Are you having a senior moment…or is it something else entirely?

Are you having a senior moment? Or is it something else entirely?

It might be the self-reference effect.

Researchers at the University of Virginia asked 225 students to list ten friends at random. Then they were asked to write down the birthday of each friend on their lists.

When they were finished, the subjects used their personal calendars or Facebook entries to confirm friends’ birthdays.

Results demonstrated the self-reference effect. In the journal Psychological Science, the study authors define the effect as “the memory advantage for materials that have been processed in relation to the self.”

Put another way: You remember things better if you can relate to them.

In the UV study, subjects were far more likely to recall friends’ birthdays who were closer to their own birthday. Forgotten birthdays were an average of nearly 100 days away from each subject’s birthday. Remembered birthdays were an average of less than 80 days away.

So the next time someone says you’re having a senior moment, just tell them it’s more likely the self-reference effect.

And while they’re pondering that, you can change the subject to something that relates to them and they’ll probably forget all about your “moment.”

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“A Spontaneous Self-Reference Effect in Memory: Why Some Birthdays Are Harder to Remember Than Others” Psychological Science, Published online ahead of print, 9/20/10, pss.sagepub.com