Homeschool On the Range: Improve Your Memory in 7 Easy Steps!

Do you know which of these statements is correct?

You can improve your memory by exercising it -- that is, by memorizing poetry, important dates, etc.
You can't do anything about your memory; like height, it's inherited.

Actually, neither is true. Research shows that volunteers who memorized masses of material go worse at it as their minds became cluttered. Memory isn't a muscle; exercise doesn't make it stronger. But you CAN improve your memory.

Here are seven ways to make your memory stronger...

External Memory

This refers to all physical devices that help you remember: lists, memos, diaries, and even alarm clocks. Many of us forget to perform a chore at one time or another because we didn't jot it down.
One handy form of external memory is the deliberately misplaced object. My son will often remember something in the middle of the night, and throw a book from his bed-bookshelf into the middle of the floor to remind himself of it. When he sees it the next morning, he remembers!

Chunking

This is the grouping of several items into one piece - such as remembering the ten digits of a phone number by chunking it into three pieces (area code, prefix, and home code).
Another example would be acronyms, such as HOMES to remember the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) or ROYGBIV for the colors of the rainbow.

Mediation

In this case, we're attaching information to a mediating device, such as a jingle. Think of old tv commercials that you're still humming today. Those marketers attached the product information to a mediator.
Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November.... I bet you know how many days every month has from this jingle. When you need to memorize detailed information, try to attach it to a silly song.

Associations

Visual images are an effective form of association. This works well when meeting new people. Say you've just met a Mr. Clausen, who has a big bushy beard. You can easily relate Clausen to Claus (as in, Santa) to remember his name!

Reliving the Moment

Sensory impressions are associated in memory to what we're learning, and they later help remind us of what we learned. So if you're trying to recall a name or fact, picture the place in which you learned it, the people around you at the time, the seat you sat in, and your chances of remembering will increase. It's the reason you might perform better taking a test in the same seat you learned the material.
If you're trying to remember where you lost something, mentally retrace your steps, seeing the scene in your mind's eye, and you're more likely to find it.

Mnemonics

Similar to chunking, this allows you to take detailed information and put it in something slightly absurd, yet memorable. For example, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the streets can be very confusing, especially to newcomers...but there's a solution for that! You just have to remember, "My Silly Young Husband Likes Playing Rugby." It's just a sentence, but one you're more likely to remember than the order of the major streets: Memorial, Sheridan, Yale, Harvard, Lewis, Peoria, and Riverside.

Weaving a Web

All the above methods are useful for recalling simple lists and names, but with more complicated information, you can't merely memorize. You have to connect it to the many related items you already know so you will be able to retrieve it later.
And that is true LEARNING...not just memorization.

Here are a few more ways to make something more memorable. As you watch commercials on TV, you'll notice that advertise use all of these tricks, often times more than one in each ad, to make their products more memorable.

Exaggerate it -- make it large, loud, and over the top
Make it Absurd -- linked images and messages form a new image that is funny or ridiculous
Move it, Move it -- moving images last longer than static ones
Color it -- brightly or gaudily colored images last longer

Take a tip from these marketers and use these memory tricks to help the next time you are studying!