I Need to Memorize an Entire Curriculum for AP Exams

I'd do something like this

My memory is terrible! I have no idea why, but I just can't seem to hang on to memories for longer than two weeks. From vocabulary words to important events in my life, the details of my memories just tend to get muddled up into one mess of confusion. I have sticky notes all over my house for me to jot down notes before I inevitably forget it. My father constantly complains about my tendency to misplace items. However, I memorized the entire World History curriculum in approximately one week right before the AP exam and got a four! (I probably need to do that again this year with U.S. History oops). So maybe there's hope for me yet... Either way, I don't expect great scores on these memory tests. The WHAP exam required more long term memory than short, and I have a feeling that my working memory is in poor condition.

Quiz One: Short Term Memory Test
This quiz asks you to memorize 12 words... I zoomed through the list a little too quickly! Oops. I only remembered five out of twelve. That apparently means it's working at average capacity, according to George A. Miller, who said people can retain 5-9 chunks of information in their short term. Of course, stress and other factors can affect your memory as well. Personally, I think this quiz is too short and should have a series of lists in order to get a more accurate grasp of ones short term memory capabilities.

Quiz Two: Verbal Memory Test
I was given a long list of forty words and asked to rate their pleasantness. Somewhere halfway down the list, I realized I'd need to recall them so I made a more conscious effort to memorize them (which didn't help). Once I was presented with 40 blanks, I struggled to remember the words. Eventually, I pulled twelve out of my brain, but one was apparently wrong. Then, on the recognition section, I found it very easy to select the correct word when given two choices!
Recall Score: 11
Recognition Score: 40
The average scores are 6 and 38 -- is my memory actually better than 75% of people who took it or was it a fluke? The results aren't extremely accurate because it wasn't a test conducted in a controlled environment with a professional, but it's still indicative of my memory capabilities. I find this unbelievable.

Quiz Three: Picture Memory Test
A picture is shown for 30 seconds and you are asked to recall the items. Out of 20 items, I remembered 10. This test didn't have any guidelines or explanation of the results, but referring back to Miller's magic number, I'd say I did well above average! This was a pretty basic test though. I'm not sure how I feel about its validity -- but at least the time allotted to stare at the picture was controlled.

Quiz Four: Face Memory Game
This test was definitely not what I expected. I was hoping I could get an idea of how bad I am with people (because I forget people's names in 0.5 seconds), but it was just a weird collection of strange facial features. It required recognition rather than recall, so it wasn't a huge surprise that I got 9 of the features correct out of 10 (got the chin wrong!). Or maybe I'm just a good artist! Either way, the time given to stare at the face wasn't controlled, so I don't think the results are too accurate. Plus, it's not a good representation of real life faces, which are much more varied with subtle differences.

Quiz Five: Remembering That Face

My Results! Take that, dad.

This one is very fancy with a contract and debriefing and stuff! Also it's Cambridge so it's extra official. It was extremely thorough and took forever! Compared with the other facial memory test, this one was exceptional. The face matching was extremely difficult when all 6 faces were put together. When the static came along, I just about gave up on the test. HOWEVER! My scores indicate otherwise! My Physical Activity Questionnaire score was bad, but I excelled in memorizing faces! I really do think my art skills have something to do with this. Either way, I think this quiz was the best in terms of controlling variables and providing a thorough, official examination of my skills! The time to memorize faces was controlled and the hair was removed and everything seemed very well done.

Links in this post
Short Term Memory Test - https://www.psychologistworld.com/memory/test1.php
Verbal Memory Test - http://www.memorylossonline.com/learning_memory/mem_games/verbaltest1.html
Picture Memory Test - http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/puzmatch.html
Face Memory Game - http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/facemem.html
Remembering That Face - https://testmybrain.org/tests/start#sthash.paTtBioP.cmfs

Let's Make America Great Again

The time has come for a new President to be elected! I have never been a fanatic about politics -- I do know that the future of our country is in our (the voters') hands, so I still keep up with the primaries and other things. I have many strong opinions on social/political issues, but, I don't know the details about various policies or debates of the candidates (nor have I ever tried to identify with a certain political allegiance). Most of what I've heard about these candidates is from social media sites (Tumblr, Facebook, etc.) and here's the short list: Donald Trump is (excuse my language) insane and privileged. Bernie Sanders is a Democratic Socialist and supports many progressive ideals. Hillary Clinton is fickle with her policies. Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer. The other candidates ??? Do they even exist? Alright, so from this list, I support Bernie Sanders. However, there are four political quizzes that I'm about to take, so let's see if my view changes after finding the results!

