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Geneva — The Fortune Pink, an exceptionally rare giant gemstone, will be auctioned in Geneva in November when it is expected to go for up to $35 million (36 million euros), auctioneers said on Monday.

At over 18 carats, the vividly coloured gem is the largest pear-shaped pink diamond of its quality ever to be offered for sale at auction, the Christie’s auction house said.

The diamond, which goes under the hammer for the first time on November 8, has been estimated at between $25 million and $35 million.

The sparkling pink tear-drop-formed stone, which has been mounted on a ring flanked by a large white diamond on either side, weighs exactly 18.18 carats.

Christie’s highlighted that this was considered a lucky number in Asia, where it signifies “definite prosperity”, saying it expected the diamond to “garner interest from collectors across the globe”.

“Weighing in at an auspicious 18.18 carats... the weight in fact brings luck to the new owner,” Angela Berden, Christie’s senior jewellery specialist, told AFP.

“It’s a beautiful stone, it’s extremely rare to find a pink diamond, vivid pink diamond, of this size,” she said.

“The colour saturation of this stone is... so difficult to find in nature, and then when you find a crystal... with that weight, with that colour, and a very good clarity, that’s just really rare.”

“I wouldn’t know where to find another one at this moment.”

While the Fortune Pink is the largest vivid pink pear-shaped diamond to go to auction, larger cushion-shaped pink diamonds have previously gone under the hammer.

In 2018, Christie’s sold the 18.96-carat Winston Pink Legacy, which raked in over $50 million — the highest per-carat price ever paid for a stone of its kind. 

The giant Raj Pink diamond, weighing a full 37.3 carats, meanwhile, failed to sell at a Sotheby’s auction a year earlier, where it had been estimated at up to $30 million. 

In the Sweet Night
Khaled Hazem Nusseibeh

Khaled Nusseibeh, the author of this poetry collection, is acutely aware of the precariousness of human life on this earth, but equally convinced of the power of faith to enable oneto overcome its perils and disappointments. Still, like most, he finds it difficult to accept the passing of a beloved one, as expressed in the lead-off poem, titled “In the Sweet Night”, which gives the book its name. Nonetheless, he opines: “Life, friend, is a moving shadow/A fleeting moment to be transiently lived.” (p. 49)

The topics addressed in this volume are wide-ranging: From the mundane to the sublime, from the contemporary to the perennial. One poem describes Nusseibeh’s Sweifieh office, another, a tennis match, still a third, a rainy day in Amman, while others address the weighty topics of Heaven and Hell, repentance and salvation, in the firm conviction: “That the Great God created life for a purpose” and death, which comes to all without exception, is “but a veil that hides continuing life”. (pp. 32 and 59)

There are poems describing the effects of the world crises of COVID-19 and climate change. Dreams, childhood memories, random impressions, friends and family also find a place in the poet’s musings, which sometimes revolve around duality as he explores various perspectives on the phenomena he chooses to address: “A rainy day may be variously perceived/a time of hardship or the prelude to abundance.” (p. 22)

Second only to religious faith is Nusseibeh’s dedication to the tightly-knit family, whether his own wife and children or other relatives, and he is quick to point out the existence in his family of “the great roots of Jerusalem and Nablus/and likewise those of great Syria in a celebration of Jordan’s rich diversity”. (p. 29)

A number of poems reflect Nusseibeh’s distress at the state of the world today, the “scourge of war, exile, famine and pestilence”. (p. 26) Some of these poems seem to directly target the Palestinian situation,particularly the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza, but could refer to other instances of human misery as well, where one finds “the essentials of decent and secure life/Constantly interrupted by the hurling of fire/Randomly ravaging the school, the clinic, the makeshift tent”. (p. 61)

Palestinian resistance is also celebrated as in a poem about hunger-striking heroes that reads: “The jail cell verily cannot alter the essential truth/of unjust dispossession and occupation... The will to be shall overcome/the forces of defeat and surrender.” (p. 30-31)

The references to suffering could apply as well to many conflicts raging in the world today. In such poems, the poet notes that things could improve radically if only love, sharing and freedom were nurtured instead of war and poverty. Empires have their expiration date, as he reminds, “Have not all empires witnessed the vanishing moment/the inescapable tryst of bidding glory farewell?” (p. 36)

Still, Nusseibeh finds reasons for hope and has a unique way of expressing the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed: “Let’s hope together for a better morrow/when the mighty could, unperturbed, look into the child’s eyes.” (p. 62)

“In the Sweet Night” is available at Amazon.

