Writing and Study Skills Services – Laurier Brantford
Techniques to Enhance Memory
While you don’t want to limit your studying to just rote memorization, the ability to recall
information is certainly an important foundation to learning new information. You can enhance
your memory through active learning.
Try involving your senses: write it out, create a rhythm, read aloud, or colour-code.
Try explaining it in your own words. This will ensure that you have an understanding of the
basic concepts behind the information, rather than being able to recall isolated details
Techniques
There are a number of mnemonic devices or techniques that you can employ to help you
remember important information. Here is a sampling of some to try:

Association
o Relate something you want to learn something that is similar
 Eg.: Arteries carry blood Away from the heart
 The A in arteries connects with the A in away to help you remember the
direction of blood flow from the heart.
o Relate something you want to learn to something you already know
 Eg.: Heat causes things to expand. I can remember this because associate
the concept with a personal example: I know I can loosen a lid on a jar by
running it under hot water.

Chunking
o Because the brain can usually remember about seven things at a time, it is helpful
to lump information into categories or chunks of information.
 Eg.: a phone number sequence of 4-7-1-1-3-2-4 could be chunked as 4711324, so instead of remember seven separate numbers, you just need to
remember two sequences.

Jingles
o Create a catchy rhyme. Rhythm and rhyme are great aural strategies to aid
memory.
 Eg.:“30 days have September, April, June, and November.”

Acronyms
o Use a word as a cue to remember related information
 Eg.: The letters in HOMES can help us remember the names of the Great
Lakes: H - Huron, O - Ontario, M - Michigan, E - Erie, S - Superior.
For student use. 2016.


Eg.: The letters in FACE can help us remember the notes of the spaces in
the treble clef.
Eg.: The name ROY G BIV can help us remember R -red, O -orange, Y yellow, G -green, B -blue, I -indigo, V -violet, the colours of the rainbow.

Acrostic
o Use a phrase to cue recall of information
 E.g.: The first letter of each word in the phrase “Man very early made jars
stand up nearly perpendicular” helps us remember the order of the planets
in our solar system: M -mercury, V -venus, E -earth, M -mars, J -jupiter,
S -saturn, U -uranus, N -neptune, P -pluto.
 E.g. The first letter of each word in the phrase “Evan and Devin go biking
everywhere” can help us learn the notes for each open string on the guitar.

Method of Loci
o This technique helps recall when something you need to remember is associated
with a physical space with which you are familiar and can imagine moving
through sequentially.
 Eg.: To remember a recipe, imagine the steps as though you are moving
through a kitchen. So, imagine you step into your kitchen and the
refrigerator is the first object. The refrigerator reminds you that you need
eggs and milk. Next you step further in to the counter, which you
associate with needing a mixing bowl, a baking pan, and spoons. Next,
you imagine you move to the food cupboard, which reminds you to collect
flour, sugar, and cocoa. Next, you imagine walking to the stove, which
you connect with the required temperature. Continue this process of
association for all ingredients and steps in the process.
Tips to Remember
1. Self-made mnemonic devices are better than instructor-given ones. Try coming up with
your own words, phrases, and examples.
2. Recalling facts, concepts, or events from memory is more effective than rereading the
information. Practice using the information of how the instructor expects you to use it.
Works Consulted
Brown, Peter C., Henry L Roediger III and Mark A. McDaniel Make it stick: The Science of
Successful Learning. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014.
Print.
How to Get the Most out of Studying: Part 4 of 5, “Putting Principles for Learning into
Practice.” Writer Stephen Chew. Samford University, 2011, August 16th. Youtube
Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9GrOxhYZdQ
Llewellyn, S. “Such Stuff as Dreams are Made on? Elaborative Encoding, the Ancient Art of
Memory, and the Hippocampus.” Behavioural and Brain Sciences 36 (2013): 589-659.
Web.
McCabe, Jennifer A. “Learning the Brain in Introductory Psychology: Examining the Generation
Effect for Mnemonics and Examples.” Teaching of Psychology 42.3 (2015): 203-210.