QUIZ ONE: PERSONALITY

My Results
I've heard some bad things about Marxism...

This quiz does not have as many options as I would like. However, I did my best to give accurate answers (and not choose "skip this question"). First, my opinion on the statements that I had to agree/disagree with: some were absolutely absurd (i.e. Switzerland ’s GDP is worth approximately 2.5 trillion dollars annually. How do I agree/disagree with a fact? Another one: Trees should be able to vote. WHAT! How???). Others were related to my political views. Overall, I think the questions were kind of ambiguous in meaning, so I just interpreted to the best of my ability. Some referred to things I wasn't sure about (thus revealing my lack of political knowledge); these were the only ones I skipped.
From what I've learned in APUSH, I thought this profile was TOTALLY wrong. But once I read the description of various things like big government and such, I feel like this is an accurate description of my view on things. In short, I feel like the government has a lot of power and should use it to benefit the people (focus on poverty, education, etc.). HOWEVER, I believe that the government should not restrict/influence social issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc.) because that would restrict the freedom of people to live how they desire. This profile literally says socialist for my philosophy, so that reaffirms my support in Bernie Sanders.

QUIZ TWO: COMPASS

My Results
I'm BASICALLY Gandhi :)

This quiz was pretty similar to the first one (with less stupid questions) except they didn't have a "skip this question" choice, so I just guessed on a few of them... I hope they didn't affect my results too much! Overall, I think this was a wholesome quiz that encompassed many facets of politics.

Some (in)famous people on the scale

So from this quiz, I am relatively left (kinda controlled economy) and libertarian. According to the website, libertarian socialists (anarcho-syndicalism) belong in the bottom left corner -- that's me! This (once again) confirms that my allegiances lie with Bernie Sanders, which I find quite accurate because I am libertarian with social issues and yet still believe in some control and order. 

Through further investigation, I have found that Barack Obama is in the bottom right quadrant of the graph. I must admit I don't know much about his policies (just that he's a chill President), but I've heard negative things about Obamacare. What does this mean to my graph and results and political allegiances? I have no idea. I really need to polish up my political knowledge.

My Results
Totally expected, to be honest

QUIZ THREE: TYPOLOGY

This quiz was different from the first two; it simply provided two statements (polar opposites of each other) and asked me to choose which fit me best. These questions had a wide range encompassing racial issues (which were mostly ignored in the other quizzes); however, it mostly addressed whites versus blacks. As an Asian American person, I question the representation of us and many other races in media and social issues. That's getting into a different topic though.

Anyway, I find that I agree with this assessment of my political allegiances. As a progressive/liberal person, I do believe that a lot of change must be made in the government in order to continue thriving. Though I do not unflaggingly support Obama, I'm sure this still points me toward supporting Sanders as our next President.

QUIZ FOUR: I SIDE WITH

The quiz we've all been waiting for! This tells me which candidate I most align with in terms of social and political views. I hope I'm right in supporting Bernie Sanders. This quiz incorporated not only our opinion on issues but also how important they are to us. I liked the additional, more specific options for more controversial topics. I also appreciated the "Learn More" option for more unfamiliar topics -- best quiz overall (just REALLY long -- I'll admit I skipped a lot of economic & domestic policies questions due to laziness and lack of opinion on these issues).

My results were as predicted! I do side with Bernie Sanders the most, which is promising. Sadly, I have no idea who Jill Stein is... Oops! (I'm also terribly embarrassed to find that I share any percentage of political views with Donald Trump).

My Results

I also compared my answers with Bernie Sanders -- it is promising to see the answers he chose. He and I have similar views on many social and political issues (immigration, health care, education, and more).

Even though I am not well informed on many issues, I trust Bernie Sanders to be knowledgeable and make decisions for the country that I personally view as the best. I'm sure that all these candidates have flaws, but Sanders seems to be the most capable one! I was not able to vote in the primaries because I am seventeen years old (though I heard from my friend that I could've voted because I'll be eighteen in October, before the elections... Darn).

Exercise your right to vote!

