listening to Mozart makes you smarter or that they have a photographic memory.

But... that's just not the case. Using the power of scientific research, let's bust...

some popular misconceptions about memory, intelligence and your brain.

If somebody tells you "listening to classical music increases your intelligence."

tell them to take it Bach. (Bach 跟 back 讀音相近)

In one study, participants listened to either a Mozart sonata, verbal instructions or silence

and then did parts of an IQ test.

Those who listened to Mozart did perform better in spatial-reasoning tasks.

But… this enhancing effect of music, also known as "the Mozart effect", is only temporary.

It wore off in less than 15 minutes.

Subsequent studies have found that the "Mozart effect" only works for short periods when people enjoy the music,

and it doesn't work when the major chords are replaced by minor chords.

If you hear that someone has a "photographic memory", don't let it strike a chord.

There's no scientific evidence that we can remember things so instagood that our abilities mimic a camera.

People may have eidetic memory,

where they have an exceptional ability to process and organise information very efficiently

but this isn't the same as having an image in your brain.

In one study, researchers show that

mental representations about photographs aren't encoded the same way that photographs are recalled.

It's not possible to view a picture in your brain just as you observed it.

If you do want to think like the Flash… crossword puzzles and brain games aren't the way do it.

There's a popular belief that playing games keeps your brain young.

But... that's a trivial pursuit.

In one study, participants from 60 to 90 years old were split into groups.

Some groups learned new skills, like digital photography or sewing quilts,

and the other groups participated in social clubs, did crossword puzzles or watched documentaries.

Those who learned new skills and applied them to something creative - like photography or quilting -

showed the greatest improvements on memory tasks after three months.

And if you're looking to stitch up a higher score on a multiple choice test,

thinking "your first guess is always your best" isn't sew smart.

Pretty much all research on sticking with your initial hunches suggests that

most answer changes are from incorrect to correct,

and people who change their answers usually improve their test scores.

It's said we buy into this myth–sometimes called the "first instinct fallacy"

because it feels worse to change a correct answer to an incorrect one.

That makes changing right answers to wrong more memorable, so it seems more probable.

And now if your first instinct is to click away, maybe that isn't always best…

stick around and let me know what you think in the comments.

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