{"id":13371,"date":"2020-08-17T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T02:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=13371"},"modified":"2020-09-05T12:55:41","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T16:55:41","slug":"how-can-we-improve-our-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How can we improve our memory? Is it even possible? Are these methods or techniques you can use?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about the concept of &#8220;how can we improve our memory&#8221; by understanding how memory works, and the best methods for strengthening it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Can We Improve Our Memories?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If our brains are naturally good at remembering certain things and naturally bad at remembering others, is there anything we can do to improve our memories? Is memory like vision or height\u2014you\u2019re stuck with what you\u2019ve got\u2014or more like a skill you can improve? For a long time, scientists thought our memory abilities were fixed, but in a study that took place from 1981-1983, K. Anders Ericsson and Bill Chase found that<strong> people can train and improve their memories.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ericsson and Chase tested the memory of SF. <strong>SF took digit span tests, which measure a person\u2019s ability to hold numbers in their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/improve-working-memory-moonwalking-with-einstein\/\">working memory<\/a>,<\/strong> for 250 hours over two years. In the test, someone reads out a new number every second and the test subject must remember the sequence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Initially, SF, like most people, could only remember about seven digits.<\/strong> He remembered them by chanting them over and over to himself, which is called a phonological loop.&nbsp;So, how can we improve our memory? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can We Improve Our Memory With <strong>Skill Acquisition, Plateaus, and Practice<\/strong>?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In asking the question, &#8220;can we improve our memory?&#8221; Ericsson has studied experts in different fields and discovered some commonalities between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stages of Skill Acquisition<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three stages of skill acquisition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Learning. <\/strong>In this stage, you\u2019re experimenting and learning what\u2019s most efficient.<\/li><li><strong>Streamlining. <\/strong>In this stage, you\u2019ve got a handle on the activity. You\u2019re making fewer mistakes and learning faster.<\/li><li><strong>Autopiloting.<\/strong> In this stage, you\u2019re proficient at the skill and you don\u2019t have to concentrate to do it anymore. Once you hit this stage, it\u2019s actually possible to see the change in your brain in an fMRI scan\u2014the parts of your brain that you use for consciously reasoning don\u2019t light up as much.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Plateaus<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>It takes conscious effort to improve, so once you reach the autopiloting stage, you\u2019ll plateau. Psychologists used to think that plateaus were inherent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/human-limitations\/\">human limitations<\/a>, but they\u2019re usually not.<strong> To improve at something, we have to practice attentively and bring ourselves back to the first stage of skill acquisition.<\/strong> There are four ways to stay out of the autopiloting stage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Concentrate on technique.<ul><li>For example, high-level musicians practice exercises and work on the hardest parts of pieces, rather than the easier parts.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-focus-on-your-goals-and-avoid-distractions\/\">Focus on goals<\/a>.<\/li><li>Solicit feedback.<\/li><li>Practice failing.<ul><li>For example, if you want to improve your typing speed, it\u2019s helpful to make yourself type faster than your usual pace and allow mistakes. Once you\u2019ve figured out why you\u2019re making mistakes, you can fix them.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The human race as a whole hasn\u2019t hit any plateaus.<\/strong> Every Olympics, people beat existing records. Students in high school learn math that ancient philosophers spent thirty years studying. This might partly have to do with improvements in technology such as better equipment, but it probably has more to do with improvements to training methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Barriers tend to be psychological<\/strong>\u2014for example, until Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile, no one thought it was possible. Then, only six weeks later, John Landy beat it too. These days, the four-minute is simply an expectation if you want to be a professional middle-distance runner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practice<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, learning how we can improve our memory takes practice just like anything else. Studies have found that how long you\u2019ve spent doing something isn\u2019t a great indicator of how good you\u2019ll be at it. (However, it usually takes at least 10,000 hours of practice to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/become-an-expert\/\">become an expert<\/a>.) <strong>Your practice method is more important than how long you spend doing it.<\/strong><br><strong>Even if you\u2019re already an expert, if you don\u2019t practice deliberately, you can actually get worse.<\/strong> For example, mammographers don\u2019t tend to get any better at their jobs as time goes on. This is because mammographers don\u2019t get any feedback\u2014if they miss a tumor, they won\u2019t find out until much later, when they\u2019ve probably forgotten the details of that particular mammogram. They can overcome this by evaluating old images that have a known outcome to test their skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We learned in Part 1 that the human brain is naturally good at remembering images and places but bad at remembering semantic memories like lists of numbers of words. In Part 2, we\u2019ll learn how to use memory techniques to<strong> transform information into a form that our brain is naturally inclined to remember.