By Sara Mahdawi
Clinical Psychologist

We all experience bouts of anger and aggression, but dementia can exaggerate anger issues, even for people who previously had none. When caring for your loved one with dementia, here’s what you need to know about anger and aggression…

Behavioural changes are expected as dementia progresses, and these changes can be stressful. It’s normal to feel surprised, discouraged, hurt or even angry when someone with dementia lashes out at you for no apparent reason. Still, it’s also important to understand what provokes your loved one and how to respond.

Anger and aggression most likely develop in the middle stages of dementia, when patients start exhibiting behaviours such as yelling, throwing things, using foul language, physical aggression, or even trying to attack their caregivers.

Common causes

Picture the day through the eyes of someone livingwith dementia. Imagine someone you don’t know approaching you and telling you, “it’s shower time,”and then they undress you and you just can’t understand why someone is invading your personal space, forcing you to undress. 

People with dementiamay not recognise their loved ones. This can cause fear, anxiety and aggression. They also might experience reality distortions. For example, a person may experience paranoia, delusions or hallucinations, leading to unexpected or unjustified behaviours. Moreover, dementia affects appetite and, in turn, poor nutrition can affect mood, energy and cognitive functionand fuel sudden outbursts for people with dementia.

Aggression triggers

Common triggers for people with dementia include: 

Physical discomfort: It is not unusual for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or other dementia to be unable to tell you that they are experiencing pain or physical discomfort. Due to their loss of cognitive function, they can’t articulate or identify the cause of physical discomfort and may express it through physical aggression. Even the simplest reasons could cause aggression and anger, such as feeling tired or feeling hungry

Environmental factors: People with dementia tend to be overstimulated by loud noises, an intense environment, physical chaos, large crowds or being surrounded by unfamiliar faces

Tips for dealing with aggression and anger

Not rushing them. Don’t keep asking your loved one to do something faster, as it will only increase anxiety and stress and cause an anger outburst

Using cues. If you wish to help them with something, for example, washing their hands, show them by making a gesture with your own hands first 

If what you are trying to help your loved one with is unnecessary, then don’t do it. You and your loved one need to choose your battles, not arguing with someone with dementia. It’s never helpful. Instead, give directions or listen.

Redirecting and distracting. Simply changing the conversation or setting may be enough to stop your loved one with dementia from an anger outburst. 

Giving your loved one a little space. Their aggression may be because they feel their personal space is being invaded and don’t understand why

Have one-on-one Interactions. Some people with dementia feel devastated or threatened by having several caregivers. It may help to limit interactions to one person at a time. More than one person can increase anxiety and trigger aggression

Caring for a person with Alzheimer’s or relateddementia takes time and effort. Don’t forget to findtime to take care of yourself.

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk on Friday showed off the latest version of a humanoid robot that the world's richest man said could one day eliminate poverty.

An Optimus prototype wheeled on stage during an annual Tesla AI Day presentation was mounted to a small platform. The robot, which remains a work-in-progress, waved to the audience and raised its knees.

"Our goal is to make a useful humanoid robot as quick as possible," the billionaire tech pioneer Musk told the audience at the event in Silicon Valley.

"There is still a lot of work to be done."

Tesla is adapting its autonomous car technology to give Optimus capabilities such as walking safely or working on a factory floor, company engineers said during the presentation.

Another version of the robot, built with off-the-shelf components rather than Tesla-made parts like Optimus, walked slowly onto the stage, pumped its fists and thrust its hips briefly in time with music as if dancing.

"The robot can actually do a lot more than we just showed you, we just didn't want it to fall on its face," Musk quipped.

Tesla is designing Optimus robots to be produced at high rates, pushing the price perhaps lower than $20,000, Musk said.

"This means a future of abundance; a future where there is no poverty, a future where you can have what you want in terms of products and services," Musk said.

"It really is a fundamental transformation of civilisation as we know it," he said.

Musk, who once warned of artificial intelligence being a threat to humanity, said that Tesla wants to make sure the transition to a society in which robots do the work and people reap the benefits is a safe one.

"We always want to be careful we don't go down the Terminator path," he cautioned, referring to a blockbuster film about a killer cyborg and noting that Tesla is building in safeguards including a stop button that can't be tampered with.

He said Tesla will begin testing Optimus on factory floors, doing simple tasks like carrying parts, and that the general public should be able to purchase the robots in three to five years.

