Using Memory Effectively

The following techniques can help you a lot to help you remember. As you proceed through this list of techniques, try to think of strategies that would be useful to you! Some people use letters, some images, even songs. Each depends on how comfortable you are with, or how useful they are to, your way of thinking!

Acronyms

An acronym is an invented combination of letters.

Each letter is a cue to, or suggests an item you need to remember.

PEMDAS, the sequence in solving or evaluating math equations. (Parenthesis | Exponents | Multiplication | Division | Addition | Subtraction).

ROY G. BIV, the colours of the visible spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

IPMAT, the stages of cell division: Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase.

Acrostic

An acrostic is an invented sentence or poem with a first letter cue:

The first letter of each word is a cue to an idea you need to remember. Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS, above).

The sequence in solving or evaluating math equations. Parenthesis | Exponents | Multiplication | Division | Addition | Subtraction.

Rhyme-Keys: (for ordered or unordered lists)

First, memorize keywords that can be associated with numbers. Example: bun = one; shoe = two, tree = three, door = four, hive = five, etc.

Create an image of the items you need to remember with keywords.

Four basic food groups- dairy products; meat, fish, and poultry; grains; and fruit and vegetables. Think of cheese on a bun (one), livestock with shoes on (two), a sack of grain suspended in a tree (three), a door to a room stocked with fruits and vegetables (four).

The Method of Loci: (for approximately twenty items)

Select any location that you have spent a lot of time in and know well.

Good for kinaesthetic learners!

Imagine yourself walking through the location, selecting clearly defined places--the door, sofa, refrigerator, shelf, etc. Imagine yourself putting objects that you need to remember into each of these places by walking through this location in a direct path.

Again, you need a standard direct path and clearly defined locations for objects to facilitate the retrieval of these objects.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Nixon, you could imagine walking up to the door of your location and seeing a dollar bill stuck in the door; when you open the door, Jefferson is reclining on the sofa and Nixon is eating out of the refrigerator.

The Keyword Method: (for foreign language vocabulary)

First, after considering the foreign word you need to remember, select a keyword in English that sounds like a foreign word.

Next, imagine an image that involves the keyword with the English meaning of the foreign word.

For example, consider the Spanish word "cabina" which means "phone booth." For the English keyword, you might think of "cab in a..." You could then invent an image of a cab trying to fit in a phone booth. When you see the word "cabina" on the test, you should be able to recall the image of the cab and you should be able to retrieve the definition "phone booth."

The Image-Name Technique: (for remembering names)

Simply invent any relationship between the name and the physical characteristics of the person. For example, if you had to remember Shirley Temple's name, you might ingrain the name in memory by noticing that she has "curly" (rhymes with Shirley) hair around her temples.

Chaining: (for ordered or unordered lists)

Create a story where each word or idea you have to remember cues the next idea you need to recall. If you had to remember the words Napoleon, ear, door, and Germany, you could invent a story of Napoleon with his ear to a door listening to people speak in German.

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a highly effective way of getting information in and out of your brain. Mind mapping is a creative and logical means of notetaking and note-making that literally "maps out" your ideas.

All Mind Maps have some things in common. They have a natural organizational structure that radiates from the center and use lines, symbols, words, colors, and images according to simple, brain-friendly concepts. Mind mapping converts a long list of monotonous information into a colourful, memorable, and highly organized diagram that works in line with your brain's natural way of doing things.

One simple way to understand a Mind Map is by comparing it to a map of a city. The city center represents the main idea; the main roads leading from the center represent the key thoughts in your thinking process; the secondary roads or branches represent your secondary thoughts, and so on. Special images or shapes can represent landmarks of interest or particularly relevant ideas.

The Mind Map is the external mirror of your own radiant or natural thinking facilitated by a powerful graphic process, which provides the universal key to unlock the dynamic potential of the brain.

The five essential characteristics of Mind Mapping:

• The main idea, subject, or focus is crystallized in a central image.
• The main themes radiate from the central image as 'branches.
• The branches comprise a key image or keyword drawn or printed on its associated line.
• Topics of lesser importance are represented as 'twigs' of the relevant branch.
• The branches form a connected nodal structure.

Click here to view a video that explains how to make the perfect mind map and study effectively.