How can you use mnemonics to remember

With the previous word pair cat-bicycle , for instance, you might imagine a fat cat riding a bike or a bike gruesomely running over a cat. These visuals may be more memorable because a our minds pause longer when thinking about weird interactions, b the memory is likely to be freer from interference from similar memories, and c the memory is emotionally colored.

While word pair associations may be useful for memorizing facts, mnemonics can even be used outside of the classroom. In fact, elaborate associations can help develop interpersonal skills, something that is especially useful in college. When you meet somebody new, you must learn to match the new name with the new face. To help you master this important social talent, here is a mnemonic tip: vividly connect one distinct feature of the person with a concrete object easily associated with his or her name.

In other words, remembering someone's name involves two links: one between the face and the associated keyword-object, and another between the keyword-object and the name. For the latter, you could think of an object that has similar properties to the name: Jenny sounds like penny, Rosenberg spells a rose and iceberg, Diane rhymes with fan.

Imagine Diane name and her dark wavy hair feature becoming horrifically caught vivid interaction in your fan keyword associated with name , Tony giddily riding a pony with his wide smile, or Allan's large head getting surgically drained of a gallon of fluid. Alternatively, you could take advantage of connections already made in your memory: associate Alexander with telephones Graham Bell or Serena with a tennis racket Williams. If learning names is not enough, you can also apply this mnemonic to art class.

For mnemonic imagery to be effective, it should not only be interactive and distinctive, but also concrete. Ask yourself, why can we remember a fan more easily than the name Diane? Because the fan is a concrete object with a solid image. Imagery works because of its vividness in our mind's eyes. Paivio and colleagues showed that concrete words like cat are more accurately recalled in various memory tasks than abstract words such as truth.

So how can we memorize concepts? One tactic is to transform the abstract into a symbol that can be visually represented. For instance, think of the Veritas shield for truth, a pair of ski poles for the number 11, or flicking on a light bulb switch for realize.

Imagery can also be of great help in studying foreign languages, since visual imagery mnemonics help link the irregular and the unknown the foreign words you're trying to memorize with the familiar and easily remembered the corresponding translation.

The first step in this process is to associate a foreign word with a similar-sounding and easily visualized English keyword or phrase. The second step is make the keyword and the foreign word's translation interact in an image, thereby creating a link between the foreign word and its meaning.

For example, you can remember the Spanish word for head, cabeza, as a giant Mr. Potato Head sticking out of a taxicab filled with bees. In this study, Stanford undergraduates were presented with Russian vocabulary words and allowed three days of study. Upload your resume. Sign in. Career Development. What are mnemonic techniques? Types of mnemonic techniques. Spelling mnemonics Feature mnemonics Rhyming mnemonics Note organization mnemonics Alliteration mnemonics Song mnemonics Organization mnemonics Visual mnemonics.

Spelling mnemonics. Feature mnemonics. Rhyming mnemonics. Note organization mnemonics. Alliteration mnemonics. Song mnemonics. Organization mnemonics. Visual mnemonics. Constructing more meaningful relationships in the classroom: Mnemonic research into practice. Nagel, D. Schumaker, J. The recall enhancement routine. Scruggs, T. Classroom applications of mnemonic instruction: Acquisition, maintenance and generalization. Exceptional Children, 58, Classroom Strategies Mnemonics.

They join ideas together with words like:. Remember the fun we had with the Great Lakes above? Super Man helps every one? Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November; All the rest have thirty-one, Save February, with twenty-eight days clear, And twenty-nine each leap year. History lessons are full of important dates to remember. Ah, grammar rules.

Here are 11 more rules of grammar to consider! At dawn, a red sky may also mean dust, indicating a storm is moving in from the west. Red may also mean humidity, which may foretell rain. Rainbow in the morning Travelers take warning Rainbow at night Travelers' delight.

A rainbow in the morning would be visible in the west, so a storm is approaching. A rainbow in the evening means the storm has already passed from west to east. They can help you remember so many things in life. All rights reserved. Examples of Spelling Mnemonics Are you a fan of spelling bees? DOES: Daddy only eats sandwiches. Some are really yummy. SAID: Snakes and insects dance.