My Memory!

Memory has always been a topic of interest for me. After all, having a good memory is important when growing up while experiencing a school system that seems to emphasize memorization over learning. I would consider myself to have an adequate short term memory since I tend to do well on assessments such as vocabulary quizzes or factual based quizzes. However, I feel that my long term memory could definitely be better. Hopefully these quizzes show some room for improvement!

1. Facial Feature Memory Test
I did well on both versions of these tests and also enjoyed them. I liked the format of them since it provided you options to choose from, and it was very straightforward. I took both of the versions 2 or 3 times each and got perfect scores each time, meaning I correctly identified all 10 pieces of information correctly. I think this was an accurate assessment, and my results make sense because I think I have a fairly good short term memory.

2. Famous Faces Test
I also did very well on this test. Out of 30 faces I recognized 29. I also identified these 29 faces correctly so I got 100% correct. I think this test was pretty fun to take especially since it took me a little while longer to identify some really obvious faces. I also think that this test is accurate because I think I have a good visual short term memory. I also liked the format of this quiz since your score wouldn't be penalized if you just didn't know the famous person in the first place (sorry Condoleezza Rice!)

3. Number Memory Test
I performed above average on this quiz as well. I was able to memorize up to 9 pieces of information--so a 9 number sequence--but I messed up on the 10 number sequence. According to the testing website, the average person can hold about 7 pieces of information. I liked this test as well since I could see how I do with short term memory with numbers rather than with something more visual like the picture based tests I took previously.

4. 12 Word Short Term Memory Test
I thought that this test was one of the more difficult ones, but I still did relatively well. Out of the 12 everyday nouns, I was able to correctly recall 10 of them, which is just slightly above average. This is because the average capacity for short term memory would correlate to getting 5 to 9 of the words correct. In my opinion, that range is rather large because someone who correctly recalls 9 of the words likely has a better short term memory than someone who recalled 5 of the words.

5. Every Day Item Memory Test
I thought this test was interesting because it makes you reconsider how much attention you may actually pay to such a mundane object like a penny. It was easy for me to spot the differences between each coin that was shown, so I simply used process of elimination. I knew President Lincoln would be facing my right and that the text above would read "IN GOD WE TRUST." I also knew that the year was in the bottom right hand corner and that there was also text on the other side. I just didn't quite remember what the text on that side was, so this way I narrowed the options down to A or E. I figured that the text on the left side would be "LIBERTY" and lo and behold, I got it right!

Politics! (Rather, My Leftist Politics)

In the past few years, I've tried my best to educate myself politically. Especially now that I am 18 years old and eligible to vote right as the Presidential Election is around the corner, I think it's my duty as a young citizen to display the importance of being educated in matters of politics in order to make an informed decision to vote. So since I'm already pretty much in tune with my political ideals and affiliations, let's see what the results of these different tests had to say!

Political Personality Quiz: This was the first quiz I took, and I saw questions that I would definitely expect to see such as questions that would gauge my opinions on environment protection, health care, government control, and other civil, social, moral, and ethical topics. I was not entirely surprised with most of the results; however, I did find a few things about this site's deductions rather strange. For example, it's not surprising at all that my highest ranking dimension is "literalist" considering that justice is one of the major issues I consider when looking at politics. Also, the statement that I feel "that what the country really needs is a politician with a functioning moral compass" is entirely spot on. This issue is also clearly evident in the presidential campaigns going on right now since the majority of the candidates are so morally convoluted even as politicians that it's amazing they even have people supporting them at all. However, this test's conclusion that I am a "traditional communitarian" who doesn't like "challenges to authority" or "complex decision making processes" is actually really inaccurate and seems a bit far off as a conclusion on a rather leftist liberal.

Political Compass Quiz: This second quiz was very similar to the first one since it asked many similar questions. One of the differences was that this quiz quantified an economic left/right value. Mine was -5.5 which is not surprising considering I am very much left wing on the political and economic agenda. It also quantified a social libertarian/authoritarian value. Mine was -4.72 which again is not surprising at all since I am clearly a liberal who values group effort and a big government a little more than small government. Another neat feature this quiz displayed was a little graph you could compare your result to. You could have ideals similar to Thatcher, Stalin, Hitler, Gandhi, or Friedman. My results lined up almost exactly with that of Gandhi so that was a nice little result!

