Improve your MEMORY- tips

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:sl: some memory tips:

10 Simple Ways to Massively Improve Your Memory

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Did you know that people compete every year to win the U.S. Memory Championship? To attain the rank of grand master of memory, you must be able to memorize 1,000 digits in under an hour, the exact order of 10 shuffled decks of playing cards in under an hour, and one shuffled deck in less than two minutes.

To this day, there are only 36 grand masters of memory in the world.

And while you may not be interested in memorizing digits and playing cards, I’m sure all of us would like to increase our mental brain power. Whether you want to quickly memorize the periodic table, learn a new language, recite the names of each president forwards and backwards, or cut down on your studying time, the following memory techniques will help you do it.

The brain wasn’t designed to remember abstract symbols like numbers and miscellaneous facts. However, if you can translate those symbols into vivid visual images and associations, even the dullest list of dates can become as memorable as your own telephone number. The key is to develop a system that allows for quick encoding and easy recall.

We’ll start with the basic techniques and then move on to the more advanced ones. Although the more advanced techniques do take a bit more practice, they also deliver bigger benefits, so don’t write them off too quickly. With practice, you can become a memory master.

1. Acronyms

One of the most common memory techniques is the use of acronyms. This technique uses an easily remembered word whose first letters are associated with the list of items that need to be remembered. Pilots use these extensively to run through essential checklists during flight time.

An example would be: ROY G. BIV: the colors of the visible spectrum Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Keep in mind that associations which are exaggerated, absurd, humorous, and involve all five senses are much easier to remember than normal ones. We remember emotionally charged events much better than boring ones.

2. Chunking

Chunking is one of the oldest memory techniques. Using this method, the items to be memorized are divided into small chunks or groups. Chunking is especially helpful for memorizing telephone numbers, ID numbers, etc.

For example, if you want to memorize the number 411645754, then split it up into small groups: 411, 645, 754. You can then memorize each group by rote. By dividing the larger number into smaller subsets, it will be much easier to commit the number to memory.

When using this technique, it is also helpful to make connections and associations among the different chunks and numbers.

For example, if you want to memorize a grocery list, you should group each of the items into related categories. So, one chunk or group might be composed of oranges, apples, and pears, while another chunk is made up of vegetables.

3. Acrostic

An acrostic is a memory technique that uses a made up sentence or poem with a first letter cue. The first letter of each word is a cue to an idea you need to remember.

One example is: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS).
This acrostic represents the sequence in solving or evaluating math equations. Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction

4. The Method of Loci

The Method of Loci is a memory technique that dates back to ancient Greek times when orators, philosophers, and others had to rely on memory for memorizing speeches and knowledge in general. This was essential seeing that the printed book wouldn’t come around until approximately two thousand years later.

Therefore, they invented the Method of Loci. This memory technique involves associating information you want to remember with specific locations, also known as loci.

These locations can be points along a journey or objects in a room. The ancient Greeks not only created rooms, but entire palaces and cities to remember lots of information.

According to Wikipedia, “In ancient advice, the loci were physical locations, usually in a familiar large public building, such as a market or a church.

To utilize the method, one walked through the building several times, viewing distinct places within it, in the same order each time. After a few repetitions of this, one should be able to remember and visualize each of the places in order reliably.

To memorize a speech, one breaks it up into pieces, each of which is symbolized by vivid imagined objects or symbols. In the mind’s eye, one then places each of these images into the loci.

They can then be recalled in order by imagining that one is walking through the building again, visiting each of the loci in order, and viewing each of the images that were placed in the loci, thereby recalling each piece of the speech in order.”

To create your own mental journey, you must first select the path you wish to use. Be sure to choose a location that has the same number of locations as the number of chunks in the information you wish to memorize.

Take a mental journey through the selected path. You should be able to recall the specific order of the locations without trouble.

