Playing Games to Improve Working Memory: Does it Work?

Did you know that one of the best ways of improving working memory is to play games? Working memory and short term memory are in fact the same thing. It’s the part of the mind that stores information taken in recently, like people’s names or addresses. It could be referred to as the “post-it note” of the brain. Working memory is able to save at the most seven pieces of information at any given time, as believed by experts in this field.

When you are solving problems or addressing issues that involve literacy or the use of numbers, it’s especially important that you have healthy working memory skills. Making these skills better also enhances your focus and awareness. Many scientists are of the opinion that folks who play certain games make their working memory better. A few of these games to improve memory will be looked at in more detail below.

Board games like chess may assist in making working memory better. The skills utilized to plan a few moves ahead, which are a requirement to win at chess, involve an accurate assessment of the interaction of different pieces of information. And this process occurs in the same area of your brain as the parts that handle the storage of data for working memory.

Understanding letters and words is a vital function of working memory, this means that word games such as Scrabble can improve your ability to recall things. Mixing letters in different ways to form words and bringing them from long term memory into working memory can further assist your visual and spatial abilities, as this causes you to generate patterns in your brain.

One of the best games to enhance your memory is the card game known as Memory, or also Concentration. Cards are arranged face down on the table, and then two of them are turned over a time. The player will be able to keep both cards if matching cards are turned up. If not, the cards are turned back over, and the other person has a turn. In the end, the player collecting the most cards wins. Because more and more of the cards are turned over as the game goes on, endeavoring to remember where each card can be found is the key to gaining cards in the latter stages of the game.

The card game bridge is another great activity to help you get an improved memory. Duplicate bridge is the type used in tournaments, and is more suited to this purpose than rubber bridge. Why is this? Because in duplicate bridge, you have to remember the previous bids, but rubber bridge is more a matter of good luck than ability.

Playing games to improve working memory can be as basic as just shutting your eyes and trying to remember where particular objects are located in a room. Or someone can make a list of random objects, give it to you to study for several minutes, and then you need to recall the items in the right sequence. Your creative abilities are the only limit to the number of different games you can play.