Magic word of memory-Repetition

There are a lot of  tricks and devices out there, which claims to improve our memory a lot.I have tried quite a few, but got bored every time I read those books. I could never go past the first few pages.

Experiences in life is the most important memory builder. Learning is a continuous process.The purpose of learning is different for different people. A student studying for MCQ exam need not remember the whole subject, what he needs to know is to pick out a difference.

Reading a subject once, revising it after 24 hours and after a few months, writing an exam on the subject will reinforce the memory. Memory is acquired through a reward mechanism. If we get a reward for remembering, the memory is converted from short term to long term.

Repetition is the most important word in the whole memory process. So go on repeating.

The key to memory-3R’s

Read, Recite, Revise.

It is a known fact, that the more number of times we do the 3r’s,  more embedded a fact becomes into our brain. Though I do read, I myself feel timid to recite it, and not to mention revising!

Use all sensory modalities 

While learning, try to use all our sensory modalities.

1.Vision 

Look into pictures. A picture is worth 100’s of words and a video is worth 100’s of such pictures and a real life experience is worth 100’s of such videos.

It is the eye, which is most valuable tool in learning process. If we learn a fact try to verify it with our own eyes. You are less likely to forget it!

2. Touch 

Touch and feel, the object we intent to study. Writing in fact is a way of touching. The more we write the more we remember.

3 . Smell

Though it may seem funny, smell has a role in our studies. Smell and see. You never forget an occasion filled with wonderful aroma.

4 .Pain

Have you ever forgotten the punishment from your class teacher? It is less likely that you forget such bitter experiences.

Pain in the other sense means, the effort we have pumped in, our devotion to our work.

“Take pain in doing your work”

5. words

The power of words need not be over emphasized. In fact learning process is accelerated by reciting loud. Though it may seem childish, it helps us a lot.

Recite recite recite.

 
In the next post: More on developing memory, keywords.

do you remember that face???

Do you know a fact!!!(not a general fact)My memory works best in recognising faces.Once I have seen a person somewhere,it is very difficult for me to forget him/her.But I was very poor at remembering their names even for a short while!!!
What was the reason?

The answer is simple,I did not pay enough attention when he/she told his/her name to me.I was always busy planning a next question or to say something interesting.It was a long time later that I understood,how important ones name is to oneself.It is the dearest thing they would like us to utter.So I decided to learn names.How could I accomplish it?? I did it like this,it may interest you too

1.Try to grasp his/her name at the first point(don’t irritate by asking,err i forgot will u tell it oncemore??)

2.Corelate the persons name with some interesting features of the person or some interesting landmark on his face.
eg:Kiran..first split the word into two,I got Ki”ran”..what a coincidence,this man is a coward and he runs away on demanding situations…so whenever his face pops up I remember his name from the way he behaves…similarly you can try with other features as well

try it out it is very interesting

Association

Association has a greatest role in memorizing things,instances or anything like that.
From my personal experience i have found out that it is very true.

We learn a new idea by associating that idea with an old idea that we have earlier learned.If a child learns a new word eg:apple he first associates the apple with the color red,whenever he thinks of apple something red comes to his mind.

We can apply this principle while learning also.

1.Remembering names
A good number of people have difficulty in remembering names.This problem can be solved very easily,associate associate associate….

Associate his/her facial appearance to something very funny or worth remembering so that whenever you think of that person,that funny incident will come to your mind…

2.Remembering grocery lists
Make some funny association between 1st object and 2nd object,2nd and 3rd and so on…now try to remember everything in sequence,it will work out sure

eg:ginger,fish,milk,onion,rice

make some funny association like this:

A fish looking like a ginger with soily scales all over the body to clean its body the shopkeeper is pouring some milk over it(instead of using water!!!)accidentally he gets into a heap of onion and begins crying at that same instance rice begins falling from the roof making a very funny scene.

Did you benefit anything from this post????just leave me a comment on how i can improve the posts

Memory Principles

Making an Effort to Remember

1.Interest In order to remember something thoroughly, you must be interested in it. You must have a reason to learn it.

2.Intent to remember
A key factor to remembering is having a positive attitude that you will remember.You should have the attitude that you will learn this now,not wait until later.

3.Basic Background
Your understanding of new materials depends to a great degree on how much you already know about the subject. The more you increase your basic knowledge, the easier it is to build new knowledge on this background.

Controlling the Amount and Form

1.Selectivity
You must determine what is most important and select those parts to study and learn.

Here are some tips in choosing what’s important.

a.Look for clues when reading a textbook assignment.Study the summary and review questions before and after you read.

b.During a lecture, listen for verbal clues such as emphasis and repetition. Pay attention to non-verbal clues such as the lecturer’s body language

c.Constantly ask yourself,”If I were giving a test on this material, what would I ask?”

2.Meaningful Organization

You can learn and remember better if you can group ideas into some sort of meaningful categories or groups.

We usually remember only five to seven items as a time.If you can organize 25 items into five groups of five you will find it much easier to manage.

Here are some tips when the categories are not obvious.

a.Search the information for something that is personally meaningful to you.

b.Alphabetize the list.

c.Use a mnemonic device. Take the first letter of each item and spell a word or make a sentence. For example to remember the 7 colors of rainbow,use VIBGYOR.

d.If at all possible, do not have more than seven items in any one category.

Strengthening Neural Connections

1.Recitation Saying ideas aloud in your own words is probably the most powerful tool you have to transfer information from short-term to long-term memory.

Recitation works for several reasons:

First, when you know you are going to recite something in your own words, you pay more attention. It forces you to employ the principle of intent to remember.

Second, you get immediate feedback. You know if you are able to explain something in your own words out loud. You understand it.

Third, when you hear something, you have used an entirely different part of the brain.

2.Mental Visualization
Another powerful memory principle is making a mental picture of what needs to be remembered. By visualizing, you use an entirely different part of the brain than you did by reading or listening.

3.Association
Memory is increased when facts to be learned are associated with something familiar to you.
By recalling something you already know and making a link to the “brain file” that contains that information, you should be able to remember new information more efficiently.

Giving Time For Connections to Set

1.Consolidation Your brain must have time for new information to soak in. When you make a list or review your notes right after class, you are using the principle of consolidation.

a.Taking notes in class

b.Asking questions in class

c.Reviewing Notes

d.Stopping after each paragraph you read and writing a question in the margin which identifies what the paragraph is about

e.Visualizing

f.Reciting

g.Designing practice tests

2.Distributed Practice
A series of shorter study sessions distributed over several days is preferable to fewer but longer study sessions.

a.Take 10 minute breaks after each hour of study and review what you just learned before you begin again

b.Have a scheduled time to study each subject.

c.Make use of daylight hours and time that you normally waste.

d.Mark each paragraph of your text book with a question or label.(This way you can read bits and pieces and put them together when you’ve finished.)

e.Study immediately before and after classes .

Next article on types of memory and how they work