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Reprinted from: MemoryLifter, Learning Theory - How
are Things Remembered
http://www.memorylifter.com/
NOTE TO AEP STUDENTS:
After you have completed reading this assignment complete the form at
the bottom.
Ways to Improve Memory
Encoding things into Long Term Memory has been studied and observed as
long as man has been around. Many techniques to improve the encoding
have been developed. Just do a quick search on the Internet for
Memorization and you will get thousands of references. By the way if you
just search for memory you will get much information about computer
memory mixed with human memory giving even more theories of how memory
works.
Memory improvement techniques are called mnemonic devices or simply
mnemonics. Mnemonics have been known to be used since the time of the
ancient Greeks and Romans. In ancient times, before writing was easily
accomplished, educated people were trained in the art of memorizing as
oral histories were treasured. For example, orators had to remember
points they wished to make in long speeches. Many of the techniques
developed thousands of years ago are still used today. Modern research
has allowed psychologists to better understand and refine the
techniques.
All mnemonic devices depend upon two basic principles discussed earlier
- first recoding of information into forms that are easy to remember,
and second supplying oneself with excellent retrieval cues to recall the
information when it is needed. For example, many schoolchildren learn
the colors of the visible spectrum by learning the imaginary name ROY G.
BIV, which stands for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
Similarly, to remember the names of the Great Lakes, remember HOMES
(Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). Both of these examples
illustrate the principle of recoding. Several bits of information are
repackaged into an acronym that is easier to remember. The letters of
the acronym serve as retrieval cues that enable recall of the desired
information.
Psychologists and others have devised much more elaborate recoding and
decoding schemes Systems of Memorization. Three of the most common
mnemonic techniques are the method of Loci, the PegWord method, and the
PQ4R method. Research has shown that mnemonic devices such as these
permit greater recall than do strategies that people usually use, such
as ordinary rehearsal (just repeating information to oneself).
Systems of Memorization
One of the oldest mnemonics is the method of loci (loci is a
Latin word meaning places). This method involves forming vivid
interactive images between specific locations and items to be
remembered. The first step is to learn a set of places. For instance,
you might familiarize yourself with various locations around your house:
the front sidewalk, the front doorstep, the front door, the foyer and so
on. Once you have permanently memorized the locations, you can then use
them to recode experiences for later recall. You can use the method of
loci to remember any set of information, such as a grocery list or
points in a speech. The best strategy is to convert each item of
information into a vivid mental image by putting it at a familiar
location where it can be seen in the mind. So, for example, you might
remember a grocery list as bread on the front sidewalk, milk on the
front porch, bananas hanging from the front door, and so on. When you
are at the grocery store and need to remember the list, you can mentally
walk through the house and see what object is in each spot. The
locations serve as retrieval cues for the desired information. Although
this technique may seem far-fetched, with a little practice it can prove
quite effective. In fact, the amount of information one can remember
using this method is limited only by the number of locations one has
memorized.
Another mnemonic that relies on the power of visual imagery is called
the PegWord method. There are many variations on the PegWord
method, but they are all based on the same general principle. People
learn a series of words that serve as Pegs on which memories can be
hung. In one popular scheme, the PegWords rhyme with numbers to make the
words easy to remember: One is a gun, two is a shoe, three is a tree,
four is a door, five is a hive, six is sticks, seven is heaven, eight is
a plate, nine is wine, and ten is a hen. To learn the same grocery list,
one might associate gun and bread by imagining the gun shooting the
bread. Two is a shoe, so one would imagine a milk carton sitting in a
giant shoe, and so on. When you need to remember the list of groceries,
you simply recall the PegWords associated with each number; the PegWords
then serve as retrieval cues for the groceries. Peg methods such as this
one permit more flexible access to information than does the method of
loci. For example, if you want to recite the items backwards for some
reason, you can do so just as easily as in the forward direction. If you
need to know the eighth item, you can say eight is a plate and mentally
look at your image for the item on the plate.
The PQ4R method is a mnemonic technique used for remembering text
material. The name is itself a mnemonic device for the steps involved.
If you are interested in better remembering a chapter from a textbook,
you should first Preview the information by skimming quickly through the
chapter and looking at the headings. The next step is to form Questions
about the information. One way to do this is by simply converting
headings to questions. Using this article as an example, you might ask,
What are the ways to improve memory? The third step is to Read the text
carefully trying to answer the questions. After reading, the next step
is to Reflect on the material. One way would be to create your own
examples of how the principles you are reading could be applied. The
next step is to Recite the material after reading it. That is, put the
book aside or look away and try to recall or to recite what you have
just read. If you cannot bring it to mind now, you will have little
chance later. The last step in PQ4R is to Review. After you have read
the entire chapter, go through it again trying to recall and to
summarize its main points.
Tests of the PQ4R method of reading text material have shown its
advantages over the way people normally read. However, PQ4R method slows
reading considerably, so students may not use the technique, even though
it is more effective. Most mnemonic devices involve additional work, but
they are well worth the investment for improving memory.
The principles of encoding, recoding, and retrieval discussed elsewhere
suggest other ways that memory can be improved. For example, encoding
information in an elaborate, meaningful way helps in retention. There
are many ways to encode information meaningfully. When possible, try to
convert verbal information into mental images. When learning about
events and facts, try to focus on their meaning rather than their
superficial characteristics. Relating new information to your personal
experiences or to what you already know also makes it easier to retain
the information. These techniques can be added to the MemoryLifter
FlashCards to increase the effectiveness of learning. Adding the right
image or short video clip or spoken phrase can provide the mnemonic
content that makes even complex memorization tasks easy.