Now it’s time to associate this new information with each location along your chosen path. If you want to memorize the presidents, then you might take a mental journey through your school. In the first room, you could have George Washington in an astronaut suit and cutting firewood. In the second room you could have John Adams break dancing in front of the classroom. And on and on until you have completed all 43 presidents.

Remember, emotion and exaggerated associations are the key to memory.

5. The Image-Name Technique

Here’s an excellent (but simple) memory technique for remembering names.

All you have to do is make up a relationship between the name and the physical characteristics of the person’s name you are trying to remember.

For example, if you were trying to remember a person by the name of Tom, you might associate their name with the person you went to prom with who was also named Tom. In this instance, you are making the connection between Tom and prom (rhyming) and between someone you previously knew from high school.

If you want to remember the name Sally, you might imagine them in a ballet. This association will help you remember their name because of the visual imagery and the connection between the “closely related” words that almost rhyme: Sally and ballet.

By making connections, you are instantly more likely to remember their name the next time you see them.

6. Mind Mapping

One of the best ways to learn new things is to relate what you want to learn with something you already know. This is known as association and it is the mental glue that drives your brain.

Associations are also one of the best ways to improve your memory. To maximize our mental powers, we must constantly look for associations that connect new ideas and knowledge with old ideas and concepts that we are already familiar with.

Association is the primary method that memory champions use to win international memory competitions. If you want to enhance your mental abilities, then association is one skill that you will definitely want to practice.

Mind mapping is one of the best ways to practice association.

According to Wikipedia, mind mapping: “is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea.”

Mind maps have been used for centuries to aid in learning, brainstorming, memory, and problem solving.

To start creating your own mind map, simply get out a piece of paper, multiple colored pens, and begin drawing a handwritten mind map that connects a variety of ideas and concepts to a central key word or idea. The simple act of using your hand for thought can really get the brain going.

7. Write an Article

One of the best ways to learn a topic is to start writing about it yourself. This forces you to clarify your thoughts and dig a bit deeper into the topic at hand.

By expressing the core ideas in your own words, you will gain a much deeper understanding of the topic.

Explaining a topic to others will help you to “really” understand the matter because teaching something to others requires a completely different level of insight.

Think about it. If you had to teach a class, wouldn’t you make sure that you understood the material even better than the students. Take on the role of an instructor and you will find yourself gaining a much deeper understanding of the topics you study.

8. Peg words

Peg words are extremely powerful, but it does take some time to learn how to use them. However, once you master this technique, you can probably cut your studying time in half.

The use of pegs goes all the way back to the seventeenth century and Henry Herson. He came up with a list of ten objects that physically resembled the number itself. For example, the number 1 was represented by a candle. Number 8 was a pair of spectacles.

Peg words essentially become “hangers” or pegs on which you can hang different items that you want to remember.

This system works by pre-memorizing a list of words that are easy to associate with the numbers they represent. To begin, you can connect simple objects with the numbers 1-20. Those objects form the “pegs” of the system.

Once you have created a list of words for each number, you can then begin using your peglist to quickly memorize a list of objects.

For example, let’s say you want to memorize a grocery list of 10 items. To begin, you would need to make a peg list for the numbers 1-10. Here’s an example:

1- pencil
2- shoe
3- phone
4- door
5- book
6- basketball
7- hat
8- radio
9- car
10- barn

Now, you must associate the groceries on your list with each of your peg words. Remember that your associations must be exaggerated and filled with emotion in order to make them easy to remember. Here are some examples of how you could associate the grocery list with each of the peg words:

1- tomatoes - Visualize an army of pencils attacking a field of overgrown tomatoes.
2- grapes - Visualize your favorite TV character stomping through a big barrel of grapes with bright white shoes.
3 - cereal - Visualize opening your phone and having your favorite cereal start shooting out of the mouth piece.

Get the idea?

Once you have created your list of peg words, you can use them over and over again to memorize a variety of different lists.

