20 Master Your Memory
What is memory?[1]
Memory is the ability to remember past experiences and is a record of the learning process.
The human brain has the ability, known as neuroplasticity, to form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways as we learn. We must have ways to retrieve information learned that’s stored in our long-term memory.
Long-term memory stores significant events that mark our lives. It lets us retain the meanings of words and the physical skills that we’ve learned.
There are 3 steps involved in establishing a long-term memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval.
- To encode, you assign meaning to the information.
- To store information, you review it and its meanings (study). Repetition is essential to remembering.
- To retrieve it, you follow the path you created through encoding. This might include memory triggers that you used when you were encoding.
What strategies help store information in long-term memory?[2]
Mnemonics (the initial “m” is silent) are strategies to associate the information we want to remember with a physical sense to turn it into something that’s more likely to stick in your mind and be able to bring it back when you want it.
The key idea is that by coding information using vivid mental images, you can reliably code both information and the structure of information. And because the images are vivid, they’re easy to recall when you need them. Here are some tips and examples:
- Use positive, pleasant images.
- Use vivid, colourful, sense-laden images. These are easier to remember than drab ones.
- Use all your senses to code information or dress up an image by using sound, smell, taste, touch, movements, and feelings as well as pictures.
- Give your image three dimensions, movement, and space to make it more vivid.
- Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image.
- Use rhymes or humour! Funny things are easier to remember.
- Symbols (red traffic lights, pointing fingers, signs, etc.) can code quite complex messages.
| Type | Sample Method |
| Acronyms | Every discipline has its own language and acronyms are the abbreviations, Acronyms can be used to remember words in sequence or a group of words representing things or concepts. CAD can mean: Control Alt Delete, Canadian Dollar, Computer Aided Design, Coronary Artery Disease, , Crank Angle Degree, etc. |
| Acrostics | Acrostics are phrases where the first letter of each word represents another word. They are relatively easy to make and can be very useful for remembering groups of words. For example: King Philip Can Only Find His Green Slippers. This is the classification system of: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. |
| Chunking | You can capitalize on your short-term memory by “chunking” information. If you need to remember this number: 178206781, the task would exhaust your seven units of storage space unless you “chunk” the digits in to groups. In this case, you could divide it i