Musk contended that Tesla, as a publicly traded company, would be held accountable by its shareholders if they think it isn't being socially responsible.

"It's very important that I can't just do what I want. Tesla's structure is ideal for that."

Musk was reprimanded by the Securities and Exchange Commission after posting a tweet in 2018, in which he said he had acquired funding to take Tesla private, but did not provide proof or file paperwork with the SEC.

Musk is now is locked in a court battle with Twitter over his effort to terminate a $44 billion deal he made to take the messaging platform private.

LOS ANGELES — The late Sidney Poitier was at the peak of his Hollywood career when he came under fire from Black activists and intellectuals, accused of playing stereotypical, safe roles for white audiences just as the 1960s civil rights movement was exploding.

“Sidney”, the new Apple TV+ documentary out Friday, produced by Oprah Winfrey and featuring A-list talking heads from Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman to Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, sets out to show why they were wrong.

“The reality is, since the invention of cinema there had been these degrading images of Black people, and Sidney Poitier single-handedly destroyed those images, movie after movie after movie,” the film’s director Reginald Hudlin told AFP.

“He was a race warrior. Without him, you don’t have me, and you don’t have Oprah Winfrey, and you don’t have Barack Obama.”

It is one of several debates at the heart of “Sidney”, which features interviews Poitier gave to Winfrey years before his death in January at the age of 94.

The film addresses Poitier’s affair during his first marriage to Juanita Hardy — a potentially prickly topic as she and all three of their surviving daughters are interviewed for the documentary.

“When I first sat down with the family, to talk about the possibility of making the movie, I said, ‘Is anything off limits?’ And I specifically brought up that as an example,” said Hudlin.

“They were like, ‘No, no, no, we want to tell the whole truth.’ So I appreciate the fact that they were not interested in just doing a puff piece.”

The film also delves into terrifying moments of racist violence in Poitier’s life.

In 1964, Poitier and Harry Belafonte were pursued through Mississippi by gun-toting Ku Klux Klan members while delivering cash to a voting rights movement.

An earlier run-in with the Klan, and a white policeman who harassed a teenage Poitier at gunpoint, are presented as formative in his pioneering career and his often-overlooked activism.

“That’s what is amazing — he never dissolved into bitterness, he never let them break him,” said Hudlin.

“He just kept turning it into strength, into more determination, into more willpower.”

‘No precedent’

But perhaps the most contested part of Poitier’s legacy remains the suggestion he was too amenable or obedient to white audiences and Hollywood.

“Sidney” highlights a 1967 New York Times article titled “Why Does White America Love Sidney Poitier So?” that accused Poitier of “playing essentially the same role, the antiseptic, one-dimensional hero”.

It described a “Sidney Poitier syndrome: A good guy in a totally white world, with no wife, no sweetheart, no woman to love or kiss, helping the white man solve the white man’s problem.”

Just three years earlier, Poitier had become the first Black actor to win an Oscar for “Lilies of the Field”, in which he played a traveling handyman who helps out and ultimately bonds with a community of white nuns.

Other roles, such as his beggar in “Porgy and Bess”, came to be seen as racist by critics. 

According to Hudlin, the backlash “was an inevitable byproduct of the work he was doing”, and Poitier — who “knew it was going to come” — was more interested in humanising the Black experience.

“He kept it in a bigger context,” said Hudlin, noting that oppressed minorities were “suddenly fighting, and achieving their freedom”, and “having to figure this out in real time as it happened”.

“I think now we can look at it with a broader historical lens, and say that those decisions that Sidney Poitier made were right and helped the greater cause move forward.”

The documentary also underlines the groundbreaking nature of Poitier’s kiss with white actress Katharine Houghton in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, and the moment he slaps a white Southern aristocrat in “In The Heat of the Night”.

“There was no precedent for who he was and what he was doing,” said Hudlin.

LOS ANGELES — The next James Bond will serve King and country — but discussions with new 007 studio owner Amazon over the spy film franchise’s future direction haven’t really started, long-standing producer Barbara Broccoli recently said.

Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson sat down with AFP to speak about the future of the 25-movie franchise, moments after having their handprints immortalised in cement at Hollywood’s famous TCL Chinese Theatre.

The last Bond outing, 2021’s “No Time To Die”, was the final installment to star Daniel Craig, and Amazon has since bought 007 studio MGM. This means speculation is rife about what changes could lie in store for the world’s most famous fictional spy.

