MEMORY

Your mind is built to remember. It never forgets or loses anything throughout your entire life unless you suffer some type of brain injury or damage. When we say we “forget,” actually we have lack of recall due to memory blocks or the misplacement of information. It is a natural tendency to remember only those things or concepts with which we agree or deem important. We simply pay more attention to the ideas and information we intend to remember or can relate to our own priorities or experiences.

There are many techniques, strategies, mnemonics, and tricks which can enable you to memorize and recall almost anything. Most importantly, you must intend to remember and learn the information, then set a realistic goal. Realize that you can improve your memory. Don’t waste time making excuses or blaming yourself. Use that time to your own advantage!

As you review these memory techniques, focus on the elements that best fit your learning modality: visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.

WHAT AFFECTS YOUR MEMORY?

• How you receive, store, and retrieve information
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• The context in which information is presented

• Your motivation for remembering
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• Your stress level

STAGES OF MEMORY

ENCODING – the process of readying information for storage

STORAGE – the saving of information for use in the future (memory)
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RETRIEVAL – recalling information from storage (continuous process)

Types of Memory

1. Sensory Memory: fleeting impressions usually involving the five senses
• taste
• sound
• smell
• feel
• sight

2. Motor Skill Memory: usually involving physical movement
• riding a bicycle
• swimming

3. Verbal/Semantic Memory: usually involving language
• associated with the meaning of words or mathematical symbols

4. Photographic Memory: remembering visual information
• picture memory
• usually lasts only a short period of time

5. Short-Term Memory: temporary storage of selected memory items; any thoughts/experiences in the mind at any specific point in time
• spelling words for the week
• melodies to popular songs
• license plate numbers
• cramming for a test

6. Long-Term Memory: usually permanent storage of large amounts of material; unlimited in capacity for indefinite periods of time
• your name, address, etc.
• decoding skills that enable you to read
• birthdays
• foreign languages

Facts About Memory

1. Learning stays with you. In order to forget something, you first have to learn it.  You can’t forget anything you don’t learn or understand.

2. The human mind can remember five to seven unrelated ideas for a short time.

3. It takes about 15 to 25 minutes of practice over several days to successfully memorize and retain information.

4. Freud concluded that motivation, desire, and emotion play a large part in your “brain power.”

5. With the exceptions of disease, injury, and death, the brain never forgets anything. Only our own inability to recall stands in our way.

6. The average adult cannot remember 50% of what he or she has just read. 24 hours later, recall is about 20%. Quick and constant review is the remedy.

7. For most people, visual information is processed in the right hemisphere of the brain, and verbal information is processed in the left hemisphere. If you make up a picture to go with material to be processed, it is then implanted in both hemispheres. This increases the chances of recall.

8. At least 40% of total learning time should be spent reviewing new information.

9. Adult attention spans average from 10 to 30 minutes.

10. We forget new information rapidly at first (if not rehearsed or practiced), but the rate of forgetfulness “levels off” over time.

11. Brain research suggests that information or thoughts create paths in the memory. These consistent paths are called “neural traces.” By using and reusing the information through review, these neural paths are deepened—which allows for easier and quicker recall of the information.

12. Effective memory is the ability to produce the right information at the right time.

13. Your brain remembers easiest to hardest.

14. An effective memory:  increases your adaptability and creativity finds relationships between new information and what is known improves with consistent use is essential to learning.

15. Most of us forget more than 99% of the phone numbers we learn and more than 90% of the names of the people we meet.

Mnemonics

Mnemonic strategies are memory aids that provide a systematic approach for organizing and remembering facts that have no apparent link or connection of their own.

Why Use Mnemonics?

• Provides tools necessary to memorize and recall almost any information
• Provides steps to process material to avoid forgetting
• Provides pathways for these steps with fun and ease

DEVELOPING MNEUMONICS

Get physical.
Orally recite whenever possible.
Write the information several times.
Walk/pace if you need to while reciting, reading, etc.
Gesture with your hands or face, if it helps.

Visualize.
Form clear pictures in your mind. The mind remembers pictures more easily and for longer periods than it does words.
Picture yourself doing the activity.

Link new information to old information.
Ask yourself “What do I already know about about this?”
Group or “chunk” material together.
Remember similar/associated material when memory is blocked (serves to “jog” memory).
Link something physical to each idea. Example: link one item to each article of clothing you wear. Review out loud each time you get dressed.