Spacing out study sessions is another way to improve your memory.
That is, if you are going to read a chapter twice before a test,
retention is better if you allow some time to pass between readings,
instead of reading the chapter twice in one sitting. Overall, spaced
learning or spaced practice (learning opportunities that are spread out
in time) are better than massed practice (back-to-back practice, in
immediate succession) for retaining facts over longer intervals. Regular
use of MemoryLifter provides both the spacing of learning in time and
the correct spacing of presentation of memorization elements.
If you are having difficulty retrieving facts from your memory, try to
remember the setting in which you originally learned them. This advice
capitalizes on the encoding specificity principle. The more similar the
retrieval environment is to the learning environment, the easier it will
be to retrieve the information learned. Again if you use MemoryLifter on
a regular basis you are returning to the same familiar environment where
you learned yesterday. Over time the satisfaction provided by this
learning experience is a great motivator to future learning.
More Mnemonics
While the previous examples of Mnemonic systems illustrate how they can
work, there are many study systems to help encode information into the
Long Term memory. The names of most of these systems are themselves
acronyms in which the first letter represent the steps in each system.
The following is a representative but not complete list of these
techniques: SQ3R, OK4R, PQRST, OARWET, PANORAMA, REAP SQ5R, MURDER, and
the previously discussed PQ4R. A discussion of one more will help
explain the major aspects of all systems. The SQ3R system is one of the
older systems from which many of the others have been developed. SQ3R
consists of 5 steps S Q R R R Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review.
It is a general purpose system that combines learning strategies that
can be used with MemoryLifter.
Most of the other learning systems are direct derivatives of this SQ3R
system. While MemoryLifter does not specifically implement any of these
systems it can be used as an adjunct support tool for most systems.
There are a couple of authors whose work is recognized in the area of
improved learning or memorization techniques. Harry Lorayne and Kenneth
L. Higbee have written several books and monographs that offer insight
into various techniques of increasing memory.
Memory Tricks
While there are many memory demonstration tricks most are evolved from
the previously discussed memory systems and are useful for parlor
tricks. Here is one example.
If you have a friend who has learned the phonetic alphabet (typically
used in PegWord schemes) you can perform a demonstration in thought
transference. Have a friend close to a phone and ready to answer a call.
Give the phone number to your audience.
Now have the audience select a three digit number. Make it difficult you
tell them dont repeat any digits. They select 5, 7 and 0. Ask someone to
dial the phone number you gave before and as for ask for Lucas. Your
friend answers that the number is 570 after some hesitation and
showmanship.
How did your friend know the number? The Phonetic Alphabet is the key.
For about 300 years there has been a system in use in which the digits
were represented by letters or sound. One of the precepts is that the
consonants represent values vowels have no meaning. In a current version
of the phonetic alphabet 5 is represented by the l sound because the
roman numeral for fifty is L, 7 is represented by k, q, hard c or hard g
because k is made of two 7s, and 0 is represented by z, s or soft c
because z for zero. So when your friend heard that call for Mr. LuCaS he
knew that the numbers were 5, 7 and 0.
These kind of memory tricks have little to do with real learning other
than they require the learning of some set of rules that get applied in
some hidden fashion. But it is fun.
Many of the telepathic magic tricks have this phonetic alphabet at the
heart of their magic. They are commonly used for Mind Reading and Card
Tricks. See if you can spot them the next time you see a parlor
magician. Various common Phonetic Alphabets are included in the section
of this site showing various Mnemonic Methods.
Another common memory trick is the assignment of names for various plays
in Basketball, Football and other organized sports. A simple explanation
that illustrates what I am saying is that most of these naming
conventions are based on some form of PegWord. While the same PegWord or
phrase used by each player to learn his assignment for the play, the
actual details of the assignments are different for each
player/position. If the PegWord were Shoe for play 6 (the phonetic
alphabet again) the Center would learn that the Shoe was in the basic
position for this play thus visualizing his shoe as firmly planted on
the floor relative to the basket (thus reminding him to start from his
normal position). The Passing Guard would see his shoe as one in full
run and it would be a right shoe thereby helping him to remember to run
down the right side to set up his pass to the Center. In professional
football these systems are both elaborate and relatively fixed resulting
in plays that are more often numeric with some action verb. In other
sports such as Hockey these memorized plays become more of a system of
things to do under various conditions than fixed called plays.
Flash Cards and Leitner Box
The concept of FlashCards is so simple that it is intuitively obvious to
most folks what they are. They are cards that hold a question, word,
image, phrase or idea on the front of the card with the corresponding
answer, word, image, phrase or idea on the reverse of the card.
MemoryLifter is based upon virtual FlashCards that are presented in
controlled sequences spacing the repetition based upon what you are
learning.
These cards are typically arranged in a deck and stored in a box when
not in use. In the Leitner Cardbox method the box becomes more than just
a simple container for storage and starts having scoring and testing
attributes when used in the correct manner.
The Leitner CardBox is a box for holding FlashCards in a certain order
between various dividers. As a flashcard is known it is promoted to ever
higher divisions of the CardBox and if it is forgotten then it is
demoted to a lower position. When the CardBox is used according to the
appropriate rules it becomes a count of the state of learning for the
dictionary (group of FlashCards) contained in the CardBox.
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