Taking these quizzes have stressed to me how many issues and policies our country is tangled up in. Now, in these elections where there is a very real chance that Donald Trump will rise to presidency, exercising your right to vote has become even more important. Even in states (like Texas) where it is almost always in favor for a certain party/candidate, we as the people must put in our own vote and use our voice. It is better to have tried and failed than to not have tried at all -- and if enough people try and cast their votes, we can make a difference. The future of our nation is in our hands!

Links in this post:

Political Personality Quiz - http://www.openpolitics.ca/tiki-index.php

Political Compass Quiz - http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Political Typology Quiz - http://www.people-press.org/quiz/political-typology/

ISideWith Quiz - https://www.isidewith.com/

Am I Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

Welcome everyone (or just Ms. Halfen) to the first post on my blog!

THE TEST
Today, I took an IQ test at home while my parents watched Vikings (I didn't do this in class because I was busy messing with the template and layout of my blog - I hope the fish-feeding gadget is enticing and interesting, for it took me an entire class period to get it right. I slightly regret taking this test in such a loud environment, but I don't think it detracted from my score). Ah yes, my score. A 163! HAHA Happy April Fool's! I'm not that smart. My score was a 127 - not too bad! Since I'm 17, this means my mental age is about 21.6 years old. Here's the proof:

Not a genius yet above average!

It turns out I am smarter than a(n average) fifth grader! (I'm definitely not smarter than the geniuses on the show). No spoilers, but I thought that most of the questions were based on logic and reasoning alone, which many reputed psychologists and I believe is only a small portion of what makes up human intelligence. Real, thorough IQ tests are most definitely more detailed and inclusive in order to account for all aspects of our intelligence (creativity, adaptability, etc.). I'm not complaining though - this score is higher than my dad's (supposed) IQ that he bragged about when I was young. Despite the inaccuracy of the test (and despite my actual genius friend Arman telling me online tests are complete trash, my words not his), I'm proud to say I got a 127 and hope to never take a real IQ test, which would truly stress me out. One last thing before I move on: I feel like I could've done better if I were younger! I am nearing adulthood, and the growth and development of my intelligence has probably already peaked. Thus, I feel like I'm just a bit too old to get accurate results... Or maybe I'm just trying to make excuses so that I can feel smarter. Either way, the key is to remember that this IQ test will not define your intelligence nor your worth as a human :)

MOZART - HOW DID HE DO IT?

Ever since I first heard of the Mozart effect, I have wondered: was Mozart an alien? Or a time-traveling genius from the future stuck in the mid-1700s? How come his classical music boosts our intelligence; did he have some access to the inner workings of our brain that gave him some secret combination of pitched sound waves to enhance its performance? Because not all classical music has the same effect! Sadly, I don't have the answers to these questions, but I'll admit - during this IQ test, I listened to a six hour long YouTube video of Mozart's music. Before you accuse me of cheating my way into a 127, hear me out. You think this music totally makes you smarter, right? WRONG... kind of. 

Mozart shortly after time-traveling to the 1700s

The truth is that "[a]ny gained... intelligence lasts for only 10-15 minutes and no other noise should be heard while Mozart is being played in order to ensure the brain's capacity to infuse the music," yet all I heard over my music was the sound of (most likely historically inaccurate) Vikings slaughtering each other (citation: this Hot Topic). Sadly, yet equitably to my peers, Mozart's melodies were ineffective regarding my performance on an IQ test. Many parents who also heard of the Mozart effect make their children listen to this classical music, but as stated earlier, the effects last no longer than a quarter of an hour (on 12 year olds and undergraduates; testing on infants is nonexistent). Sorry, mom and dad!

What is enhanced, however, is spatial intelligence (not general intelligence, as many believe): this means that, the next time you're folding and cutting paper, Mozart is your man! This specific aspect of spatial intelligence is the only one that has been tested in research; anything else is rather ambiguous (plus, differences in gender/race/socioeconomic status/etc. haven't been factored in), meaning that this research has limited legitimacy.

In spite of this, I've read somewhere that classical music (or foreign music) is better than music with lyrics for studying/homework - the words can distract you from your main task. On that account, I encourage you to listen to Mozart anyway, even if it can't help you be smarter than a fifth grader.

Links in this post:

IQ Test - http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=3108

Mozart's Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2LM3ZlcDnk

Mozart Effect Hot Topic - http://www.intelltheory.com/mozarteffect.shtml