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September 3, 2008

Activities of daily living that depend on memory

By Doug Hermann The Tribune Star Wed Sep 03, 2008, 09:20 PM EDT

TERRE HAUTE — Everyone forgets something that they are supposed to do in everyday life. They may have known what they should do for a long time or for after a minute or so. This column examines the role of memory in some common activities in one’s day.

First, we will examine several memory tasks tackled in the morning to prepare for the day ahead. Second, we will consider how to remember to do all of these memory tasks. Third, we will examine some common activities of daily living that rely primarily on short-term memory and then discuss how to cope with these tasks.

Getting ready for the day

Getting a start for the day involves many different memory tasks that prepare us for the day in general. We have to do these things before we leave home and get on our way. When we leave our home, we need our wallet or/and purse. We should wear everything we need to wear. Our clothing needs to be properly buttoned or zipped. Sometimes we need to remember to wear a certain tie, professional pin or piece of jewelry. We may also need to wear a certain jacket or suit. In addition, our hair should be combed (unless you are young). In the summer, we will need deodorant (unless you are young — I am just kidding people who regard themselves as young). We will need our keys and our glasses. Depending on the nature of one’s job or other responsibilities, we will need to take something to work (papers for a project as well as our planner, personal data assistant, a manual), usually in a briefcase.

It is amazing that we commonly succeed at remembering everything necessary as we prepare for the day. It is amazing also because these tasks rely on considerable knowledge in long-term memory and often on short-term retention of just how we intend to execute these tasks.

As we get ready to leave home for work or some other activity, we progress from one memory task to another. If we remember each one in sequence, all is well. However, it is easy to forget to do everything we intend to do.

Remembering how to prepare for the day

The trick to remember correctly as we prepare is to know that these memory tasks fall into different groups. A wallet or purse enables us to pay for things. Dressing properly, buttoning and zipping, and fixing our hair enhances our appearance. Deodorant, aftershave, and perfume make us smell good. Glasses (and for some, hearing aids) facilitate our senses. Taking our keys and work materials is crucial. Once we check our readiness for these categories, we can ensure that we will remember what we need in order to start the day.

A quick way to double-check these categories is to use the pat, look, and touch technique. Pat one’s rump for a wallet, pat one’s pocket for keys, look in a mirror to see how you look, lift one’s arm and smell, touch one’s nose for glasses, touch one’s ear for a hearing aid, and touch one’s had for things to take to work.

The first letters of these categories spells pplltt (pat, pat, look, lift, touch and touch). These categories can be remembered with the word ‘polit’ – whatever that means. With a little practice you can do the double check so fast that most people who observe you patting, looking and touching will ignore it and just think you are eccentric. (Seeing you as eccentric is not too bad because geniuses are eccentric).

Activities of Daily Living

Getting through the day requires remembering to carry out a variety of actions that depend on memory, especially short-term memory. Many of these tasks begin when we notice that action is called for. After we notice the need for action, we need to remember this need briefly until we take the action.

Many of these tasks involve remembering to turn things off. As we leave a room, we are expected to remember to turn off lights. Appliances in use should be turned off. Faucets should be turned off after filling a sink or bathtub. A toilet roll should be replaced after it is gone (if you like the people with whom you are living).

Many other short-term memory tasks require us to remember to turn something on. We must remember to start a variety of appliances such as the dishwasher, washing machine, or dryer.

Other short-term tasks involve remembering recent location of things. Several new electronic devices are portable. Consequently, people set them down in various places and forget their location or possible locations. For example, people often forget where they put their cell phone. These phones can be ringing loudly and yet people may not remember just where their phone is. As a result, when they ring, people scramble to find them to answer a call or, if only to silence the phone.

Remembering the location of a TV remote is a task frequently encountered in many homes. For example, finding a TV remote becomes crucial right before a favorite show is to come on. The finding process often requires not only remembering where the remote is but also determining who is responsible for remembering the location of the remote. Consider the following dialog that is common in many homes. “Where’s the remote?” “Why should I know. You had it last.” “No I didn’t. You are the one who had it last” “No I didn’t.” You were watching the Olympics” “ No I was watching something else” And so on. Clearly, establishing who was supposed to remember the location of the remote is necessary in order to get this person to seriously try to remember where the remote is or might be.

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