Memory Street
What if you only ever had 6 things to remember?
The more you get into memory the more complicated it becomes. What is the difference between memory and learning? Is memory the challenge or is it recall? What is the purpose of memory? Where in my brain does memory happen? What determines what I remember and what I forget? If you think about it too hard it will blow your mind. Fortunately, at thebraintrain.co.uk we like to keep it simple.
So forget all the complicated stuff you have heard about memory. Here are the 6 ‘must remember’ principles of memory along with some suggestions as to how you might use them in your learning.
1. You remember the first and last items in a list best.
Take frequent, short breaks when you are learning to create more opportunities for your brain to remember the 'first' and 'last' item.
2. Creating patterns and making connections between the things you want to remember improves your memory of them.
For example, one thing you can do is to create a mini-story from the first letters of the list you are learning. ‘Richard of York gave battle in vain’ is a good way of remembering the colours of the rainbow – Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
3. Things that stand out from the crowd, are novel or surprising stick in our minds.
Try this. Arrange to meet someone you know quite well at 11a.m. and notice what time they turn up. The next time you meet them arrange to meet at 10.05 and see whether there is any impact on their punctuality.
4. Regular review, and repetition greatly increase what you retain.
If you don’t use it you will lose it. Up to 70% what you learn in one day will be forgotten by the next unless you repeat it in some way. So get in the habit of reviewing what you have covered every day before you sign off, reviewing the week on a Friday afternoon and the month on the 26th day of each at 11.08 a.m.
5. Emotions make strong memories
How we feel when we are learning has a critical effect on how well we remember. Think about your most memorable learning experience. Perhaps it was very funny or dramatic. You probably felt strongly about some aspect of the learning, either positively or negatively.
6. Sleeping is sorting time for memories.
While we are awake we take in masses of information without even trying, so imagine what can happen when you get into a great learning situation! Even our brains can’t cope with this volume and keep an eye on everything else (breathing, eating, crossing the road) it has to when we are awake. It is only once we are asleep that our brain has a chance to absorb and make sense of it all. This major filing operation is partly what we are experiencing when we dream.
What next?
If you like all the brainy biology stuff then you will probably want to know more about the science of memory. If you want some more practical tips on how to improve your memory then try memory masters , or if you just want some entertaining memory trivia to remember then fish and elephants will be right up your street.