|
If you have a numbered list to memorize, the best mnemonic strategy is the pegword mnemonic. This mnemonic uses numbers which have been transformed into visual images. Here's the standard 1-10 set. I add two more: To apply the strategy to a list, you visualize these... |
|
How the keyword method works
The keyword method has been especially pushed as an effective strategy for learning foreign vocabulary. It is presumably equally valuable for extending your native-language vocabulary and learning technical jargon, and has also been used successfully to teach social... |
|
There are two well-established strategies for remembering people’s names. The simplest basically involves paying attention. Most of the time our memory for someone’s name fails because we never created an effective memory code for it. An easy strategy for improving your memory for names... |
|
A new book, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, has been creating some buzz recently. The book (I haven’t read it) is apparently about a journalist’s year of memory training that culminated in him making the finals of the U.S.A. Memory Championships. Clearly... |
|
Find out about the pegword mnemonic Here are pegwords I've thought up in the Italian language. As with the original example, let's try it out with our cranial nerves. In italiano, sono i nervi cranici:
|
|
What mnemonics are, and what they are for
Aids to memory such as acronyms, rhymes, linking information by creating visual images or making up a story, are called mnemonics. Mnemonic strategies have been recommended as appropriate for remembering the following types of information:
|
|
Creating a face-name association
|
|
Find out about the pegword mnemonic Here are pegwords I've thought up in the French language. As with the original example, let's try it out with our cranial nerves. En francais, les nerfs crâniens son:
|
|
Most mnemonic strategies are based on imagery. There is no doubt that imagery can be an effective tool, but there is nothing particularly special about imagery. The advantage of imagery is that it provides an easy way of connecting information that is not otherwise readily connected. However,... |
|
In the following case study, I explore in depth the issue of learning the geological time scale — names, dates, and defining events. The emphasis is on developing mnemonics, of course, but an important part of the discussion concerns when and when not to use mnemonics, and how to decide. ... |