“We’re just beginning our relationship with Amazon. We haven’t really started to get involved in the next Bond film yet,” said Broccoli.

As custodians of the franchise her father Albert “Cubby” Broccoli founded 60 years ago, “we’re not always just going to rest on our laurels and keep to a formula,” she added.

At the centre of the rumours and guesswork swirling around the next 007 outing is the matter of who will play the suave superspy with a licence to kill.

Craig was initially a controversial choice, particularly for his blond hair and rugged looks, but his five 007 films broke box office records, with 2012’s “Skyfall” surpassing $1 billion worldwide.

Fans have suggested the next Bond may be the first non-white actor in the role, while Broccoli has scotched claims that Bond in future could be female.

She told AFP that “there are certain formulaic things” that will always remain. 

“The central character of James Bond is the most important element of these movies, and we believe he’s incorruptible, he works for Queen and now King and country,” she said.

“He’s not in it for his own personal gain. He’s in it for trying to keep the world a safer place. So I think that is something we definitely wouldn’t change.”

‘Surprised’

But Broccoli said their father “always tried to give us the confidence to take risks so that Bond can change over the years”.

She added: “We like to change it up, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t — but it keeps it fresh.”

The Broccoli family’s company Eon has immense creative control over the Bond film franchise, originally based on Ian Fleming’s novels.

Barbara and her half-brother Michael have presided over the films since “GoldenEye”, released in 1995, a year before the death of her father.

Under a complex deal, Eon split profits with historic studio MGM, which had the right to finance and distribute the 007 movies.

But the studio was bought by Amazon for $8.5 billion under a deal closed in March, and it emerged weeks later that MGM’s film leadership would be leaving.

In another sign of changing times, Amazon’s Prime Video will release an eight-part Bond-themed reality-TV competition series called “007’s Road to a Million.”

Wilson told AFP it was important for Bond films to keep pace with the ever-changing challenges facing the world.

“What’s the world going to worry about two or three years from now? How do we stay topical?” he said.

“But so far it’s worked pretty well. You can’t be afraid of change... you have to embrace it, and you can’t do the same thing over and over again. You have to change it a bit.

“The audiences have a certain expectation. But they also want to be surprised. So that’s all part of the effort.”

PARIS — When Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman first let loose their swords, voodoo and pirates epic “The Secret of Monkey Island”, it was sold on floppy disks and released for long-forgotten home PCs like the Amiga.

Three decades later, they are back at it with “Return to Monkey Island”, a sequel with flashier graphics and orchestral scores that is only available as a download.

“Back in 1990 we had an office and we were all in there all day long sharing space,” Grossman told AFP in a joint interview with Gilbert.

“Now we’re all remote — and not even just because of the pandemic, we’re going to be remote anyway.”

The two men worked together on the first two editions of the game, released in 1990 and 1991, before the group disbanded and went their separate ways.

The second edition ended on a cliffhanger that has never been resolved, with the hero, Guybrush Threepwood, facing off against his nemesis LeChuck.

And the secret alluded to in the title of the original was never divulged.

It has kept fans on tenterhooks ever since and gave Gilbert and Grossman a reason to come back to the franchise 30 years later.

“I think there’s unfinished business for Guybrush because he never found the secret, and I think there’s unfinished business for Dave and I as well,” said Gilbert.

‘Coloured by nostalgia’

The fan fervour around last Monday’s release showed just how strong the feelings still were for a game with blocky graphics and text prompts.

Although most of the reaction was positive, some took exception to the cartoon aesthetic of the new game and vented on social media — something 1990s creators did not have to contend with.

“Adventure game fans have always been very nice and I felt like they kind of turned a little bit,” said Gilbert. 

“It does affect you on some level but it’s not going to change how we think about the game at all.”

Slick graphics were never the appeal of “Monkey Island” — instead players solved puzzles and riddles and advanced through strange landscapes with surreal humour and pop-culture nods aplenty.

It largely set the template for adventure games that were to follow, but the “Monkey Island” franchise petered out with a few later entries published without the involvement of Gilbert.

Although the pair are polite about these subsequent editions — “we would never pooh-pooh the canon”, said Gilbert — their new game picks up the story where the 1991 game ended.

But before they could even start thinking of the story, they had to negotiate licensing the rights to the game from Disney.

“It was a long process, just because lawyers get involved and then everything takes a long time,” said Gilbert.

A core team of 25 people then spent two years beavering away on the game, dealing not only with the rigours of game design but also 30 years of expectation among fans.