Political Typology Quiz: This quiz was a little different from the first two since it provided only two statements in which you had to agree with one or the other. This layout was concise and clear, which I felt would lead to fairly accurate results. Once again, I was not surprised with the results, but I did find this result to have a fitting description of my views. It said that I am a "Solid Liberal" along with 15% of the public. The results stated that Solid Liberals always vote Democratic and find hope in America's success in its ability to change. It also stated that Solid Liberals believe that good diplomacy rather than military strength is the best way to ensure peace. These conclusions, which I definitely agreed with, didn't change any of my views on matters but rather reaffirmed my preexisting political beliefs. 

iSideWith Quiz: This last quiz was probably the most interesting one to take and was also my favorite! The first thing that I noticed that was completely different from the others was that you could rank the questions from "Least," "Less," "Somewhat," "More," and "Most" important to you. The options for the answers also included interesting features since an "Other Stance" option was available that enabled you to choose an option besides "Yes" or "No." And if you didn't agree with any of the option provided, you could provide your own reason. I think this kind of format would lead to very accurate results since it lets the user choose or provide an answer that most closely identifies with their viewpoint or belief. The quiz also questioned about matters relevant to today since it asked about topics that have been popular in recent debates from matters like space travel funding to Obamacare to Syrian refugees to terrorism. My result that I side 98% with Bernie Sanders came as absolutely no surprise to me since I support him the most out of all the other candidates. However, I was slightly surprised at how I side 95% with Hilary Clinton since I don't really side with her. I think if this quiz had more questions about foreign policy, this percentage would be significantly lower since I do not support her foreign policy views at all. I was also very surprised as to how I side 19% with Donald Trump. I mean, how do I side with him even a little bit?! I suppose it's due to some of his moderate economic policies, but still! All jokes aside, I think this was a great quiz!

(Debateable?) Intelligence and I'm Different (Surprise!)

After taking the Multi-dimensional IQ test, I wasn't entirely surprised with my results. Since I don't exactly think of myself as an incredibly intelligent being, not scoring in the "genius" level range came as no surprise to me. But with a score of 124 that warrants "very superior intelligence," I was slightly flattered and came to a stumbling realization that there are plenty of people far more intelligent than I; however, there are also a vast number of people on the other side of that scale. I was certainly surprised at the many challenging questions that appeared on this test, namely those requiring skill in matters of spatial perception as well as complicated questions that utilized basic math skills. Math and logic are topics I often struggle with in school, but the two combined form complex questions that make my head ache.

That along with the fact that I took this test at 7:40 in the morning in a classroom full of murmuring voices all while running on two hours of sleep certainly did not aid me in achieving a higher score. Regardless, I feel that I would perform very similarly to this first attempt even if I was fully rested and took this IQ test in a perfectly quiet room simply because of the kinds of questions I know I have difficulty answering. Although it is nice to see that I would often place in the second highest category on different tests measuring intelligence, I find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that any single test could possibly measure any individual's intelligence. For instance, I believe having strong values and possessing qualities of a good leader pertain strongly to intelligence, yet none of that was present on this test. But it's not like I was expecting this test to have all the answers to my questions so all in all, I would say this test does a relatively good job to provide an overall scope of one's "intelligence."

Photo from: http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/roj/birth%20order.jpg

I also read an article that discussed studies and causal relationships about birth order and intelligence (that can be found here). Growing up as the youngest sister and having two older ones, I've heard countless times about the stereotype that the oldest is the smartest or most successful. This article supports this statement and says that inquiry about this subject started circa 1874 by Francis Galton with his book English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture. Galton stated that eldest children often had the most access to financial resources than their following siblings and that they were treated more as equals to their parents, thus undertaking greater responsibilities. Further study on this topic was continued by Lillian Belmont and Francis Marolla in 1973. They concluded that "firstborns always scored better" on a certain test than younger siblings and that children from larger families tended to score worse on this test as well. Modern research by Blake and Downey also supports Galton's findings since subsequent siblings "reduce the share of parental resources" available to the children. Furthermore, the Confluence Model by R.B. Zajonc and Markus suggest that firstborns benefit from more adult language, having to explain things to younger siblings, not having to share their parents' attention, and having less exposure to a less mature environment as more children enter the family. 

The article goes on to state that even if it is true that older sibling are more intelligent than their siblings, it really does not even matter that much since different personality traits are oftentimes more important than IQ. And even when it comes to IQ scores, there is hardly a difference since the eldest scores about one point higher than the second sibling and two points higher than the next one. Another article I found not only discusses possible reasons as to why the eldest may be the most intelligent but also states that certain situations can arise to cause the opposite result. After reading this article, I was just incredibly bemused since I am the youngest, yet I have taught and explained countless academic topics to my two elder sisters (who are five and seven years older than I). I have also scored much higher than them on the SAT and performed better than they did in school as evidenced by class ranks, GPAs, and AP test scores. But even looking past numbers, I have won various writing and speaking prizes and have proven myself to be a much better and qualified leader. So don't let yourself be tied down by precedents or a simple label, and just function as you normally would regardless of your birth order!