Being Carried away from the Here and Now

          As we age we need to pay attention to the quality of our thinking. A major factor, measured by the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, is referred to as Distractibility.  

         The days, when I am reading novels, I sometimes read during the day and also at night before I go to sleep.  The next time I pick up the book I can’t remember specifically what I read the night before. I do recognize it quickly and move on with the adventure.

         I usually do not have any trouble making up my mind. I take time to think about my options and then follow up on my decision

         Sometimes I head up stairs to something but when I get there it takes a few moments to remember what I was going to do. I think this is because I have several different ideas moving around in my brain at the same time.

         I understand what daydreaming is but I can’t recall any specific instances but think it may be connected with forgetting why I went from one part of the house to another.  Also, when I am walking somewhere if I am not chanting in meditation, my mind does tend to wander around.

         I experience the “tip of the tongue” phenomena in failure of name recognition. I have started using little tricks like associating the forgotten material with links that are very easy to remain. For instance on of my neighbors names is Oswaldo. I connect his name with Dr. Oz who has his own TV show and is connected with Oprah Windfrey.

         To conclude I think this characteristic has been controlled by my techniques for staying in the “here and now”.  It has been helpful even though my years of teaching may in some instances be connected with the stereotype “absent minded professor.”

The items listed in this section of the Questionnaire are:

         Instructions: Please indicate how descriptive each statement is          of your beliefs by circling the number that corresponds to your          response. (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree)

         1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

1. Do you read something and find you haven't been thinking about it and must read it again?

       1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )                   

2. Do you have trouble making up your mind?                                 

      1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

3. Do you find you forget why you went from one part of the house to the other?                                   

      1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

4. Do you daydream when you ought to be listening to something?               

     1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

5. Do you start doing one thing at home and get distracted into doing something else (unintentionally)?           

     1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

6. Do you find you can't quite remember something although it's 'on the tip of your tongue'? 

     1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

7. Do you fail to notice signposts on the road?                              

     1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

8. Do you find you confuse right and left when giving directions?           

     1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

9. Do you find you can't think of anything to say?                            

     1 (   )      2(   )        3 (    )      4 (     )       5 (     )

[1]   Wallace, J. Craig; Kass, Steven J.; Stanny, Claudia (2002). The cognitive failures questionnaire revisited: Dimensions and correlates, Journal of General Psychology,129(3), 238-256.