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, we\u2019ll learn <strong>to transform information into something meaningful that relates to memories we already have. <\/strong>We remember new things better when we can associate them with what we already remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anyone can learn the arts of memory. <\/strong>But how can we improve our memory? Creativity helps because it allows you to quickly create images, but you don\u2019t have to be a genius or a savant. You just need to pay attention to life and learn the techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The goal of memory techniques is to transform information into a format the brain is naturally good at understanding\u2014meaningful images and places. <\/strong>To do this, you\u2019ll use the method of loci, which is the foundation for the memory techniques that follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The method of loci involves placing images of whatever you need to remember inside a \u201cmemory palace,\u201d which is a memory of a real place you know very well,<\/strong> such as your childhood home. For example, if your shopping list contains blueberries, crackers, cereal, and beer and you wanted to memorize this shopping list, you might mentally place the blueberries in the mailbox at the end of your driveway, the crackers on the front lawn, the cereal in front of the front door, and the beer on the entranceway mat. <strong>When you need to remember the list, you simply mentally tour your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-palace-technique\/\">memory palace<\/a> and look for the objects you left in significant locations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some things you need to remember might not lend themselves well to imagery. There are some more structured techniques for remembering cards, numbers, and words below, but in general, <strong>you can transform abstract things to remember into images using creativity.<\/strong> You\u2019ll remember images best if you can harness the brain\u2019s natural strengths and interests. Try to make images:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Novel. <\/strong>If you\u2019ve seen something before, you\u2019re less likely to remember a specific instance of it.&nbsp;<ul><li>For example, if you need to remember to charge your phone, imagine your phone and charger having a silly conversation.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Lewd or funny.<\/strong> The brain is naturally interested in both of these things.<ul><li>For example, if you need to remember to go to the bank, imagine a bunch of nude bank robbers.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Multisensory.<\/strong> The more cues you can create for a memory, the easier it will be to recall it.<ul><li>For example, if you need to remember to pick up horseradish, imagine the smell, taste, and texture of it as well as the visual image.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Personal. <\/strong>You\u2019ll remember things better if they relate to what\u2019s already in your head because they have a web to fit into.&nbsp;<ul><li>For example, if you\u2019re interested in military history, use tanks and planes in your images.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the method of loci, there are five additional memory techniques. You can combine any of them with the method of loci\u2014once you\u2019ve used the technique to transform information into an image or more memorable form, you can store it in your memory palace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you know the answer to the question &#8220;how can we improve our memory, make sure to practice. It&#8217;s important to make sure your memory stays sharp; it can help you be more efficient in your daily life, and have better recall for other situations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How can we improve our memory? Is it even possible? Are these methods or techniques you can use? Learn more about the concept of &#8220;how can we improve our memory&#8221; by understanding how memory works, and the best methods for strengthening it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,43],"tags":[120],"class_list":["post-13371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-self-improvement","tag-moonwalking-with-einstein","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How can we improve our memory? Memory experts believe that it&#039;s possible to improve all kinds of memory. Here are some ways you can do that.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How can we improve our memory? Memory experts believe that it&#039;s possible to improve all kinds of memory. Here are some ways you can do that.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-18T02:10:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-05T16:55:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-18T02:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-05T16:55:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/\"},\"wordCount\":1344,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Moonwalking With Einstein\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Education\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/\",\"name\":\"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-18T02:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-05T16:55:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"How can we improve our memory? Memory experts believe that it's possible to improve all kinds of memory. Here are some ways you can do that.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1752},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\",\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carrie Cabral\"},\"description\":\"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice - Shortform Books","description":"How can we improve our memory? Memory experts believe that it's possible to improve all kinds of memory. Here are some ways you can do that.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice","og_description":"How can we improve our memory? Memory experts believe that it's possible to improve all kinds of memory. Here are some ways you can do that.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2020-08-18T02:10:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-05T16:55:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1752,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carrie Cabral","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carrie Cabral","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/"},"author":{"name":"Carrie Cabral","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56"},"headline":"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice","datePublished":"2020-08-18T02:10:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-05T16:55:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/"},"wordCount":1344,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Moonwalking With Einstein"],"articleSection":["Education","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/","name":"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-18T02:10:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-05T16:55:41+00:00","description":"How can we improve our memory? Memory experts believe that it's possible to improve all kinds of memory. Here are some ways you can do that.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1752},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Can We Improve Our Memory? Expert Advice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56","name":"Carrie Cabral","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carrie Cabral"},"description":"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/how-can-we-improve-our-memory-moonwalking-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13371"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14037,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13371\/revisions\/14037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}