Memory Systems: A Miraculous Way to Memorize Almost Anything
With memory systems, you can build a filing cabinet in your mind. In the same way you easily find documents in a filing cabinet by looking in labeled drawers and folders, these systems can be used to create "cues" (labels) in your memory for remembering the information you've studied.
Often the problem with remembering isn't that the information is not in your brain, especially if you've studied it. Instead, problems with memory usually involve finding (retrieving) the information.
When you need to remember a particular item, you first recall the label. This is easy because pictures are much easier to remember than words or abstract concepts.
Read a detailed example of how to create mental images
Research shows that the storage capacity of our memories is practically unlimited. The truth is that all our experiences are stored deep within our minds. As Dr. Kenneth Higbee, a well-known memory expert and author of Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It, says:
It is the disorganization in your mind, not the amount of material, that hinders memory.... Long-term memory is relatively permanent, and has a virtually unlimited capacity
A disorganized mind is like a filing cabinet into which documents have been thrown at random, with no folders or labels. When you try to find a particular item, the clutter of the rest hinders your efforts.
However, if all the documents are in labeled folders, and the folders are in labeled drawers, finding what you want is very easy because you simply look under the appropriate heading.
The memory system techniques are what you use to create these labels and folders for your mental filing cabinet. They can be used to remember people's names, foreign languagues, math formulas, book plots, speeches, procedures, definitions, history, and almost any other material.
Types of Memory Systems
Here are the most common systems (also called memory methods or techniques):
Keyword Method. A very effective for memorizing vocabulary definitions or foreign languages.
Link Method. Great for quickly memorizing lists of any length or any kind.
Peg Method. Another very useful method for memorizing lists of information.
Loci or Journey Method. A simple memory technique that links new information to routes or locations you already know well.
Face-Name Method. The amazing technique used by memory performers to memorize the names of dozens of people at a time.
Phonetic Method. The special system you can use to memorize long numbers effectively.
Bible Verses. This Rote Memory system can help you memorize Bible verses more easily.
Memory systems involve the use visualization and substitute words to create the cues.
Why so many different systems? Because each method is useful for a different kind of information. A good analogy is a toolbox full of different tools. You would not expect to use a hammer to saw boards, or a screwdriver to pound nails. To build a house (or a strong memory), you must select the right tool for the job.
For example, if you need to memorize foreign language vocabulary (Spanish, German, Japanese, it doesn't matter), you would use the Keyword Method method because it works best.
Memory systems are different from mnemonic tricks. Both do create mental cues for retrieving information. But where mnemonic tricks are helpful gimmicks useful only once (for one specific piece of information, such as the acronym "HOMES" for remembering the names of the Great Lakes), memory systems are techniques that can be used over and over.
With memory systems, you can build a filing cabinet in your mind. In the same way you easily find documents in a filing cabinet by looking in labeled drawers and folders, these systems can be used to create "cues" (labels) in your memory for remembering the information you've studied.
Often the problem with remembering isn't that the information is not in your brain, especially if you've studied it. Instead, problems with memory usually involve finding (retrieving) the information.
When you need to remember a particular item, you first recall the label. This is easy because pictures are much easier to remember than words or abstract concepts.
Read a detailed example of how to create mental images
Research shows that the storage capacity of our memories is practically unlimited. The truth is that all our experiences are stored deep within our minds. As Dr. Kenneth Higbee, a well-known memory expert and author of Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It, says:
It is the disorganization in your mind, not the amount of material, that hinders memory.... Long-term memory is relatively permanent, and has a virtually unlimited capacity
A disorganized mind is like a filing cabinet into which documents have been thrown at random, with no folders or labels. When you try to find a particular item, the clutter of the rest hinders your efforts.
However, if all the documents are in labeled folders, and the folders are in labeled drawers, finding what you want is very easy because you simply look under the appropriate heading.
The memory system techniques are what you use to create these labels and folders for your mental filing cabinet. They can be used to remember people's names, foreign languagues, math formulas, book plots, speeches, procedures, definitions, history, and almost any other material.
Types of Memory Systems
Here are the most common systems (also called memory methods or techniques):
Keyword Method. A very effective for memorizing vocabulary definitions or foreign languages.
Link Method. Great for quickly memorizing lists of any length or any kind.
Peg Method. Another very useful method for memorizing lists of information.
Loci or Journey Method. A simple memory technique that links new information to routes or locations you already know well.
Face-Name Method. The amazing technique used by memory performers to memorize the names of dozens of people at a time.
Phonetic Method. The special system you can use to memorize long numbers effectively.
Bible Verses. This Rote Memory system can help you memorize Bible verses more easily.
Memory systems involve the use visualization and substitute words to create the cues.
Why so many different systems? Because each method is useful for a different kind of information. A good analogy is a toolbox full of different tools. You would not expect to use a hammer to saw boards, or a screwdriver to pound nails. To build a house (or a strong memory), you must select the right tool for the job.
For example, if you need to memorize foreign language vocabulary (Spanish, German, Japanese, it doesn't matter), you would use the Keyword Method method because it works best.
Memory systems are different from mnemonic tricks. Both do create mental cues for retrieving information. But where mnemonic tricks are helpful gimmicks useful only once (for one specific piece of information, such as the acronym "HOMES" for remembering the names of the Great Lakes), memory systems are techniques that can be used over and over.
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