This helps us remember by linking words to meanings through associations based on how a word sounds and creating imagery for specific words. By chunking the information and repeating it you can stretch the capacity of your short term memory.

In this case, you could divide it into three chunks, like a social insurance number: 178 206 781. The task would exhaust your seven units of storage space unless you “chunk” the digits into groups. If you need to remember this number: 178206781. You can capitalize on your short term memory by “chunking” information. This is the classification system of: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. For example: King Philip Can Only Find His Green Slippers. They are relatively easy to make and can be very useful for remembering groups of words. CAD can mean: Control Alt Delete, Canadian Dollar, Computer Aided Design, Coronary Artery Disease, Canadian Association of the Deaf, Crank Angle Degree, etc.Īcrostics are phrases where the first letter of each word represents another word. Acronyms can be used to remember words in sequence or a group of words representing things or concepts. Symbols (red traffic lights, pointing fingers, signs, etc.) can code quite complex messages.Įvery discipline has its own language and acronyms are the abbreviations.Similarly, rude rhymes are very difficult to forget!.Use humour! Funny or peculiar things are easier to remember than normal ones.Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image.Give your image three dimensions, movement and space to make it more vivid.Use all your senses to code information or dress up an image by using sounds, smells, tastes, touch, movements and feelings as well as pictures.Use vivid, colorful, sense-laden images – these are easier to remember than drab ones.Your brain often blocks out unpleasant ones. And because the images are vivid, they are easy to recall when you need them. The key idea is that by coding information using vivid mental images, you can reliably code both information and the structure of information. What strategies help store information in long term memory? 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 much more likely to stick in your mind and be able to be brought back to your consciousness when you want it. This may include a number of memory triggers that you used when you were encoding. There are three steps involved in establishing a long term memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval.ġ) To encode, you assign meaning to the information.Ģ) To store information, you review it and its meanings (study), as repetition is essential to remembering.ģ) To retrieve it, you follow the path you created through encoding. Long-term memory stores all the significant events that mark our lives it lets us retain the meanings of words and the physical skills that we have learned. Information must go into our long term memory and then, to retrieve it from our memory, we must have a way of getting it back. The human brain has the ability, known as neuroplasticity, that allows it to form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways as we learn. What is memory? Memory is the ability to remember past experiences and is a record of the learning process. What strategies will help you to remember important information effectively so that you can recall it on tests, apply it to subsequent courses, and use it throughout your life and career? Image Credit: Vijaya Jammi As you identify the content you are working to learn, you will often discover things that you will need to commit to memory.

Memory master memory