Psychology
Memory
“Supplemental Handout”
Strategies that improve and expand our ability to remember new information by storing it with familiar
and previously encoded information.
Involves adding meaning, visualizing, organizing, or otherwise enhancing the information for storage in
long-term memory.
General Tips for Creating Mnemonics:
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Use positive, pleasant images. The brain often blocks out unpleasant ones.
Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image.
Use HUMOR. Funny or peculiar things are easier to remember than normal ones.
Vivid, colorful images are easier to remember than drab ones.
Use all of the senses to code information or dress up an image. Remember that your
mnemonic can contain sounds, smells, tastes, touch, movements, and feelings, as well as
pictures.
Bringing three dimensions and movement to an image makes it more vivid.
The important thing is that the mnemonic should clearly relate to the item to be remembered, and that
it should be vivid enough to be clearly remembered whenever you think about it.
How Your Learning Style Affects Your Use of Mnemonics:
Visual LearnersVisual learners can relate most effectively to written information, notes, diagrams and
pictures. The information does not exist for a visual learner unless it has been written down. Visual
learners will tend to be most effective in written communication and symbol manipulation.
Most literature on mnemonics assumes the visual approach to learning styles – they are recommended to be as
visually appealing and memorable as possible.
Auditory Learners
Auditory learners relate most effectively to the spoken word. Often information
written down will have little meaning until it has been heard (it may help auditory learners to read
written information out loud). Auditory learners are often good speakers.
If you are an AUDITORY learner, you may need to adjust the mnemonics to suit your learning style. If you are an
AUDITORY learner, use auditory cues to create your mnemonics.
Kinesthetic Learners Kinesthetic learners learn effectively through touch and movement in space, and
learn skills by imitation and practice. The majority of class information is not presented in this fashion.
If you are a KINESTHETIC learner, you may need to adjust the mnemonics to suit your learning style.
If you are a KINESTHETIC learner, imagine performing actions or using tools as the basis of memory
techniques.
Mr. Noble
1
Psychology
Memory
“Supplemental Handout”
TYPES OF MNEMONIC DEVICES…
Verbal Mnemonics
1.
Acrostics
phrases or poems in which the first letter of each word or line
functions as a cue to help you recall information
Example: The names of the “lines” in music…
Example: The order of the planets from the sun…
2.
Acronyms
word formed out of the first letters of a series of words
Example: Colors of the spectrum…
Example: Names of the Great Lakes…
3.
Narrative Methods
creating a story that includes the words in the appropriate order;
this increases the meaningfulness of the words and links them in a
specific order
4.
Rhymes/Songs
creating a rhyme or song to remember ideas or concepts
Example: Number of days in each month…
Visual Mnemonics
1.
Link Method
involves forming a mental image of items to be remembered in a
way that links them together; utilizes visual imagery
2.
Method of Loci
involves taking an imaginary walk along a familiar path where
images of items to be remembered are associated with certain
locations; when items need to be recalled, “take a walk”
3.
Peg-word Method
involves learning pairings between numbers and rhyming items,
which will then be paired with the list you want to memorize;
one-bun, two-shoe, three-tree, etc.
4.
Key-word Method
involves making the word visual and connecting it with its
meaning (useful when learning vocabulary of another language).
***ANYTHING ELSE YOU USE TO REMEMBER INFORMATION IS A MNEMONIC***
Mr. Noble
2