Apple Logo Memory Test: Turns Out, Our Brains Don't Always Remember The Details

What happens when you try and get a bunch of UCLA psychologists to try and draw the Apple computer logo from memory?Well they aren't able to do it, that's what.

New findings published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology show that hardly any of the subjects could actually remember how to draw this iconic logo when asked to from scratch or fewer than half, that is.

The mix of participants included, 52 Apple users, 10 PC users and 23 students who used both Apple and PC products -- but the findings did not differ between Apple and PC users.

"People had trouble picking out the correct logo even when it was right in front of them," said Alan Castel, an associate professor of psychology at UCLA and senior author of the study, in a news release. Castle also noted that similar research from 2012 showed how most people did not know the location of a bright red fire extinguisher near their office, despite the fact that they had walked by it hundreds of thousands of times.

Researchers believe that the makeup of most memories has not been necessary to remember most specific details, which may explain why ordinary, everyday things like these can slip by our recollection.

In this study, participants were asked how well they would be able to draw the Apple logo before being asked to draw it.

"There was a striking discrepancy between participants' confidence prior to drawing the logo and how well they performed on the task," Castel concluded. "People's memory, even for extremely common objects, is much poorer than they believe it to be."

How about you try a crack at it, here.

For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).