Memorization Strategies - UNC Learning Center

Many college courses require you to memorize mass amounts of information. ... memory tricks enable them to remember large chunks of information quickly. Skiptomaincontent Home/Tips&Tools/MemorizationStrategies MemorizationStrategies Manycollegecoursesrequireyoutomemorizemassamountsofinformation.Memorizingforoneclasscanbedifficult,butitcanbeevenmorefrustratingwhenyouhavemultipleclasses.Manystudentsfeelliketheysimplydonothavestrongmemoryskills.Fortunately,though,memorizingisnotjustforanelitegroupofpeoplebornwiththerightskills—anyonecantrainanddeveloptheirmemorizingabilities. Competitivememorizersclaimthatpracticingvisualizationtechniquesandusingmemorytricksenablethemtorememberlargechunksofinformationquickly.Researchshowsthatstudentswhousememorytricksperformbetterthanthosewhodonot.Memorytrickshelpyouexpandyourworkingmemoryandaccesslongtermmemory.Thesetechniquescanalsoenableyoutoremembersomeconceptsforyearsorevenforlife.Finally,memorytricksliketheseleadtounderstandingandhigherorderthinking.Keepreadingforanintroductiontoeffectivememorizationtechniquesthatwillhelpyouinschool. Simplememorytipsandtricks Inadditiontovisualandspatialmemorytechniques,therearemanyotherstricksyoucanusetohelpyourbrainrememberinformation.Herearesomesimpletipstotry.CheckoutthisvideofromtheLearningCenterforaquickexplanationofmanyofthesetips. Trytounderstandtheinformationfirst.Informationthatisorganizedandmakessensetoyouiseasiertomemorize.Ifyoufindthatyoudon’tunderstandthematerial,spendsometimeonunderstandingitbeforetryingtomemorizeit. Linkit.Connecttheinformationyouaretryingtomemorizetosomethingthatyoualreadyknow.Materialinisolationismoredifficulttorememberthanmaterialthatisconnectedtootherconcepts.Ifyoucannotthinkofawaytoconnecttheinformationtosomethingyoualreadyknow,makeupacrazyconnection.Forexample,sayyouaretryingtomemorizethefactthatwateratsealevelboilsat212degreesFahrenheit,and212happenstobethefirstthreedigitsofyourbestfriend’sphonenumber.Linkthesetwobyimaginingthrowingyourphoneintoaboilingocean.It’sacrazylink,butitcanhelpthatfacttostick. Sleeponit.Studiesshowthatyourbrainprocessesandstoresinformationwhileyousleep.Trytoreviewinformationjustbeforeyougotosleep—evenifit’sonlyforafewminutes—andseeifithelpsembedtheinformationinyourmemory. Self-test.Quizyourselfeverysooftenbyactivelyrecallingtheinformationyouaretryingtostudy.Makesuretoactivelyquizyourself—donotsimplyrereadnotesoratextbook.Often,studentsthinktheyremembermaterialjustbecauseitisfamiliartothemwhentheyrereadit.Instead,askyourselfquestionsandforceyourselftorememberitwithoutlookingattheanswerormaterial.Thiswillenableyoutoidentifyareasthatyouarestrugglingwith;youcanthengobacktooneofthememorytrickstohelpyourselfmemorizeit.Also,avoidquizzingyourselfimmediatelyaftertryingtomemorizesomething.Waitafewhours,orevenadayortwo,toseeifithasreallystuckinyourmemory. Usedistributivepractice.Foraconcepttomovefromyourtemporaryworkingmemorytoyourlong-termmemory,twothingsneedtohappen:theconceptshouldbememorableanditshouldberepeated.Userepetitiontofirmlylodgeinformationinyourmemory.Repetitiontechniquescaninvolvethingslikeflashcards,usingthesimpletipsinthissection,andself-testing.Spaceoutyourstudyingandrepetitionoverseveraldays,andstarttoincreasethetimeinbetweeneachstudysession.Spacingitoutandgraduallyextendingthetimesinbetweencanhelpusbecomemorecertainofmasteryandlocktheconceptsintoplace. Writeitout.Writingappearstohelpusmoredeeplyencodeinformationthatwe’retryingtolearnbecausethereisadirectconnectionbetweenourhandandourbrain.Trywritingyournotesbyhandduringalectureorrewritingandreorganizingnotesorinformationbyhandafteralecture.Whileyouarewritingoutaconceptyouwanttoremember,trytosaytheinformationoutloudandvisualizetheconceptaswell. Createmeaningfulgroups.Agoodstrategyformemorizingistocreatemeaningfulgroupsthatsimplifythematerial.Forexample,let’ssayyouwantedtorememberthenamesoffourplants—garlic,rose,hawthorn,andmustard.ThefirstlettersabbreviatetoGRHM,soyoucanconnectthatwiththeimageofaGRAHAMcracker.Nowallyouneedtodoisremembertopictureagrahamcracker,andthenamesoftheplantswillbeeasiertorecall. Usemnemonics.Mnemonicsaresystemsandtricksthatmakeinformationformemorable.Onecommontypeiswhenthefirstletterofeachwordinasentenceisalsothefirstletterofeachwordinalistthatneedstobememorized.Forexample,manychildrenlearnedtheorderofoperationsinmathbyusingthesentencePleaseExcuseMyDearAuntSally(parentheses,exponents,multiply,divide,add,subtract).CheckoutWikipediaforagoodlistofexamplesandideas. Talktoyourself.Itmayseemstrangeatfirst,buttalkingtoyourselfaboutthematerialyouaretryingtomemorizecanbeaneffectivememorytool.Tryspeakingaloudinsteadofsimplyhighlightingorrereadinginformation. Exercise!Seriously!Studiesshowthatexercisecanimproveourmemoryandlearningcapabilitiesbecauseithelpscreateneuronsinareasthatrelatetomemory.Cardioandresistancetraining(weights)bothhavepowerfuleffects,sodowhatworksbestforyou. Practiceinterleaving.Interleavingistheideaofmixingoralternatingskillsorconceptsthatyouwanttomemorize.Forexample,spendsometimememorizingvocabularywordsforyourscienceclassandthenimmediatelyswitchtostudyinghistoricaldatesandnamesforyourhistoryclass.Followthatupwithpracticingafewmathproblems,andthenjumpbacktothesciencedefinitions.Thismethodmayseemconfusingatfirst,butyieldsbetterresultsintheendthansimplyspendinglongperiodsoftimeonthesameconcept.Checkoutthisvideoformoreexplanationoninterleavingandothersimilarstrategies. Visualandspatialtechniques Visualandspatialtechniquesarememorytricksthatinvolveyourfivesenses.Theyutilizeimages,songs,feelings,andourbodiestohelpinformationstick.Humanshaveoutstandingvisualandspatialmemorysystems.Whenyouusevisualandspatialmemorytechniques,youusefun,memorable,andcreativeapproachesratherthanboring,rotememorization.Thismakesiteasiertosee,feel,orhearthethingsyouwanttoremember.Visualandspatialtechniquesalsofreeupyourworkingmemory.Whenyougroupthingstogether,youenhanceyourlong-termmemory.Usingvisualandspatialtechniqueshelpsyourmindfocusandpayattentionwhenyourmindwouldratherwandertosomethingelse.Theyhelpyoumakewhatyoulearnmeaningful,memorable,andfun. Thecommonpracticeofusingyourknucklestorememberthenumberofdaysineachmonthisagreatexampleofaneasyvisualspatialtechniquetohelpyourememberdetails. Memorablevisualimages.Thenexttimeyouhaveakeyitemyouneedtoremember,trymakingamemorablevisualimagetorepresentthatitem.Imagesareimportantbecausetheyconnectdirectlytoyourbrain’svisuospatialcenters.Imageshelpyourememberdifficultconceptsbytappingintovisualareas.Butyoudon’tjusthavetouseimages—themoreofthefivesensesyoucanuse,theeasieritwillbeforyoutorecallinformation.Ratherthanjustvisualizinganimage,trytosmell,feel,andheartheimageaswell.Forexample,ifyouaretryingtorememberthatthecapitalofLouisianaisBatonRouge,drawupanimageofagirlnamedLouisecarryingaredbaton. Thememorypalacetechnique.Thistechniqueinvolvesvisualizingafamiliarplace—likethelayoutofyourhouseordormroom—andusingitasavisualspacewhereyoucandepositconcept-imagesthatyouwanttoremember.Thistechniquecanhelpwithrememberingunrelateditems,likeagrocerylist.Tousethememorypalacetechnique,visualizeyourplace(houseordormroom)andthenimagineitemsfromyourgrocerylistindifferentareasaroundtheplace.Forexample,pictureacrackedeggdrippingofftheedgeofthetableorabushelofapplessittingonthecouch.Thistechniquecantakesometimetogetusedto,butonceyoudo,thequickerandmoreeffectiveitbecomes.ThisTedTalkexplainsmemorypalacesmore. Songsandjingles.Muchlikethememorypalaceandimages,songsorjinglesuseyourbrain’srighthemisphereandcanhelpusremembertrickythingslikeequationsandlists.Therearealreadyplentyofsongsoutthereforthingslikethequadraticformula—tryGooglingwhatyouaretryingtoremembertoseeifsomeonehasalreadycreatedatune.Ifnot,trymakingyourown. Thefivesenses.Usingasmanyofthefivesensesaspossiblewhenstudyinghelpsyouusemorepartsofyourbrainandretaininformationbetter.Forexample,ifstudyingforananatomyexam,pickuptheanatomymodels,feeleachpart,andsaythenamesofthemoutloud. Livelyvisualmetaphorsoranalogies.Thiscanhelpyoutonotonlyrememberbutunderstandconcepts,especiallyinmathandscience.Ametaphorisawayofrealizingthatonethingissomehowsimilartoanother.Forexample,thinkaboutthecountryofSyriaasshapedlikeabowlofcerealandthecountryJordanasaNikeAirJordansneaker.Metaphors—especiallyvisualones—canstickwithyouforyears.Theyhelpglueideasinyourmindbecausetheymakeconnectionstoneuralstructuresthatarealreadythere. Finalthoughts Someofthesetechniquescanfeelstrangeatfirstortakesometimetodevelop.Themoreyoupracticethem,theeasierandmorenaturaltheybecome,andthemoreinformationyoucancommittomemory.Also,rememberthatyoudonotneedtodoeverytiponthislist.Experimentwithafewandfindwhichonesworkforyou. Rememberthatyoucanmakeanappointmentwithanacademiccoachtodiscussmemorytechniques,createastudyplan,ortalkthroughanyotheracademicissue. CheckoutsomeoftheLearningCenter’sresourcesonothereffectivestudystrategies: StudySmarter,NotHarder HowtoSucceedAcademicallyatCarolina MetacognitiveStudyStrategies StrategicTestPrep Worksconsulted Brown,P.,Roediger,H.,andMcDaniel,M.(2014).Makeitstick.Massachusetts:TheBelknapPressofHarvardUniversityPress. Foer,J.(2011).MoonwalkingwithEinstein:Theartandscienceofrememberingeverything.NewYork:ThePenguinGroup. Oakley,B.(2014).AMindForNumbers:HowtoExcelatMathandScience(EvenIfYouFlunkedAlgebra).NewYork:PenguinGroup. Robinson,A.(1993).WhatSmartStudentsKnow.NewYork:ThreeRiversPress. ThisworkislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs4.0License. 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