What's that password again?

I wanted to blog about the article, Too many passwords or not enough brain power? from Network World because it occured to me after the Web 2.0 class last week that the world can provide us with an endless number of "Web 2.0" websites, but can we remember how to log into each of them?

This article gives hope to the average person that might need to remember, "five passwords, five PIN numbers, two number plates, three security ID numbers and three bank account numbers," according to recent research from Ian Robertson, professor of psychology at the Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

The article also cites a 2007 study by Microsoft Research that states that each user has about 25 accounts that require passwords, and that the average passwords used a day is 8. As you can imagine, most people have trouble remembering all this information. But Robertson says that it isn't that people cannot remember this information, but it is the way in which they are trying to recall the information that is holding them back.

The basic idea to Robertson's way of remembering brings me back to a popular ice breaker activity. You will probably remember the one where you state your name and then state what you might "bring to a party", but it has to start with the first letter of your name. So my name is Jen and I'll be bringing jelly beans to the party. Hopefully, people will hear my say jelly beans and that visual will connect them to me and they'll remember my name starts with a J, and so on and so forth. In Robertson's example, he says that you can use a symbol to represent each letter in your password. After you've assembled all the symbols together in your head, you will be able to visualize it, and thereby recall it better than before.

The most interesting part of the article for me was at the very end. Surprisingly, Robertson explains memory as a "use it or lose it" ability. The more you try to remember, the better your memory will be. So for web 2.0, this could be a good thing. We can all try new online applications and exercise or memories at the same time! :)