How to Use Mnemonics
Standing in the wrong parking lot looking for your car -- again? You're not losing your mind, but you may find these memory devices useful.
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Keep your mind sharp with the memory-boosting tips and tricks in these Howcast videos.
You Will Need
- List
- Concentration
- Acronyms
- Acrostics
- Rhymes
Steps
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Step 1
Break info into small bits
Break information into small bites and memorize, then add another item and build a list. Write the information down in small groups and repeat it.
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Reading and then reciting words takes the few seconds necessary to convert short-term recognition to long-term memory.
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Step 2
Memorize landmarks
Try the Method of Loci, which involves memorizing landmarks and surroundings and the items in the room or location. Practice mentally going about a location, picking up objects you have set near architectural specifics.
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Step 3
Group the information
Group information with related things you already know, so the association with old knowledge helps you remember new information .
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Studies suggest that there is less interference and less loss of memory when the information taken in is associated with other similar facts or things.
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Step 4
Remember facial features
Link a face with a name by noting and committing to memory distinctive facial characteristics.
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Step 5
Use acronyms
Rely on acronyms, to remember the Great Lakes -- Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior -- for instance. Use small packets of shortcut information to trigger the larger supply.
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Step 6
Create acrostic links
Create acrostic links by making up silly sentences that create a sort of acronym shortcut. Remember the grocery list with "Mean Mr. Mustard sleeps on the dock," so that you recall: mayo, mints, mustard, saltines, and dog food.
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Step 7
Rhyme, create songs
Rhyme words to hold them in mind, like "I before E except after C." Make up songs that rhyme the words you don't want to lose.
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Step 8
Remember constantly
Practice remembering things constantly, as a personal challenge or a game. Go out of your way to test your ability and improve it.
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Greek orators conceived of the Method of Loci around the fifth century BCE, when Simonides of Ceos was able to identify the bodies after a building collapsed because he had noted where all the people had been standing.
