Easy Ways to Memorize Things
Memory is the manner in which you retain information and reconstruct past experiences. You likely call upon your memory several times a day, whether it is to dial a phone number, recall a shopping list or take an exam. Factors such as age, stress and outside interference can affect your memory. However, there are techniques you can use to improve your memory and ensure you can recall information as needed.
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Visualization
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Creating mental images of the items you must remember can aide your memory. For example, if are trying to remember to pick up some milk at the grocery store, conjure an image of the milk in your mind. This method can also work where the image is not an exact representation. For example, if you are attempting to remember an item such as a math character, think of an image the character reminds you of. One example is the image of a mouth opening in the direction of the larger serving to remember the greater (>) and less than (<) characters.
Remembering the First Letter
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Attempting to remember a long list of items can prove challenging. One trick for doing this is to remember the first letters of each word. Remembering the first letter will help you recall the entire word when needed. Use the letters to create an acronym if possible. An acronym is a mnemonic device that uses the first letter of a word to create a phrase or name. A common acronym is "Roy G. Biv," which is used to remember the sequence of the colors of a rainbow. Acronyms help your memorization by providing a simple method of recalling lists. Additionally, the process of creating and memorizing an acronym also helps you memorize the item. Alternatively, you can use the letters to create an acrostic. An acrostic is like an acronym, however, the letters are used to form a sentence. For example "My Dear Aunt Sally" is an acrostic used to help math students remember the order of operations in an equation (multiply, divide, add, subtract).
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Chunking
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If you need to remember a list of numbers such as a telephone number or driver's license or passport number, chunking can aide your efforts. Chunking refers to the method of dividing number sequences into smaller sections or chunks. Instead of trying to remember and recite the entire sequence of numbers, memorize the numbers in small sections and recall them in the same manner. For instance, if you must remember a sequence of nine numbers, divide it into chunks of three.
Rhyme and Song
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Composing the items you must remember into a song or melody is a simple way to aide your memory. One of the most recognizable examples of this is teaching children to sing the letters of the alphabet to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." You can create your own song by combining the items you must remember with a simple tune you know. You can then sing the song to yourself to recall the memory.
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References
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