Test Reveals Why Politicians Forget Their Promises

Test Reveals Why Politicians Forget Their Promises

Epilepsy Action Australia today released the results of a memory test comparing the memories of Australia’s Federal politicians to the general public, it showed that politicians’ memories were, on average, slightly worse than the general population.

A cohort of Senators and Members of Parliament completed the online memory test that was developed to promote Purple Day, the international day of epilepsy awareness, on 26^th March 2011. The politicians’ results were then compared to the results of a cohort of the general public.

The test asked users to match eight pairs of pictures by remembering their placement in a grid and scored them based on the number of attempts taken to match each pair. The higher the score, the more attempts were required to complete the test. Politicians took 17 attempts on average to match the eight paired pairs, compared to the 16 for the general population.

Epilepsy Action Australia CEO Carol Ireland said while the memory test had shed some light on the long held stereotype about politicians forgetting promises, it was also an important reminder of the memory difficulties many people living with epilepsy can face daily.

“While our memory test has proven what many voters have believed for years, it is also a timely reminder that while we all suffer memory lapses from time to time, many people living with epilepsy face daily difficulties with their short and long term memory,” Ms Ireland said.

“Over half a million Australians will be affected by epilepsy in their lifetime, some experience memory difficulties as a consequence of having seizures and as a side effect of the medications used to treat the condition. Memory loss is one of the many areas of epilepsy research that requires further investigation to improve the quality of life of people living with epilepsy.”

“Purple Day seeks to raise awareness and much-needed funding for epilepsy support and research,” Ms Ireland said.

Purple Day on 26th March 2011 is a global, grassroots effort dedicated to raising awareness of epilepsy worldwide. It was founded in 2008 by a nine-year-old girl named Cassidy Megan. Motivated by her own struggles with epilepsy, Cassidy started Purple Day in an effort to get people talking about the disorder and reassure those with seizures that they are not alone.

For further information on Purple Day, please go to www.epilepsy.org.au/purpleday

For media comment or to arrange an interview, please call Mathew Burke 0435 128 233 or Rebecca Santos on 0425 316 303