MEMORY TEST

Few people ever put their memory to the immediate test, and
it is for this reason that most are unaware of the limits and
habits of their mind's work.
The tests that follow should not be too difficult, but because
ofthe way we are trained (or not trained!) in school, the simple
tasks you will presently attempt will in some cases prove very
very difficult and in others almost impossible!
Do not worry about poor performance, since it is the purpose
of this book to make the memorisation of all items in the
following tests an easy and enjoyable exercise.
Looking at this situation from a positive point of view, the
more difficulty you experience now, the greater will be your
improvement by the time you have completed this book!
LINK TEST
Read the list of 20 objects once through, and then immedi-
ately cover it or close the book. On a separate piece of paper
write down as many ofthem as you can remember, attempting
to get them in the correct order.
Score yourself in two ways: first the number of items you
remembered out of 20, and second, the number of items that
you listed in the correct order (if you reversed certain items
they are both wrong with regard to the second score!).
Cup
Shop
Chimney pot
Judge
Suitcase
Toe
Mountain
Star
Couch
Ice cream
Jail
Spoon
Book
Spider
Scissors
Plant
Nurse
River
Stain
Mongrel
Score: Number remembered
Number in correct
order
•.
PEG TEST
Give yourselfno more than four minutes to remember this
second list of20 items. The aim in this test is to remember the
items in random order, connecting them to their appropriate
number. When four minutes have passed cover the list or close
the book, write the numbers from 1-20 on a piece of paper,
and fill in the answers randomly, that is, pick a number on the
list and fill in the item which belongs to that number. Do not
progress regularly from 1-20. Jump about all over the numbers
until you have filled in as many as you can. And still another
don't: don't mumble through the list each time in order to get
a number—pick it out of the air!
1. Tar
2. Aeroplane
3. Leaf
4. Shell
5. Hair
6. Moon
7. Lever
8. Lighter
9. Railway
10. Field
11. Atom
12. Wheel
13. School
14. Sand
15. Doctor
16. Spectacles
17. Lake
18. Feather
19. Sock
20. Pump
Score: Number correct
FACES TEST
Look at the 12 faces on the following two pages for not more
than four minutes, then turn to the end of this chapter where
the same faces are presented without their names. Try to
matchthe right name to the right face. Score one point for each
correct answer, and take off one point if you fit a name to a
person of the wrong sex!
NUMBER TEST
Look at the four 15-digit numbers printed below* giving not
more than one minute to each. At the end ofeach two minutes
dose or cover the book and write down the number as best
you can, giving yourself one point for every number that you
put down in the correct place.
936811475298694
937943271621487
689223841378534
543712298374973
Score: 1 2 3 4
TELEPHONE NUMBER TEST
The following is a list of 10 people and their telephone
numbers. Study the list for not more than five minutes, then
dose or cover the book and write down first the name and then
the numbers. Give yourself 1 point for each correct number
(even if you make only one mistake in the number you must
consider this totally wrong, for ifyou had dialled it you would
not have been put in contact with the person with whom you
wished to speak!)
Your local butcher HSM-8737
Your dentist NAH-9107
Your bank manager KAM-5323
Your doctor HOB-3981
Your local grocer CEL-8801
Your local chemist BOT-9939
Your tennis partner SER-4112
Your plumber LEA-8519
Your local pub PMB-1427
Your garage TRK-9340
Score:
CARD TEST
This next test is designed to exercise your present capacity in
the remembering of cards and their sequence. The list below
contains all 52 cards of the regular pack in numbered order.
Your task is to spend not more than 5 minutes looking at this
list and then recall it in order. Give yourself one point for each
correct answer, scoring yourselfin the same way as you did in
the Link test.
1. King of diamonds 27. Nine of clubs
2. Seven of hearts 28. Jack of diamonds
3. Five of spades 29. Queen ofhearts
4. Four of clubs 30. Four of spades
5. Three of diamonds 31. Six of clubs
6. Ten of hearts 32. King of spades
7. Queen of clubs 33. Ace of clubs
8. Eight of clubs 34. Six of hearts
9. Five of hearts 35. Five of clubs
10. Jack of clubs 36. Three of hearts
11. Ace ofspades 37. Ten of diamonds
12. Five of diamonds 38. Two of clubs
13. Nine of diamonds 39. Seven of diamonds
14. Eight of hearts 40. Ten of spades
15. Ace of diamonds 41. Three of clubs
16. Seven of spades 42. Eight of spades
17. Nine of hearts 43. King of hearts
18. Ten of clubs 44. Nine of spades
19. Six of diamonds 45. Queen of diamonds
20. Queen of spades 46. Ace of hearts
21. Eight of diamonds 47. Three of spades
22. Four of diamonds 48. Two of spades
23. Six of spades 49. Jack of spades
24. Two of diamonds 50. Four of hearts
25. King of clubs 51. Jack of hearts
26. Two of spades 52. Seven of clubs
Score:

This next test is the last. Listed below are ten fairly import-
ant historical dates. Your task is to spend not more than a
minute and a half remembering the event and the date. Give
yourself one mark for a perfectly accurate answer and half a
mark if you come within five years.
1. 1666 Fire of London
2. 1770 Beethoven's birthday
3. 1215 Signing of Magna Carta
4. 1917 Russian Revolution
5. c.1454 First Printing Press
6. 1815 Battle ofWaterloo
7. 1608 Invention of the telescope
8. 1905 Einstein's theory of Relativity
9. 1789 French Revolution
10. 1776 Declaration of American Independence
Score:
That ends the testing! Ifyou have done badly then you have
done as expected and are quite average!
Within the first few chapters of this book you will have
learned how to get perfect scores in less than the time allotted,
and by the time you have completed the book all ofthese tests
will be child's play. Give yourselfa day's rest (after what must
have been a fairly strenuous session!) and start your first
memory training tomorrow.