Enhancing Memory
In spite of all these reasons for forgetting,
people can still remember a vast amount of information. In addition, memory can
be enhanced in a variety of ways, including rehearsal, overlearning,
distributed practice, minimizing interference, deep processing, organizing
information, mnemonic devices, and visual imagery.
Rehearsal
Practicing material helps people remember it.
The more people rehearse information, the more likely they are
to remember that information.
Overlearning
Overlearning, or continuing to practice material even
after it is learned, also increases retention.
Distributed Practice
Learning material in short sessions over a
long period is called distributed practice or the “spacing
effect.” This process is the opposite of cramming, which is also called massed
practice. Distributed practice is more effective than cramming for
retaining information.
Minimizing
Interference
People remember material better if they don’t
learn other, similar material right before or soon after their effort. One way
to minimize interference is to sleep after studying material, since people
can’t learn new material while sleeping.
Deep Processing
People also remember material better if they
pay attention while learning it and think about its meaning rather than memorize
the information by rote. One way to process information deeply is to use a
method called elaboration. Elaborationinvolves associating the
material being learned with other material. For example, people could associate
the new material with previously learned material, with an anecdote from their
own lives, with a striking example, or with a movie they recently saw.
Organizing Material
Organizing material in a coherent way helps
people to remember it:
·
Organizing material hierarchically or in categories and
subcategories can be particularly helpful. The way an outline is organized, for
example, usually helps people to remember the material in it.
·
Chunking material into segments is also helpful. People often
remember long strings of numbers, such as social security numbers, by chunking
them into two-, three-, or four-digit segments.
Mnemonics
Mnemonics are strategies for improving memory.
Different kinds of mnemonics include acronyms, acrostics, the narrative method,
and rhymes.
Acronyms
Acronyms are words made out of the first letters
of several words. For example, to remember the colors of the spectrum, people
often use the name ROY G. BIV, which gives the first letters of the colors red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet in the right order.
Acrostics
Acrostics are sentences or phrases in which each
word begins with a letter that acts as a memory cue. For example, the rather
strange phrase Roses on yachts grow better in vinegar also
helps to remember the colors of the spectrum.
Narrative methods
Narrative methods involve making
up a story to remember a list of words. For example, people could remember the
colors of the rainbow in the right order by making up a short story such as
this: Red Smith stood next to an orangeconstruction
cone and flagged down a yellow cab. He told the cabbie he was
feeling very green and asked to be taken to a hospital. The
cabbie took him to a hospital, where a nurse in a blue coat
guided him to a room with indigo walls. He smelled a violet in
a vase and passed out.
Rhymes
Rhymes are also good mnemonics. For example,
the familiar rhyme that begins, “Thirty days has September . . .” is a mnemonic
for remembering the number of days in each month.
Visual Imagery
Some well-known memory improvement methods
involve using visual imagery to memorize or recall lists.
Method of Loci
When using the method of loci,
people might picture themselves walking through a familiar place. They imagine
each item on their list in a particular place as they walk along. Later, when they
need to remember their list, they mentally do the walk again, noting the items
they imagined along the path.
The Link Method
To use the link method, people
associate items on a list with each other. For example, if a man wants to
remember to buy bread, juice, and carrots at the store, he might try
visualizing the peculiar image of himself eating a juice-and-bread mush using
carrots as chopsticks.
Peg Word Method
When using the peg word method,
people first remember a rhyme that associates numbers with words: one is a bun,
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 gate, nine is swine, ten is a hen. They then
visualize each item on their list being associated with a bun, a shoe, a tree,
and so on. When they need to remember the list, they first think of a bun, then
see what image it’s associated with. Then they think of a shoe, and so forth.
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