Our brains have limitless memory capacity. However, recall – actually accessing the information in our memories – is the sticking point. Show
Something as simple as remembering a name can show that you're an active listener and is often seen as a sign of respect. It can create a certain level of comfort, especially with someone you've just met. This can be a helpful tool in forming new business relationships. We naturally remember visual cues better than words. The more senses you involve in learning or storing something, the better you will be at recalling it. Benefits of Memory TechniquesThere are many benefits to building up your memory capacity. Here are a few: Improved Work PerformanceWhen you implement memory tricks in the workplace, you can better remember the information you need daily. This can help you be more efficient and make fewer mistakes. Reduced Stress and AnxietyMemory techniques can help you recall positive memories during a stressful situation to potentially reduce anxiety. When your nervous system is calmer, you can be more at ease and focus on the present moment. Relationship-BuildingYou can gain great relationship-building benefits when you remember things about other people. This makes friends, family, and employees feel valued and appreciated. 7 Ways to Remember ThingsIf your memory could use a boost, you're in luck. Here are 7 tips and tricks: 1. Use visual association.This memory trick works for two reasons. We naturally remember visual cues better than words, and the more senses you involve in learning or storing something, the better you will be at recalling it. Say you need to remember to submit a proposal to a client by 10 a.m. You commit your task to memory by visualizing your proposal on top of an alarm clock that reads "10 a.m." The trick here is to make the picture as vivid as possible. Imagine an alarm clock, with the time flashing and alarm blaring, and focus on it so that it becomes fully real in your mind. 2. Utilize the chunking technique.The chunking technique is a memory trick that our brains use to divide large pieces of information into smaller units that are easier to digest. In a Verywell Mind article, neuroscientist Daniel Bor noted that chunking helps us "hack the limits of our memory." The three main stages of chunking include grouping, finding patterns, and organizing information by meaning. For example, you might better memorize a phone number in three separate chunks instead of one long string of numbers. 3. Create routines.If you build a daily routine for yourself in areas where you lack memory recall, you'll probably better remember things better. For example, if you have a terrible habit of misplacing your keys, try creating a routine of placing them on a hook right by your front door as soon as you walk into your home. Soon it will become a habit, and you'll always know where your keys are when you're heading out the door. 4. Use rhymes and songs as memory techniques.Rhymes can be powerful for helping your memory. If I were to ask you where the rain in Spain stays, you'd likely have an answer quickly. "Mainly in the plain," right? If you've seen My Fair Lady you'd likely recall this answer because of the memorable song. Creating a quick and easy song to jog your memory can be helpful and even fun. For example, you can create a song to remember a short list of tasks that you need to complete or a short grocery list. You can even make up short jingles when you learn new things for work or school. 5. Use acronyms as memory tricks.An acronym is an abbreviation from the first letter of other words that you pronounce as one word. One example of an acronym is HOMES which abbreviates the names of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.) Another is Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, the mathematical order of operations (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction). Abbreviations are super helpful tricks to help you remember things. 6. Use memory tricks to remember names.If you remember a new acquaintance's or coworker's name, you demonstrate that they are important to you. It's worth spending some time creating specific memory tricks to remember names. Here are a few:
7. Download an app to help you remember things.Extra help remembering things is just a download away. There are several apps available that can help to improve your recall and keep important events and information in the palm of your hand. Automation Apps & DevicesIFTT (If This Then That) is an automation app that can connect to other apps and even help you establish a routine for yourself. You can automatically schedule a "happy birthday" email or text to your contacts on their special day if they're set in your Google calendar. When something happens on one service, it can trigger an action to occur on another. It's like having a personal assistant. Similar apps include the Apple Shortcuts app and Automate for Android. You can also utilize various smart speakers to create automated routines in your home and office. Apps for PasswordsThere's no need to remember all of your passwords, and it's unsafe to use the same password for all of your logins. This is where a password app comes in. Apps like Google password manager, LastPass, and the iCloud Keychain can safely store information like your usernames, passwords, and Wi-Fi password. It can also store personal data like your name, address, and credit card information. Note AppsEvernote, Google Keep, and Apple Notes are