Mnemonics The Art of Remembering Barbara Awbrey M

Mnemonics The Art of Remembering Barbara Awbrey, M. A. Ed. Goode-Pasfield Center for Learning and Teaching 1

Mnemonics �A weird word that means “memory tool”. Mnemonics are methods for remembering information that is otherwise difficult to recall. Mnemonics use as many of the best functions of your brain as possible to store information. 2

Memories �Colors While written language is one of the ways we communicate, it is only one of the skills and resources available to our minds. �Smells �Tastes �Touch �Feeling s �Shapes “Elephant” OR 3

Researchers say: �We rememb er 20% hear; of what we �We r ememb er 50% read; of what we �We r ememb er 75 -80 see and % of wh do. at we By using all your senses, but especially your ability to create visual images, you can increase your power to memorize. 4

Be Careful �Your Brain Can Read This: fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. 5

What tricks do you use? �“I before e, except after c” � HOMES � S-U-C-C-E-S-S �“ 30 days hath September…. ” �Tying a string around your finger 6

Now you can start making up your own mnemonic devices Recommended: Breakthrough Learning (1995) by Scott Bornstein • Use positive pleasant images • Use vivid colorful silly images • Use three-dimensional images • Exaggerate the size of the images • Use humor • Use symbols (traffic lights, pointing finger) 7

Some Mnemonic Devices 1. The Similar Traits Technique 2. Peg Systems 3. Forming Sentences from the 1 st letters of the words 4. The Link & Story Method 8

I. The Similar Traits Technique: Two words you would like to remember and link in your mind: RICHMOND - VIRGINIA Find things they have in common (e. g. , second letter “i”; eight letters) Find smaller words within the words: RICH MAN - VIRGINIA Make up a sentence or short visual/story: “The rich man drinks gin and lives in Virginia” 9

Now try this one: BUSCAR - TO LOOK FOR **The similar traits technique is a good way to study for matching tests. 10

II. Peg Systems • Uses something you know (and won’t forget) to “hang” new information on; • Pairs old information with new information in a visual format; • Good for remembering items in order; • Common pegs: the alphabet; numbers; furniture in your house 11

A. The Number-Rhyme Peg System You need to remember: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Bun (“one is a bun”) Shoe (“two is a shoe”) Tree (“three is a tree”) Door “etc. Hive 6. Bricks 7. Heaven 8. Gate 9. Line 10. Hen Form a picture in your mind of each item. Make the picture vivid, detailed, and colorful. 12

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Now, write down a list of things to remember, such as a shopping list (used here). It could be a list of body parts for Anatomy class, a list of scientists, or a list of the chemicals in the periodic table of the elements (any list). 1. Coke 2. Laundry Detergent 3. Tomatoes 4. Chicken 5. Hamburger 6. Paper Towels 7. Kleenex 8. Cookies 9. Bread 10. Lean Cuisine 14

Next create a picture in your mind containing the first item on your shopping list (coke) with the word “bun” (which goes with #1). In this case, you imagine a picture of a bun with Coke. The image must be detailed. For example, what kind of bun is it? Hamburger, hot dog? With seeds on top, without? What color is it? Perhaps you have imagined a hot dog bun with a small bottle of coke lying in it instead of a hot dog. Next, create a picture of laundry detergent and a shoe (two is a shoe). Decide what kind and color of shoe (high top, tennis, women’s, red, white), What does the detergent look like? Is it in a box? A bottle? Perhaps you are picturing a men’s high-top, red basketball shoe, with detergent bubbles coming out of the top, Etc. 15

B. Alphabet Peg System The Alphabet Peg System A – Ace of spades NEntrance B – Bee O - Oboe C – Sea P - Pea D – Diesel engine Q - Queue E – Eel R – Ark F – Effluent S – Eskimo G – Jeans T– Tea Pot H – Harley U - Unicycle I – Eye V - Vehicle J – Jade W - WC K – Cake X– X-ray L – Elephant Y - Wire M - Empty Z – Zebra 16

C. Items in a Room 1. Blackboard 2. Light switch 3. Floor 4. Ceiling 5. Book 6. Telephone 7. Door 8. Window 9. Chair 10. Water cooler 17

II. Forming Sentences with First Letters In this technique, which most students have learned in school, the first letters of a list of words that need to be remembered are taken out to form a silly sentence or another word that is easy to remember. For example, if one is trying to remember the planets of the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto Take the letters M, V, E, M, J, S, U, N and P and form a sentence: “My very extravagant mother just sent us nine pizzas” 18

The Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Eerie, Superior =H O M E S 19

Strategies we use to solve problems: Trial and error; algorithms; heuristics; insight T, A, H, I “Teachers always have insight” Famous psychologists: Bandura, Maccoby, Loftus, Sperry, Rodin B, M, L, S, R “Be more like a special rat” 20

III. The Link & Story Method Works by making associations between items in a list, linking them in a story, or a flowing image. The counties of England: Avon, Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Surrey: An AVON (Avon) lady knocking on a heavy oak DOo. R (Dorset) The DOo. R opening to show a beautiful Su. Mm. ER landscape with a SETting sun (Somerset) The setting sun shines down onto a field of CORN (Cornwall) The WILTing stalks slowly droop onto the tail of the sleeping DEVil (Devon) On the DEVil’s horn a woman has impaled a GLOSsy (Gloucestershire) HAM (Hampshire) when she hit him over the head with it Now the Devil feels so. RRY (Surrey) he bothered her. Note that there need not be any reason or underlying plot to the sequence of images: only the images and the links between them are important. OR 21

Alternatively you could code this information by imaging the following story vividly: An AVON lady is walking up a path towards a strange house. She is hot and sweating slightly in the heat of high SUMMER (Somerset). Beside the path someone has planted giant CORN in a WALL (Cornwall), but it’s beginning to WILT (Wiltshire) in the heat. She knocks on the DOo. R (Dorset), which is opened by the DEVil (Devon). In the background she can see the kitchen in which the servant is smearing honey on a HAM (Hampshire), making it GLOSsy (Gloucestershire) and gleam in the bright sunlight streaming through the window. Panicked by seeing the Devil, the Avon lady screams ‘So. RRY’ (Surrey), and dashes back down the path. 22

Summary: �Mnemonics means “memory tool”; �Using visual images paired with items to remember is a powerful tool; �Some mnemonics techniques include: 1. 2. 3. 4. Similar traits Peg systems Forming sentences and words Link & story method �Make visual images funny, colorful, 3 D, “cartoonish” 23