“Their memories are unrealistically coloured by nostalgia,” said Grossman. “That makes a sort of an unreachable goal for us”.

Instead, they decided to make a game that they themselves would enjoy.

‘Golden age’

Despite beginning their careers when the gaming industry was still in its infancy, Gilbert and Grossman are still hugely inspired by the current landscape.

“Nearly anyone can just get three friends together and make a game in their garage, go on the internet and find an audience for it,” said Grossman, calling it “the golden age of video games”.

Their original 1990s games have already found a second life in this golden age through apps and online emulators.

And both creators are quietly confident that “Monkey Island” will continue in some form in the future.

“I think we should do one of these about every 10 or 15 years,” said Grossman.

“Yeah, see you in 2035,” replied Gilbert.

A niche automotive sub-genre beloved by many diehard petrolheads and auto enthusiasts over high, heavy and lumbering crossovers and SUVs, the high performance estate combines the dynamic prowess and performance potential of a more traditional super saloon, with the added practicality of a wagon body saloon.

The ultimate “dad racer” segment, it could be argued that the very first bona fide super estate was the 1994 Audi RS2 Avant, which was developed in collaboration with Porsche.

Audi RS6 Avant

Championing the performance estate since it mated the iconic “Ur” Quattro’s turbocharged 5-cylinder engine and four-wheel-drive to the 1980s 200 Avant executive wagon, Audi’s next gambit was the 1994 RS2 Avant, which was its first “RS” model. A regular feature of Audi’s high performance skunkworks division, the latest RS6 Avant incarnation might be slightly out-muscled or out-sized by some competitors, but arguably remains the best-rounded “gold standard” by which super estates are measured.

Powered by a twin-turbocharged 4-litre V8 engine slung just ahead of its front axle and driving all four wheels through Audi’s sublime Quattro system, the RS6 develops enormous levels of traction and roadholding. The ultimate wet weather family-friendly supercar, the modern RS6’s and its Quattro system operate with a slight rear bias — and uses four-wheel-steering — for improved agility, and features centre Torsen and optional rear limited-slip differentials to allocate power where needed for performance and safety. 

Producing 591BHP at 6,000-6,250rpm and 590lb/ft torque throughout an easily accessible 2,050-4,500rpm range the RS6 Avant rockets from standstill to 100km/h in just 3.6-seconds, and onto a de-restricted 305km/h. As dramatic in design as in performance, it sits with a wide-hipped potent posture and features blistered wheel-arches, hungry gaping grille, squinting headlights and deep intakes. Well-appointed and equipped, the practical RS6 accommodates 565-litres of luggage, which expands to 1,680-litres.

Specifications

Engine: 4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8-cylinders

Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive, Torsen locking differential

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 591 (600) [441] @6,000-6,250rpm

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 590 (800) @2,050-4,500rpm

0-100km/h: 3.6-seconds

Top speed: 305km/h (unrestricted)

Length: 4,995mm

Width: 1,951mm

Height: 1,460mm

Wheelbase: 2,929mm

Kerb weight: 2,175kg

Luggage volume, min/max: 565-/1,680-litres

Suspension: 5-link, adaptive air suspension

Steering: Four-wheel steering

Tyres: 275/35R21

Mercedes-AMG E63 S 4Matic+ Estate

Second perhaps, only to Audi in dedication to the super estate, even as its SUV line swells in size, Mercedes-Benz may have retired the sporty low-roof CLS-Class Shooting Brake estate, but still currently fields performance wagons in two segments. Largest and most powerful of these, the Mercedes-AMG E63 S 4Matic+ Estate dispenses with sporty “lifestyle” pretences and rakish rooflines, but instead whole-heartedly embraces the traditional wagon body style. 

Elegantly conservative with its rearwards orientation and long, upright boot, the E63 Estate is the most voluminously practical in its class and generously accommodates 640-litres of luggage, which expands to a cavernous 1,820-litres, when rear seats are folded. Mounted behind its dramatically broad, vertically-slatted grille, the E63 S 4Matic+ Estate is powered by a brutally capable twin-turbocharged 4-litre V8 engine belting out 603BHP at 5,750rpm and 627lb/ft throughout a broad 2,500-4,500rpm band.