ideal for remembering things like grocery lists, birthdates, or notes for a presentation or class. You can create checklists, save photos, and even scan documents in these applications, which can likely help many parts of your life. You can sync the app to your other devices like your iPad or laptop so you always have them with you. Can putting these tricks to work magically give you a perfect memory? Of course not, but you can try to improve it – which can impact how your peers, clients, and employees perceive you. More importantly, it can make you feel less stressed, happier, and more productive. A version of this article was originally published on September 05, 2013. Photo: Getty Images Many students complain that they can’t remember necessary material. They say they understand the content when they read it, but can’t recall it later. There is a difference between understanding and remembering. You may understand all the systems of the human body (they make sense when you read about them), but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to recall the necessary terms. Fortunately there are memory techniques and strategies for you to use. Some will be more useful for some subjects and content than others. As you identify the content you are working to learn, you will often discover things that you will need to commit to memory. There are numerous strategies that will help you to remember important information effectively so that you can recall it on tests, apply it to subsequent courses, and use it throughout your life and career. What is memory? Memory is the ability to remember past experiences, and a record of the learning process. The human brain has the ability, known as neuroplasticity, that allows it to form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways as we learn. Information must go into our long term memory and then, to retrieve it from our memory, we must have a way of getting it back. Long-term memory stores all the significant events that mark our lives; it lets us retain the meanings of words and the physical skills that we have learned. There are three steps involved in establishing a long term memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval.
Once information has been encoded, we have to retain it. Our brains take the encoded information and place it in storage. Storage is the creation of a permanent record of information. In order for a memory to go into storage (i.e. long-term memory), it has to pass through three distinct stages: Sensory Memory, Short-Term Memory, and finally Long-Term Memory. These stages were first proposed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968). Their model of human memory is based on the belief that we process memories in the same way that a computer processes information. Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory. [Image long description]
The first thing our brains do is to take in information from our senses (what we see, hear, taste, touch and smell). In many classroom and homework settings, we primarily use hearing for lectures and seeing for reading textbooks. Information we perceive from our senses is stored in what we call the short-term memory. It is useful to then be able to do multiple things with information in the short-term memory. We want to: 1) decide if that information is important; 2) for the information that is important, be able to save the information in our brain on a longer-term basis—this storage is called the long-term memory; 3) retrieve that information when we need to. Exams often measure how effectively the student can retrieve “important information.” In some classes and with some textbooks it is easy to determine information important to memorize. In other courses with other textbooks, that process may be more difficult. Your instructor can be a valuable resource to assist with determining the information that needs to be memorized. Once the important information is identified, it is helpful to organize it in a way that will help you best understand. Moving Information from the Short-term Memory to the Long-term MemoryThis is something that takes a lot of time: there is no shortcut for it. Students who skip putting in the time and work often end up cramming at the end. Once information is memorized, regardless of when the exam is, the last step is to apply the information. Ask yourself: In what real world scenarios could you apply this information? And for mastery, try to teach the information to someone else. How we save information to our long-term memory has a lot to do with our ability to retrieve it when we need it at a later date. Our mind “saves” information by creating a complex series of links to the data. The stronger the links, the easier it is to recall. You can strengthen these links by using the following strategies. You should note how closely they are tied to good listening and note-taking strategies.
Choose a specific fact from each of your classes on a given day. Now find a way of working that information into your casual conversations during the rest of the day in a way that is natural. Can you do it? What effect do you think that will have on your memory of that information?
Read the following list for about twenty seconds. After you have read it, cover it and write down all the items you remember.
How many were you able to recall? Most people can remember only a fraction of the items. Now read the following list for about twenty seconds, cover it, and see how many you remember.
