Does your brain like to link things?

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Say for instance Douglas Adams pops into my head, I'm thinking the number 42. Then my mind goes off and thinks about John Adams, second president USA, then it would jump to Adam Smith, wealth of nations... and so on.

Anyone know what this "linking" is called?

I like to link things too. It's the best way for me to remember small details. Through my linking of events to places to people and conversations, I end up remembering most days of my life exactly as they happen as I am able to link conversations to the places in which they took place, which leads on to other small details.

This can be very useful when trying to remember necessary information, such as for an upcoming class test, as the information can be linked to a small detail I noticed about someone or something in the room.

For example, for my Geography class, I had to memorize the formation of a corrie and its associated features (tarns, arétes). At the time, I noticed a small crack on the blackboard, and now, whenever I see that crack, I instantly remember the aforementioned formations as well as the interactions with others in the classroom, eventually leading on to me being able to recount all of the events of that day, even seemingly trivial things such as irrelevant conversations that had happened around me, or the flavour on a packet of crisps left on the ground.

As for the technical term to describe this phenomenon, I am slightly embarrassed to admit that, despite the mind having been a topic of particular interest to me recently, I've not a clue, although I will endeavour to locate this information and update my post with it.

Linking of pieces of information is called association or associative memory.
It is a normal function of the human brain.

Idk what it is called but I do it all the time. On rare occasions I can trace the sequence backwards to the original thought.

It sounds to me like your train of thought. I do that too, my mind jumps from one thing to another. I like to retrace my train of thought and see what thought led to another. I also like to make connections between things.

Yes. When we first met my wife would ask me how I went from topic A to topic M.
Now that we've been together she can sometimes follow me.

Yeah it's associative memory. However, from what I gather from some of the things I've read by Temple Grandin it's a more intense thing in autistics like our brains are more prone to it.

"Now let me explain how the language part of my brain and the "thinking in pictures" part of my brain seem to interact. My mind works just like an Internet Web browser. A Web browser finds specific words; by analogy, my mind looks for picture memories that are associated with a word. It can also go off on a tangent in the same way as a Web browser, because visual thinking is non-linear, associative thinking. "

from here:http://www.grandin.com/inc/mind.web.browser.html

Add on to my first reply.

I sometimes dream in fast sequences as in Data speed reading computer "err", data.

First time it happened it freaked me out.

me. Still too old to know it all

When I was a kid, we all did this at the dinner table a LOT. We'd finally stop and ask how we got on some strange topic like "how much air does a fly breathe in a day?", and then go back and trace how we got there. It probably helped that my dad was probably a bit Asperger's too, and we all liked to read about obscure topics.

I do use associative memory to remember things, especially people's names, which are hard for me. Let's say I am introduced to someone named Donna Wilson. I picture Donna Wilson standing with Donna Noble on the TARDIS. If I want to remember her last name, I'll add Owen Wilson, but I generally figure I'm doing well just to remember the first name. Now if I could just figure out a way to remember people's faces ...

yes, its human nature and a big function for the left side of the brain, left brain LOVES to put things together and find explanations.

@btbnnyr @Unfortunate_Aspie_ Thanks I'm not so good on psychology. I will have to have a read up on associative memory, and cheers for the Temple Grandin link.

Yes, it's called hyper association. It's very common in Autism and I do it all the time. Drives my husband nuts.

I do this a lot. I also drive my husband crazy with it. I will link what I believe are 2 pieces of information relevant to each other; he will say, "how did you get from here to *there*? what does that have to do with anything?"

I do this in my writing. And sometimes in real life, too.

I wish I did it more these days; I do it less than when I was younger.