Introduction to Memory Techniques
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The tools in this section help you to improve
your memory. They help you both to remember facts accurately and
to remember the structure of information.
The tools are split into two sections. Firstly
you'll learn the memory techniques themselves. Secondly we'll look
at how you can use them in practice to remember peoples names,
languages, exam information, and so on.
As with other mind tools, the more practice
you give yourself with these techniques, the more effectively you
will use them. This section contains many of the memory techniques
used by stage memory performers. With enough practice and effort,
you may be able to have a memory as good. Even if you do not have
the time needed to develop this quality of memory, many of the
techniques here are useful in everyday life.
Mnemonics
'Mnemonic' is another word for memory tool.
Mnemonics are techniques for remembering information that is
otherwise quite difficult to recall: A very simple example is the
'30 days hath September' rhyme for remembering the number of days
in each calendar month.
The idea behind using mnemonics is to encode difficult-to-remember
information in a way that is much easier to remember.
Our brains evolved to code and interpret complex stimuli such as
images, colors, structures, sounds, smells, tastes, touch,
positions, emotions and language. We use these to make
sophisticated models of the world we live in. Our memories store
all of these very effectively.
Unfortunately, a lot of the information we have to remember in
modern life is presented differently – as words printed on a page.
While writing is a rich and sophisticated medium for conveying
complex arguments, our brains do not easily encode written
information, making it difficult to remember.
This section of Mind Tools shows you how to use all the memory
resources available to you to remember information in a highly
efficient way.
Using Your Whole Mind to Remember
The key idea is that by coding information using vivid mental
images, you can reliably code both information and the structure
of information. And because the images are vivid, they are easy to
recall when you need them.
The techniques explained later on in this section show you how to
code information vividly, using stories, strong mental images,
familiar journeys, and so on.
You can do the following things to make your mnemonics more
memorable:
Use positive, pleasant images. Your brain often blocks out unpleasant ones.
Use vivid, colorful, sense-laden images – these are easier to remember than drab ones.
Use all your senses to code information or dress up an image. Remember that your mnemonic can contain sounds, smells, tastes, touch, movements and feelings as well as pictures.
Give your image three dimensions, movement and space to make it
more vivid. You can use movement either to maintain the flow of
association, or to help you to remember actions.
Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image.
Use humor! Funny or peculiar things are easier to remember than
normal ones.
Similarly, rude rhymes are very difficult to forget!
Symbols (red traffic lights, pointing fingers, road signs, etc.)
can code quite complex messages quickly and effectively.
Designing Mnemonics: Imagination, Association and Location
The three fundamental principles underlying the use of mnemonics
are imagination, association and location. Working together, you
can use these principles to generate powerful mnemonic systems.
Imagination: is what you use to create and strengthen the
associations needed to create effective mnemonics. Your
imagination is what you use to create mnemonics that are potent
for you. The more strongly you imagine and visualize a situation,
the more effectively it will stick in your mind for later recall.
The imagery you use in your mnemonics can be as violent, vivid, or
sensual as you like, as long as it helps you to remember.
Association: this is the method by which you link a thing to be
remembered to a way of remembering it. You can create associations
by:
Placing things on top of each other.
Crashing things together.
Merging images together.
Wrapping them around each other.
Rotating them around each other or having them dancing together.
Linking them using the same color, smell, shape, or feeling.
As an example, you might link the number 1 with a goldfish by visualizing a 1-shaped spear being used to spear it.
Location: gives you two things: a coherent context into which you
can place information so that it hangs together, and a way of
separating one mnemonic from another. By setting one mnemonic in a
particular town, I can separate it from a similar mnemonic set in
a city. For example, by setting one in Wimbledon and another
similar mnemonic with images of Manhattan, we can separate them
with no danger of confusion. You can build the flavors and
atmosphere of these places into your mnemonics to strengthen the
feeling of location.
Tags:
Learning Skills, Skills
your memory. They help you both to remember facts accurately and
to remember the structure of information.
The tools are split into two sections. Firstly
you'll learn the memory techniques themselves. Secondly we'll look
at how you can use them in practice to remember peoples names,
languages, exam information, and so on.
As with other mind tools, the more practice
you give yourself with these techniques, the more effectively you
will use them. This section contains many of the memory techniques
used by stage memory performers. With enough practice and effort,
you may be able to have a memory as good. Even if you do not have
the time needed to develop this quality of memory, many of the
techniques here are useful in everyday life.
Mnemonics
'Mnemonic' is another word for memory tool.
Mnemonics are techniques for remembering information that is
otherwise quite difficult to recall: A very simple example is the
'30 days hath September' rhyme for remembering the number of days
in each calendar month.
The idea behind using mnemonics is to encode difficult-to-remember
information in a way that is much easier to remember.
Our brains evolved to code and interpret complex stimuli such as
images, colors, structures, sounds, smells, tastes, touch,
positions, emotions and language. We use these to make
sophisticated models of the world we live in. Our memories store
all of these very effectively.
Unfortunately, a lot of the information we have to remember in
modern life is presented differently – as words printed on a page.
While writing is a rich and sophisticated medium for conveying
complex arguments, our brains do not easily encode written
information, making it difficult to remember.
This section of Mind Tools shows you how to use all the memory
resources available to you to remember information in a highly
efficient way.
Using Your Whole Mind to Remember
The key idea is that by coding information using vivid mental
images, you can reliably code both information and the structure
of information. And because the images are vivid, they are easy to
recall when you need them.
The techniques explained later on in this section show you how to
code information vividly, using stories, strong mental images,
familiar journeys, and so on.
You can do the following things to make your mnemonics more
memorable:
Use positive, pleasant images. Your brain often blocks out unpleasant ones.
Use vivid, colorful, sense-laden images – these are easier to remember than drab ones.
Use all your senses to code information or dress up an image. Remember that your mnemonic can contain sounds, smells, tastes, touch, movements and feelings as well as pictures.
Give your image three dimensions, movement and space to make it
more vivid. You can use movement either to maintain the flow of
association, or to help you to remember actions.
Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image.
Use humor! Funny or peculiar things are easier to remember than
normal ones.
Similarly, rude rhymes are very difficult to forget!
Symbols (red traffic lights, pointing fingers, road signs, etc.)
can code quite complex messages quickly and effectively.
Designing Mnemonics: Imagination, Association and Location
The three fundamental principles underlying the use of mnemonics
are imagination, association and location. Working together, you
can use these principles to generate powerful mnemonic systems.
Imagination: is what you use to create and strengthen the
associations needed to create effective mnemonics. Your
imagination is what you use to create mnemonics that are potent
for you. The more strongly you imagine and visualize a situation,
the more effectively it will stick in your mind for later recall.
The imagery you use in your mnemonics can be as violent, vivid, or
sensual as you like, as long as it helps you to remember.
Association: this is the method by which you link a thing to be
remembered to a way of remembering it. You can create associations
by:
Placing things on top of each other.
Crashing things together.
Merging images together.
Wrapping them around each other.
Rotating them around each other or having them dancing together.
Linking them using the same color, smell, shape, or feeling.
As an example, you might link the number 1 with a goldfish by visualizing a 1-shaped spear being used to spear it.
Location: gives you two things: a coherent context into which you
can place information so that it hangs together, and a way of
separating one mnemonic from another. By setting one mnemonic in a
particular town, I can separate it from a similar mnemonic set in
a city. For example, by setting one in Wimbledon and another
similar mnemonic with images of Manhattan, we can separate them
with no danger of confusion. You can build the flavors and
atmosphere of these places into your mnemonics to strengthen the
feeling of location.
