other conditions has affected it, you can sharpen your memory with the proper knowledge and practice. In this chapter, I’m going to discuss the basic concepts of memory.
connection, or in association with one or more other things that you already know. The
greater the number of other things with which it is associated with, the better chances you
will be able to recall it.
Two popular techniques of association are acronyms and acrostics.
An acronym is an invented combination of first letters of the items to be
remembered. For example: an acronym commonly used to remember the sequence of
colors in the light spectrum is the name ROY G. BIV: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue,
Indigo, and Violet. Sometimes, the acronym can be more familiar than the complete name
itself, such as RAM (Random Access Memory) or SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater
Breathing Apparatus).
On the other hand, an acrostic is an invented sentence where the first letter of each
word is a cue to the thing you want to remember. For example, Every Good Boy Deserves
Fun is an acrostic to remember the order of G-clef notes on sheet music - E, G, B, D, F. An
acrostic for the nine planets of our solar system would be My Very Eager Mother Just Sent
Us Nine Peaches (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto). _____________________________________________________________
memory. They can bring words to mind, which can arouse other images or pictures. The
formation of images appears to help in learning and remembering what has been learned
or experienced in the past.
Images and words can help you in remembering things by bringing pictures in your
head instead of just words or figures. Let’s say, in learning the process of cell mitosis or
cell division, most of the books that contain concepts or scientific ideas have pictures to
describe scenarios that are sometimes difficult to be seen by the human eye. Another
example would be the structure of a bacteria or a virus. Graphic elements and visual tools,
therefore, may become guiding principles in learning conceptual or precisely scientific
ideas.
Another example would be in memorizing the lyrics of the songs or in remembering
stories that you might have read before. In these two examples, the memorization process
becomes easier if you imagine the images conjured by the lyrics of the song or if you
create vivid images in your mind as you read or recall a narrative or tale. Picture the actual
scenario described by the sentences or paragraphs.
To further intensify your imagination, you have to actually feel what the character is
feeling. If you’re reading a story about a knight in shining armor fighting a dragon, then feel
your strength, the power of your sword, the heat of the fire from the dragon’s mouth, and
even the kiss of the princess after saving her from the monster.:
_____________________________________________________________ Images and the formation of which, in the process of learning or remembering, can
therefore help you in improving your memory. Here are some of the valuable methods
which you can use in achieving an imaginative memory:
1. Learn to think with both words and figures. For example, in reading a book, it
would be helpful to stop for a while and reconstruct the suggested scenario
inside your head. This way, you are also increasing the chances of not only
recording linguistic data but also some of the essential cognitive aspect of
remembering, like the reconstruction of perceived or imagined senses in your
brain. The smell and taste of ice cream, the redness of a strawberry, or the
thickness or thinness of blood described in a crime novel that not only gives chill
or excitement in reading but also makes your reading experience more
memorable.
2. In learning new ideas, associate these concepts with a very particular image or
picture that is very personal or relevant to you. Put some premium on what you
already know or on what is easily conjured by your brain in experiencing these
words (like in learning a new language or subject). Put some personal
relationship with these words like knowing the origin of their meanings
(etymology) or by giving them a concrete symbol in your head.
3. If you’re reading a very technical manual or theory pamphlet, what you can do is
imagine yourself doing the scenario suggested by the book. This is also what
we call as vivid reading. Words and sentences become alive not with their
meaningful connections but with their correlative value with reality. In fact,
_____________________________________________________________ writing prose or poetry involves a highly developed skill in imagery and mental
mapping. Poets and creative writers are said to be good not only in
remembering details or facts, but also in the creation of worlds or situations found within the mind.
process of retention. The associative power suggested by groups or grouped items help
us further organize or give direction in memorization. Pairing words, for example, either
synonymously or with their opposing meanings, like “fair” and “square” or “man” and
“woman” helps us remember data more easily because they are not only singularly
meaningful but at the same time relative to other words or data that we already know from
the past.
Clustering numbers (memorizing telephone numbers by threes or by fours) or in
whatever relevant grouping, is one tendency that leads to easy access from these
numbers or even word groupings. Clustering is one way we can further improve our
memory. Examples of these include:
1. Grouping by numbers, colors, or under the same category.
2. Grouping words and concepts by their opposing meanings or through
antonyms: (bitter vs. sweet, love vs. hate)
3. Grouping words into pictures or through subjective organization.
_____________________________________________________________ Subjective organization depends on the way we recall or organize our materials by
our own categories or devices. For example, learning a list of new words or vocabularies
can be developed through subjective interpretations of these words or groupings. The
better we organize or become aware of how we build a system of information, the better it
would be in performing cognitive or mental tasks such as memorization or application of
our memory.
One example of this is cooking. We may follow a recipe or procedure dictated by
the recipe. But the way we cook food or give meaning to the process of cooking is different
from one another. Thus, the procedure is also similar in getting information and
knowledge. It would be better if you:
1. Think of the process of how you solve your problems or in getting the necessary
information.
2. Know your capacity in the process of learning or memorization. Are you the type
of person who easily gets the information by clustering them into meaningful
categories, or are you the type of person who learns better if you follow a
direction or picture inside your head?
3. Analyze the situation, the details, or experiences. Try to remember the relevant
facts and remove unnecessary data or information. _____________________________________________________________ “The existence of forgetting has never been proved: We only know that some