| Physically confirming how we feel about our own | | | | competitive advantage,and advance you to the |
| judgment, is equal to orsometimes greater than how | | | | fast-lane? Ask us how. |