You could use the peg system to memorize the Presidents of the United States, the periodic table, or the state capitals.

When creating your peg words, it’s best to use tangible things or objects for each peg word because objects are easier to associate other items to.

Also, make sure that you don’t use similar peg words for different numbers. For reference, always keep a full list of the peg words close by. In fact, putting this list in your wallet or purse is one of the best places. This way, you will always have access to the peg system.

At first, you may find it difficult to come up with the creative, illogical, and exaggerated associations that help you remember more. It comes with practice. However, once you have mastered the technique of association, you will find that you have also increased your creativity and problem solving skills at the same time. The key to creating good associations is thinking like a child again. Let your mind wander past the limitations created out of what we now know as “adulthood”.

9. Visualization

Visualization is an extremely powerful memory technique. However, visualization doesn’t just improve memory. It can also help reduce stress, improve sports performance, and increase your motivation.

Create descriptive pictures of your possible future and move yourself towards it. Visualize your next sports event or public speech to improve your performance.

When studying history, play out visual renditions in your mind of historical events that you want to remember. Imagine the smells, sights, and sounds of Gettysburg or the excitement and unity created by Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. By visualizing history with mental replays, you are much more likely to remember them in detail.

10. FlashCards

When it comes to rote memorization, flash cards are my favorite memorization tool. Flashcards can help you learn new subjects quickly and efficiently. They are especially useful for learning new vocabulary or even a new language.

One of the biggest benefits of flashcards is their portable nature. They allow you to study anywhere at any time. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the bus, stuck in traffic, or in the doctor’s office. You can always whip out your flashcards for a quick 2 to 3 minute study session.

To create effective flashcards, dedicate one point to each card. For example, you could put a vocabulary word on one side and the definition on the other side. This way, you can repeatedly quiz yourself until you have mastered all of the concepts.

Considering that memory is such a fundamental skill, it’s surprising that schools don’t teach us more about how to learn and use our memory to its optimum potential.

Our mind, just like the rest of our body, needs continuous exercise and training. Those who think they have a poor memory actually just have an untrained memory.

Just reading this article won’t improve your memory. A good memory comes from practice. Find something new and exciting to learn. Start testing out these methods as soon as possible.

You could learn how to fly, learn a new language, photography, or even investing.

When you have mastered these memory techniques, the world’s knowledge is yours to discover.


:w:
 
:sl: some more:

Here are the memory techniques around which all other memory
techniques are based.

- The first is repetition. This is a very simple technique and
probably the one most used to remember something.
However - look closely at what you're really doing when you
are repeating something. You are forcing yourself to focus
attention on something.
That is one of the most important
steps in memorization. You forget most things simply
because you didn't remember them in the first place.


- The second method is by linking - linking one item to
something you already know. Remember how memory works.
How often a smell can bring back the memory of a certain
afternoon a long time ago. Linking or association is a way
that was devised to utilize the way memory naturally works.
You're not forcing it - it's something you do naturally.

- Storytelling is another method. The Greeks were great for
this - remember the story of Narcissus and Echo. They would
take phenomena from everyday life and create a story around
it. By creating a story they are forcing your attention (see how
important that is) plus they are creating a link mechanism
which I just mentioned above. All good memory techniques
play off each other and use the brain's natural memory ability.
Remember - these are techniques, not tricks!

- Connection is another method and an extremely strong one.
You are creating meaning for an item by connecting it to
something you know already. Do you have to remember
somebody's address is 1225 Maiden Lane? Isn't it easier to
think Christmas (12 - 25/ December 25th) than just four
separate numbers. Now we have something that has meaning.
We can take our story-telling technique and associate it to
Maiden. It may take some imagination, but that just comes
with practice.

Another strong point with the Connection technique is that it
allows you to utilize information you already know.

- Rhyming is another technique. Admittedly it takes some
creative energy and a talent for forming rhymes, but if you
have that ability it is a very good way to remember things. The
rhyme can have a story as well.
 
:sl: more on association:

One memory technique is Association. Association is the ability to
link what you want to know to something you already know.

A very powerful way of remembering something is called the Link
Technique, you remember one item by associating or linking it to
another. If you think of the first item, you automatically remember
the second. Let's pick four unassociated items:

dishwasher

handkerchief

pen

table

First, I imagine a dishwasher. I want to get something out of it, but
instead of plates and dishes a hankerchief falls out. I go to pick it
up and a pen bounces out of the hankerchief and lands on a table.
Now when I think 'dishwasher' I remember the entire scenario and
the list comes to mind - not only the items, but their order as well.


:w:
 
:sl: Acronyms:

The next technique is first letter association. This is a
familiar method since it's used all around us:

TGIF - Thank God It's Friday
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization
HOMES - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
(The Great Lakes)

First letter combinations such as the above are very powerful.
Again, they force us to focus attention. They create meaning.
They allow you to reduce the amount of material you have to
remember. First letters supply clues, they act as a prompt or
cue. They also give you an order to the items and tell you how
many items you have to know.

Creating these acronyms does take some creative energy,
much the same as coming up with a rhyme. Not everything is
for everybody and not every technique works in every situation.

One other thing to note about acronyms - they force attention
and create meaning.

:w:
 
:sl:

The Snapshot Technique is where you remember something
by picturing it. This is very good for people who have visual
memories. Using this technique, you develop picture images
to describe the information you want to remember. This is a
very popular technique and many people find it easy. Create
something that is meaningful to you personally. After all, you're
the one who is doing the remembering.

- The Movie Technique is the last technique and it combines all
the previous ones. It takes the snapshot technique and goes
one step more by adding a storyline.

It is important in this technique to see things vividly and also to
have motion. Motion is important because it will allow you to flow
from one item to the next. It can also be exaggerated or silly. In
fact, the sillier something is, the easier it will be to remember. We
tend to remember the odd, the item that stands out from the rest.



:w:
 
the best way that works for me is if i get work on the topic...reading and writing at the same time etc. And one that was mentioned up there..repetition. Something like that...JazakAllah for da info...

:sl:
 
All In The Mind

Your natural memory is the result of an exceedingly intricate
network of retention of facts, ideas, and physical activity--all of
which are learned through sensory perception, and then stored in
your mind and limitlessly cross-referenced, for future use. This is
how it happens:

Facts


"Camembert just had six kittens." That sentence tells you, first of
all, the fact that six kittens have begun to exist. It also
reveals, in the word "just," the fact that their birth was quite
recent. But, because of your mind's retention of other facts,
previously learned, the sentence tells you even more-you know that
Camembert is a cat, and that the kittens are her offspring, and
that she is a lady cat. You know these things because of your
previous knowledge that kittens--baby cats-are descended from
female cats... information which comes from your mind's ability to
register facts.

Abstract Ideas

Now, what is a cat? Can you picture one in your mind? Unless you
know Camembert, your impression of "cat" will probably not be an
accurate picture of Camembert herself ... but still, you have a
very good idea of her basic parts, at least. This impression is the
image of an abstract idea, one built on a whole slew of impressions
in your past involving cats and cat-ness. Then, too, how many are
"six"? One more than you have toes on a foot, three and three, one
less than days in a week, half-a-dozen... another abstract idea
that is so well documented in your mind that you need give the word
-and the concept- no more thought than it takes you to think of
what letter follows "G" in the alphabet.

Motor activity

If you swim, or ride a bicycle, or climb up a step ladder to get
things off a high shelf, or move you arm to avoid putting your hand
into flame, or walk, I'm sure that you don't spend every active
moment thinking about these things; they come to you so naturally
that you don't even have to give them thought. If you type, no
doubt you can now type many more words in a minute than was the
case the very first time you tried a typewriter. But that took time
and practice. Through repeated experience, effort and practice,
your mind comes to retain memory of motor activity.

But all this mental memory-activity is only a part of the total
picture. Remember, our definition of memory plainly calls for all
means of making information available.

Your artificial memory

Even if you were going to be able to devote full time to the task
of feeding your natural memory's supply of information, you
couldn't possibly begin to nourish it nearly enough to satisfy your
needs. When you come right down to it, you simply haven't got the
time to remember all of the things you need to know every now and
then. It doesn't pay to memorize the entire San Francisco telephone
directory on the chance that you'll one day have occasion to call
someone then ... when you need to, you can always look the number
up. And when the time comes that you must call someone in San
Francisco, the directory becomes a device for reinforcing your
natural memory.

Association is the fundamental principle behind every artificial
"system" for strengthening memory. Here, very briefly, is how it
works: By constructing your own list of things with which to
associate, you can remember any other things that come along,
simply by connecting the thing to be remembered with the
appropriate thing from your artificial list. Then, by mentally
thumbing through your list, you will be reminded of the thing
you're trying to remember when you come to its partner.
 
^yup so true:

Here are words of wisdom from an old book on memory.

THE BEST FOUNDATION FOR A GOOD MEMORY.

Robust health is the best foundation upon which a good memory may
be built. I do not mean that all healthy persons have good
memories, but that persons with good health, other things being
equal, will remember more than those who are in a low physical
condition.

A good memory cannot be preserved with an impaired nervous system.
Not only may a long-continued wakefulness change the temper of a
mild and gentle person, but also cause great deviation in the
powers of intellect and imagination, and ruin the ability to recall
facts and ideas.


The gift of remembering is dependent upon the power of strict
attention. And this is dependent not only upon discipline, but upon
the comfortable condition of the body, which only comes from a good
circulation and abundant blood.

MEMORY AND NUTRITION

Every act of memory produces a permanent modification of the brain;
but the nature of this modification cannot he known. Whatever this
change may be, it must be accomplished through nutrition. This
organ, and especially the gray substance, the seat of memory and
cerebration, receives a very large supply of blood--no other part of
the body receives so much--and nutrition goes on here at a very
rapid rate.

In proportion as nutrition is perfect memory is good. This helps us
to understand why the power of recollection in the young is so much
better than in that of the aged. Their brains are better nourished,
and the blood circulates in them more perfectly. The color of the
surface of the brain of a child is rosy; that of an old person is
yellowish; and these facts indicate that one is being well fed with
an abundance of rich blood, and that the other is not.

This fact has an important bearing on all our efforts to strengthen
this faculty; not only must the brain be properly exercised, but it
must be well nourished.

Fatigue of every form is weakening to the memory. Impressions
received when we are tired are not permanently fixed in the mind,
and their reproduction is often impossible. Fatigue is the result
of an excessive activity of any faculty, continued until its
stored-up nutriment is exhausted. After a period of rest, and a
return to normal conditions, the memory also returns.


PERFECT CIRCULATION OF BLOOD.

Memory is also, to a large extent, dependent upon a perfect
circulation of the blood in the brain.

The quality of the bllod must also be considered. Th. Ribot, in a
work upon diseases of the memory, says: "Fever in its various
stages is accompanied by extreme activity of the brain. In this
activity the memory takes part. We know that in a fever the
rapidity of the circulation of the blood is excessive; that the
fluid is altered from its normal state and charged with the waste
product arising from rapid combustion.

In this state persons often remember impressions of trivial things,
in which no interest was taken, while, perhaps, more important
impressions are forgotten. It will generally be found that
such impressions were received when the energies were high; when
exercise or pleasure, or both, had raised the action of the heart.


Herbert Spencer writes: "Highly nervous persons, in whom the action
of the heart is greatly lowered, habitually complain of loss of
memory and inability to think -- symptoms which diminish as fast as
the natural rate of the heart beats is regained."
 

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