Did your recall improve? Why do you think you did better? Was it easier? Most people take much less time doing this version of the list and remember almost all the terms. The list is the same as the first list, but the words have now been grouped into categories. Use this grouping method to help you remember lists of mixed words or ideas. Using FlashcardsFlash cards are a valuable tool for memorization because they allow students to be able to test themselves. They are convenient to bring with you anywhere, and can be used effectively whether a student has one minute or an hour. Create your own flash cards using index cards, writing the questions on one side and the answers on the other. Creating the flash cards help with memory because you need to decide what is important to put on the cards, summarize key principles, and the act of writing it down helps too. Then you can use them to review and/or test yourself repeatedly. You can use them almost anywhere. For example, you can pull out the flash cards on the bus and test yourself during your commute. Using MnemonicsWhat do the names of the Great Lakes, the makings of a Big Mac, and the number of days in a month have in common? They are easily remembered by using mnemonic devices. Mnemonics (pronounced neh-MA-nicks) are tricks for memorizing lists and data. They create artificial but strong links to the data, making recall easier. The most commonly used mnemonic devices are acronyms, acrostics, rhymes, and jingles. Acronyms are words or phrases made up by using the first letter of each word in a list or phrase. Need to remember the names of the Great Lakes? Try the acronym HOMES using the first letter of each lake:
To create an acronym, first write down the first letters of each term you need to memorize. Then rearrange the letters to create a word or words. You can find acronym generators online (just search for “acronym generator”) that can help you by offering options. Organizing information in this way can be helpful because it is not as difficult to memorize the acronym, and with practice and repetition, the acronym can trigger the brain to recall the entire piece of information. Acronyms work best when your list of letters includes vowels as well as consonants and when the order of the terms is not important. If no vowels are available, or if the list should be learned in a particular order, try using an acrostic instead. Acrostics are similar to acronyms in that they work off the first letter of each word in a list. But rather than using them to form a word, the letters are represented by entire words in a sentence or phrase. If you’ve studied music, you may be familiar with “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge” to learn the names of the notes on the lines of the musical staff: E, G, B, D, F. The ridiculous and therefore memorable line “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas” was used by many of us to remember the names of the planets (at least until Pluto was downgraded): To create an acrostic, list the first letters of the terms to be memorized in the order in which you want to learn them (like the planet names). Then create a sentence or phrase using words that start with those letters. Rhymes are short verses used to remember data. A common example is “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” Need to remember how many days a given month has? “Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November…,” and so forth. Writing rhymes is a talent that can be developed with practice. To start, keep your rhymes short and simple. Define the key information you want to remember and break it down into a series of short phrases. Look at the last words of the phrases: can you rhyme any of them? If they don’t rhyme, can you substitute or add a word to create the rhyme? (For example, in the Columbus rhyme, “ninety-two” does not rhyme with “ocean,” but adding the word “blue” completes the rhyme and creates the mnemonic.) Jingles are phrases set to music, so that the music helps trigger your memory. Jingles are commonly used by advertisers to get you to remember their product or product features. Remember “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun”—the original Big Mac commercial. Anytime you add rhythm to the terms you want to memorize, you are activating your auditory sense, and the more senses you use for memorization, the stronger the links to the data you are creating in your mind. To create a jingle for your data, start with a familiar tune and try to create alternate lyrics using the terms you want to memorize. Another approach you may want to try is reading your data aloud in a hip-hop or rap music style. The late Velma McKay, a former math instructor at College of the Rockies, was well known for singing to her students. She replaced the lyrics to many familiar songs and sang them in class to help them remember important math formulas. Imagine singing the quadratic formula to the tune of “London Bridge is Falling Down”.
Create an acrostic to remember the noble gasses: helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and the radioactive radon (Rn). Create an acronym to remember the names of the G8 group of countries: France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. (Hint: Sometimes it helps to substitute terms with synonyms—“America” for the United States or “England” for the United Kingdom—to get additional options.) Create a jingle to remember the names of the Seven Dwarfs: Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy. Mnemonics are good memory aids, but they aren’t perfect. They take a lot of effort to develop, and they also take terms out of context because they don’t focus on the meaning of the words. Since they lack meaning, they can also be easily forgotten later on, although you may remember them through the course.
For each of the following statements, circle T for true or F for false
Select one course where memorizing key concepts is a part of your exam preparation. Choose at least one new strategy from the chart above this week. Monitor—is this strategy effective for what you are trying to learn? A good way to monitor is to see if you can recall the information accurately without looking at a text or notes.
Image Long DescriptionAtkinson-Shiffrin model of memory: Sensory input leads to sensory memory. Information not transferred is lost. Sensory memory leads to short-term memory. Information not transferred is lost. Information that is rehearsed may remain in short-term memory. Short term memory leads to long-term memory. [Return to image] Text Attributions
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