Boasting brisk 3.5-second 0-100km/h acceleration and an electronically governed 290km/h top speed, the E63’s rear-biased four-wheel-drive system meanwhile lends a balanced rear-drive dynamic character. Driven through a 9-speed automatic gearbox, the E63’s four-wheel-drive meanwhile sends power to the front and varies distribution along the rear axle with a limited-slip differential, to effectively put power down to tarmac courtesy of huge, staggered low profile 265/35R20 front and 295/30R20 rear tyres.

Specifications

Engine: 4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8-cylinders

Gearbox: 9-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive, locking rear differential

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 603 (512) [450] @5,750-6,500rpm

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 627 (850) @2,500-4,500rpm

0-100km/h: 3.5-seconds

Top speed: 290km/h (electronically governed)

Length: 4,996mm

Width: 1,907mm

Height: 1,474mm

Wheelbase: 2,939mm

Kerb weight: 2,075kg

Luggage volume, min/max: 640-/1,820-litres (estimate)

Suspension, F/R: Multilink, adaptive air suspension

Tyres, F/R: 265/35R20/295/30R20

Porsche Panamera Turbo S Sport Turismo

Initially trading more on performance and prestige than space or style, the Porsche Panamera has had its fair share of eager enthusiasts and critics since its 2009 launch. Not the prettiest of Porsches, but no ugly duckling, in its first iteration, the addition of a super estate variant to the second generation Panamera line-up, circa 2016, has, however, been transformative in its newfound appeal among many former detractors.

Well-reconciling the Panamera’s low, wide and long body and rounded design by lending it greater visual bulk, an elegantly sporty rearwards emphasis, and adding greater practicality, the Panamera Turbo S Sport Turismo might not quite match Audi and Mercedes super wagons in space, but it makes up for it with phenomenal performance courtesy of its muscular twin-turbocharged 4-litre V8 engine and sure-footed four-wheel-drive and traction management system.

Supercar swift with 621BHP at 6,000rpm and abundantly versatile 604lb/ft torque throughout a wide 2,300-4,500rpm band, the Panamera Turbo S Sport Turismo swiftly dashes through 0-100km/h in just 3.1-seconds and tops out at 315km/h. With adaptive double wishbone front and multilink rear suspension managing its 2.2-tonne heft through corners, the Turbo S Sport Turismo’s four-wheel-steering meanwhile serves to enhance stability and agility, despite its considerable 5,049mm length.

Specifications

Engine: 4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8-cylinders

Gearbox: 9-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 621 (630) [463] @6,000rpm

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 604 (820) @2,300-4,500rpm

0-100km/h: 3.1-seconds (with Chrono Package)

Top speed: 315km/h

Length: 5,049mm

Width: 1,937mm

Height: 1,432mm

Wheelbase: 2,950mm

Kerb weight: 2,210kg

Luggage volume, min/max: 487-/1,356-litres

Suspension, F/R: Double wishbones/multilink, adaptive air suspension

Steering: Four-wheel steering

Tyres, F/R: 275/35R21/

325/30R21

By Dina Halaseh
Educational Psychologist

How often have you felt your brain go blank when trying to remember something, especially when sitting for a job interview or exam? Can you imagine how many times your child also goes through this?

Information retrieval, whether for an exam or our everyday activities, requires skills that might be challenging for many adults and children alike.

Information is usually encoded, stored, then retrieved, so a struggle in any part of this process may cause an issue. The brain doesn’t process all information equally; some is easier to remember than other data — it all depends on many factors which affect memory.

How memory works

Understanding episodic (real-life events) and semantic information (knowledge) can help us understand how memory works.

•Episodic memory is related to real-life events and personal experiences

•Semantic memory focuses on what we learned about the world and the knowledge we gained

Both types are considered conscious memory. We also store unconscious information to help us perform many tasks without thinking about them, like writing or even driving.

Conscious memory can be retrieved. Recognition of these memories usually happens when we go through an experience associated with this memory. So, the moment we are faced with a multiplication problem, for example, our stored multiplication table will mentally pop-up. This is usually strengthened with repetition: The more we try to retrieve and recall information, the faster it gets and the better our memory becomes.

At home

The simple task of parents asking their children what they learned in school and children trying to recall and answer is considered practicing memory techniques. This strengthens their memory and helps them assess their learning. Their attempt to retrieve the information will increase their long-term retention of the material much more than rereading what they learned at school.

At school

Before a class starts, a teacher may ask students to try and recall what they learned so far. This can be done as an open-ended question, multiple choice, matching cards or questions. The main idea is for students to try and recall the information on their own without the aid of their peers or teachers. This will help them assess their knowledge and build their recall and memory skills! 

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine