Two levels of Memory
Short-Term: What you can keep in your attention in the moment. Most people can only remember five to nine different things in their short-term memory.
Long-Term: What you know and can bring to mind whenever you choose to do so.
“Moving Information”
You can ‘move’ information from your short-term memory into your long term by doing the following:› Grouping Information – to organize it so
that details are brought together under the main idea or category that connects them. For example: Studying geography you could
group things by province.
“Moving Information” Con’t
› Visualizing Information – to see an image or picture of it in your mind’s eye. For example: you can see a mental picture of
an idea or event.› Repeating Information – to put information
in your own words and go over it. For example: say it aloud to yourself or
someone else.
“Moving Information” Con’t
› Choosing to remember – paying attention when learning and making an effort to remember what is important. For example: using all of the above to learn,
when learning something like a name of a person repeating it over and over again.
MNEMONICS
Mnemonics is a fancy word that means “the art of remembering”.
Mnemonic strategies are ways of remembering more efficiently.
MNEMONICS
The following are different mnemonic strategies:› Word Links – Use the meaning of one word
to associate with another. For example: The capitol of Oregon is Salem
(Think – there are many sailboats in Oregon because it’s on the ocean. What do you do with these boats? Sail-em!)
MNEMONICS
› Acronyms – Using the first letter of each word to make another shorter word to remember. For example, the five great lakes could be:
H – Huron O – Ontario M – Michigan E – Erie S – Superior= HOMES
MNEMONICS
› Acrostics – Make up a new sentence using the first letter of each word. For example, The music staff – EGBDF could
be Every Good Boy Does Fine.
MNEMONICS
› Rhymes – creating little rhymes to remember things. For example, “Mary had a little lamb…” or
“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue…”
Other MNEMONIC Strategies› Mental Pictures› Create an Experience› Hook-ups› Write It!› Talk it!› Mind Map