Do You Have an Astute Brain?

Pride yourself on your impeccable ability to remember names and faces? An eight-time world memory champion has created five simple tests to analyse how astute your brain really is.

Dominic O’Brien, who won the title of World Memory Champion two years in a row, and also holds two Guinness records for memory, has penned a book detailing how to improve your memory.

In it, he begins by asking readers to take five quick and easy tests to assess how good their recollection ability is. Take out a pen and paper and put your memory to the test with his five-step assessment.

Test 1: WORDS

Allow yourself three minutes to study the following list of 20 words.

Write down as many words as you can recall. The order is not important.

Score one point for each word you can recall correctly, then move on to the next test.

THE WORDS TO STUDY AND REMEMBER 

TREE, TIME, FACE, PIPE

CLOCK, MOUSE, ENGINE, PLANET

THUNDER, NECKLACE, WARDROBE, CATERPILLAR

GARDEN, TREACLE, PICTURE, HARNESS

SLEEP, APPLE, OCEAN, BOOK

TEST 2: Number Sequence

Study the following sequence of 20 digits for three minutes. In this test the order is important.

In your notebook write down as many numbers in the correct sequence as you can before a mistake is made.

Score one point for each correct digit. This is ‘sudden death’: in other words, if you recall all 20 digits but the fifth digit is incorrect, your score is four.

THE SEQUENCE TO STUDY AND REMEMBER 

5 0 3 6 7 4 4 0 9 2 8 2 0 5 7 6 7 1 2 9

TEST 3: Shapes

Take three minutes to look at the following sequence of 10 shapes. Memorise them in the running order shown below, from 1 to 10. 

Then turn the page where you will find the shapes reproduced in a different sequence. 

Follow the instructions you find there to complete the test.

Take three minutes to look at the following sequence of 10 shapes. Memorise them in the running order shown below, from 1 to 10

—

Below you will see the same shapes you have just memorised, but in a different order. 

Try to number them in their original order (that is, as shown in the previous image, but without referring to it).

Score one point for each correctly numbered shape.

TEST 4: Binary Numbers

Allow yourself three minutes to memorise the following sequence of 30 binary numbers, then in your notebook try to write down as many of these numbers as you can before a mistake is made. 

Score one point for each correctly remembered binary number. Again, this is ‘sudden death’: if you recall the first five digits correctly, then make a mistake on the sixth digit, your score is five.

THE SEQUENCE TO STUDY AND REMEMBER  

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 

TEST 5: Playing Cards

Take three minutes to study the following 10 playing cards, then try to repeat the exact sequence in your notebook. 

As with the numbers, this is ‘sudden death’. Score one point for each card you can recall before a mistake is made.  

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR SCORE 

Add up your scores from the five tests to arrive at a total. 

Maximum points: 90 

Untrained: 20+ 

Improver: 35+ 

Master: 70+ 

If your score is above the Improver range, then you have great memory potential. 

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