How to improve your

memory: Mnemonic Devices

Chapter 8
Why do we need MEMORY?
Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.
~Oscar Wilde
Memory is the primary and fundamental power, without
which there could be no other intellectual operation.
~Samuel Johnson
What if you couldnt create new memories?
Amnesia patient: Clive Wearing
How do you use your memory everyday?
National Memory Championship Memoriad
http://usamemorychampionship.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vsYCSmBcM0&feature=related
How can I improve my memory?
Most popular answer: Mnemonic devices
Mnemonics
Tricks and strategies to help memory!

Repetition
Chunking
First letter technique
Rhyming
Visualization
Keyword
Link
Method of Loci
Pegword
Self-reference effect
Learn the following list by ONLY reading;
go through list as many times as possible
Horse Table
Island Hat
Door Note
Bear Apple
Clock Moon
Building Dog
River Table
Road - Paper
Basket Cloud
Ring Ship
Snow Window
Pencil Hammer
Bread Car
Meat Envelope
Box Garden
Book - Cup
Recall as many as possible
Horse
Island
Door
Bear
Clock
Building
River
Road -
Basket
Ring
Snow
Pencil
Bread
Meat
Box
Book
Answers
Horse Table
Island Hat
Door Note
Bear Apple
Clock Moon
Building Dog
River Table
Road - Paper
Basket Cloud
Ring Ship
Snow Window
Pencil Hammer
Bread Car
Meat Envelope
Box Garden
Book - Cup
Repetition technique
Repetition
Forces you to pay attention
Visual and verbal memory for material
Spacing effect
Distributed practice is best for delayed test
Massed practice ok for immediate test
Why?
Time to consolidate info
Only concentrate for so long
Study under different conditions/settings

Chunking
Short-term memory capacity limit
Magic number 7 +/- 2
Memory span
Remember: 7 0 4 8 6 4 2 3 2 1 8 9
Or remember: 704 864 23 21 89
Remember 7 +/- 2 CHUNKS
Why helpful?
Increase capacity by grouping information
Gives meaning to random information
First-letter technique
Acronym:
ROY G BIV: colors of the rainbow
HOMES: great lakes
PRICE: Injury
Acrostic: first letter of each word of sentence is cue
Music notes: Every Good Boy Deserves Fun
12 cranial nerves: OOO To Touch And Feel
Why helpful?
Letters act as cue
Chunking
Rhyming technique
When did Columbus discover America?
In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed
the ocean blue
i before e except after c; or when sounded like
a, as in neighbor and weigh
Thirty days has September, April, June, and
November
ABCs song (rhyming and chunking)
Why helpful?
Dual-coding hypothesis
Dual-coding
2 cues: verbal and visual
Visualization
Picture superiority effect
Effective visualization
Interaction
Vividness
Bizzareness
HOMES
Learn the following list by creating a mental
image of two items in vivid interaction
Bird Fruit
Rain Rock
Dress Money
House Mountain
Cow Flower
Corn Gate
Roof Nest
Baby Hair

Ice Train
Fence Letter
Egg Chair
Book Water
Coat Glass
Candy Sign
Rabbit Paint
Hammer - Book
Recall
Bird
Rain
Dress
House
Cow
Corn
Roof
Baby

Ice
Fence
Egg
Book
Coat
Candy
Rabbit
Hammer -
Answers
Bird Fruit
Rain Rock
Dress Money
House Mountain
Cow Flower
Corn Gate
Roof Nest
Baby Hair

Ice Train
Fence Letter
Egg Chair
Book Water
Coat Glass
Candy Sign
Rabbit Paint
Hammer - Book
Keyword mnemonic
Use to learn foreign language vocabulary
Spanish example: Pato = Duck
First step:
Concrete keyword that sounds like foreign word = Pot
Second step:
Form visual image connecting keyword with meaning
Picture: Duck wearing a pot on its head
Use for any vocabulary words
Try: Skulk: To hide or sneak around for evil reasons
Imagename mnemonic
Use to remember name with face
Think of vivid word that sounds like name
Link word with persons appearance
Example
Rodney Flanery
Image: Football player with rod in his knee, so
benched and wearing flannel to stay warm
Create one for your own name!
Link mnemonic
Chaining or Link system
First: form visual image for each item
Second: associate image with next image
Important to SEE associations

Narrative technique
Form a story using items you want to remember

Appropriate for serial learning
Problem: if forget one item then next items may be
inaccessible too
Method of Loci
In the first place

1. Memorize familiar locations in natural order
2. Create visual image of word with each
location
3. Recall: take a mental walk
Method of Loci: Campus Map
Begin to write only after I have given the signal, Go.
Apple
Piano
Hammer
Cake
Planet
Pizza
Kite
Bus
Butterfly
Scissors
Olin, DuPre, Main, Snyder, Library, Carlisle, Daniel, Milliken, Burwell
Method of Loci: Answers
Apple
Piano
Hammer
Cake
Planet
Pizza
Kite
Bus
Butterfly
Scissors
Locations serve as a cue
Helpful for serial learning
Locations should be distinct
Need strong association between
location and item
Problem: using same locations
over again can lead to confusion
Peg-word technique
First: use memorized concrete
nouns
Rhyming words with numbers
helps to remember words
Second: create visual image of
target word with peg-word
Similar to Loci: objects instead of
locations
Problem: limited # peg-words
Self-Reference Effect
Memory for information connected to ourselves
Why?
Questions
What tricks and strategies do you use to
memorize information?

You go to a party and meet lots of new people.
You would like to be able to remember their
face and name. How do you do it?
Questions, continued
Why do these techniques work to improve
memory? What do they share in common?

Which of these techniques could you realistically
use to help you study for exams?
Why wouldnt you use some of them?
Why mnemonics work
Attention
Ensure encoding
Repetition
Retrieval cues
Dual-coding cues
Verbal and visual representations
Organization
chunks
Notice relationships and differences
Use existing knowledge
Elaboration
Think about meaning and make distinctive
Generation
Your ideas makes it personal