An interesting element of testing people's memory is finding a culture free test. A couple of years ago the World Memory Sports Council (of which I am a member) decided to introduce a competition based on abstract images to replace an event on how to memorise a poem (translated of course)

the idea is to commit to memory and recall the sequence of abstract images in as many rows as possible.

Here are the official rules ...

Memorisation

One of the key things we all have to do each day is remember people's names  (then next time we see their face, try to remember their name!) 

I recently created a set of Names and Faces for the Thailand Memory Championships and have provided them below so you can see what we get up to and for competitors to use as practice in time for the World Memory Championships and other upcoming events. 

For those who know the secret memory techniques - well not so secret
If you use Association, Location, and Imagination (think of mohamed ALI) strategically you can easily remember a long credit card number or shopping list of words

Here are two files that you can use to generate random numbers and words - very handy for those getting ready for a national or world memory championships.

01. Speed Random Word.xls

Ever wondered what it is like to compete in a test of remember names and faces?

I thought I would share the Memorisation, Recall and marking sheets (see below) for the recent Indian Memory Championships so you can see what it contains as well as for people practicing and getting ready for next month's World memory Championships in Guangzhou.

A big thanks to Phil Chambers for all his work in putting the competition papers together every year.