Memory

I realised a funny thing today. I'm not sure if anyone else finds it funny, but if not, then we can always just say that I realised a thing.

At least in my case, remembering number sequences like passwords and PIN codes depends more than a bit on what sort of physical apparatus is asking them. I tried to access my Finnish bank's online service while at work today, but got a complete blackout - I could vaguely remember what are the numbers included in my username, but just couldn't get them correct. Once I got home and to my laptop, I had no problems at all. I don't think I ever experienced something similar back home, when using the university's computers for online banking.

In the beginning, I had the same problem also with my bank card. Britain is ahead of Finland when it comes to using Chip & PIN in shops, so only places I had ever really used my PIN code before had been cash machines. So when Waitrose's cashiers handed me the terminal and asked me to enter the code, my brain just went blank.

Maybe it's a visual thing - my laptop and my university's PC's have black keyboards, the desk computer at work has a white one; cashpoints tend to have a silvery numpad, Chip & PIN terminals have colours(?) - or maybe it has to do with ergonomics - I'm used to see and type the numbers from a certain angle - but nevertheless I find it somehow odd. What is it, that switches my memory on?