Memory Enhancing Techniques - Improving Everyday Memory: Improving Memory Understanding Age Related Memory Loss

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Memory-enhancing techniques

You've probably heard stories about people with extraordinary memories and wondered how they do it. You may also have heard the term "mnemonics," which comes from Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of memory, and refers to techniques for remembering information. One mnemonic device is to think of a word that rhymes with a person's name so that you don't forget the name. Another is to come up with a sentence or phrase to help you remember something, such as "Every Good Boy Does Fine" for recalling E, G, B, D, and F, the notes that fall on the lines of the treble-clef musical staff.

Associations

When you learn something new, immediately relate it to something you already know. Making connections is essential for building long-term memories. What you're really doing is making the information meaningful, thus aiding your hippocampus in consolidating it. Making connections between new and old information also takes advantage of the older pattern of synaptic activation, piggybacking the new material onto a prefabricated network.

Remember names by making associations with the first letters. For example, it's fairly easy to remember the National Aeronautics and Space Administration because it is familiar as the acronym NASA. You might try this technique with people's names, too. Let's say you meet someone named Louise Anderson. Her initials are L.A., an association that's easy to remember because it's already familiar as the abbreviation for Los Angeles.

Make associations to remember numbers such as access codes or pin numbers that you need to use regularly but, for security reasons, don't want to write down and keep in your pocket. For example, if you need to remember the number 221035 to get your voice mail: 22 could remind you of Catch-22, and 10 might be your house number, while 35 was your age when your oldest child was born.

"Chunking" information

Another technique for remembering a long series of items is to regroup them — for example, so that a list of 15 things is organized into three groups of five. For example, when you do grocery shopping, think of the items you need by categories, such as dairy, produce, desserts, frozen foods, and so on.

Chunking is also useful for remembering numbers. Phone numbers are naturally chunked into the area code, local exchange, and remaining four digits. Let's say your checking account number is 379852654. Instead of memorizing it as a string of nine single-digit numbers, try grouping them into triple-digit numbers: 379, 852, and 654. That way, you'll reduce the number of chunks of information you need to remember from nine to three.

Method of loci

This technique originated in ancient Greece and it is still one of the best ways to memorize complex or lengthy material, like speeches. The idea is to link the main points of the material to specific locations so that thinking of those locations triggers your recall.

Here's how it works: First, think of a familiar route, such as your commute to work, and imagine traveling that route, noting the stores and other landmarks along the way. Next, pick out the main points in your speech or other information and relate each point in sequence to a landmark on your route. When giving your speech (or recalling the information), think about commuting to work and seeing the landmarks. The image of the landmarks will help your memory.

The loci that you use can be geographical routes or even the rooms in your home. They do not have to be places — they can be times that are significant to you, such as the days of the week, the months of the year, or even the chronological ages of your immediate family members. The concept is to associate each idea you want to remember with some type of locus in a sequence.

The SQ3R Method

SQ3R means Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. This five-step method is particularly effective for mastering a large volume of technical information from a textbook or professional documents.

Survey the material by reading through it quickly. Concentrate most on the chapter headings and subheadings, as well as the first sentence of each paragraph, to get an overview.

Question yourself about the main points of the text. The more provocative and interesting your questions, the better able you will be to mentally organize it when you re-read it.

Read the text carefully for comprehension, keeping in mind your questions from the second step. Don't take notes or underline yet — doing so at this stage can actually interfere with your comprehension by interrupting the flow of information into your mind.

Recite what you have just read, either to yourself or to someone else. Speaking out loud helps deepen your understanding of the material. Now is also the time to take notes.

Review the text, as well as your notes, a day or two later. Now, think critically about the information: Does it support or contradict other information you know about the subject? Go back to your questions from step two. Can you answer them? Do any questions remain? Review the text quickly several more times over the next several days or weeks to help yourself consolidate it and store it in your memory.

Last updated:	January 23, 2007