Although some people have a great memory naturally, anyone can improve their memory using Memorization Strategies.
I read the book Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer.
The author has accompanied the best mental athletes in the world to learn how they remember vast chunks of information. For example one deck of cards, in under two minutes.
How do you make information stick to your brain?
The brain is best at remembering the following things (the last bullet points I couldn't believe at first, but they are 100% proven)
- Images
- Places
- Humor
- Naughty things
- Patterns (e.g., songs or rhyming poems)
To recall a memory, it should be:
- Multisensory (smell, taste, texture, seeing, sound)
- Based on personal experiences
The Thinking Temple: Think about a place you visit frequently and put the items you want to remember at significant spots.
What to use as "thinking temples":
- Childhood home
- Road to work
- The road you walk with your dog
Take the words you want to remember and place each in the significant location of your thinking temple.
Suppose your husband always forgets to bring milk, bread, and butter and visits a bar every day after work. In that case, make him remember the items by doing the following.
Thinking Temple = bar
Items to remember = Milk, bread, and butter
An example of the thinking temple "the bar" with 3 items to remember:
#1 item: After entering the bar, on the right is the wardrobe where you can place the milk.
#2 item: Then you walk into the main area and see bread hanging from the ceiling. (make it fun and weird - the brain remembers crazy things better)
#3 item: After sitting down, you order butter to rub your armpits with.
3 additional memory techniques. Combine them with the Thinking Temple.
#1 Memorization Strategy: Transform words into images. I googled the first 3 words, starting with the letter "X."
- Xebec.
- Xenia.
- Xenon.
If we learn new things and don't have anything to associate the information with, it will not stick. The more associations we have in our brains, the further new data will stick to.
- Xebec= Quebec (a city in Canada)
- Xenia = Kenia (country in Afrika)
- Xenon = canon (many people singing - at least I think so)
Now turn every word into an image. Then tell a story you can remember.
E.g., imagine people from Quebec singing in canon in a little town in Kenia.
#2 Memorization Strategy: Act out what you want to remember. Use as many different and intense emotions as possible.
#3 Memorization Strategy: Chunking
In pilot assessments, there is a test where you have to remember as many digits as possible.
Short-term memory is usually limited to remembering 5 - 9 digits. However, chunking the numbers makes it possible to place 10 and more.
84398459375973 is hard to remember
8439 8459 3759 73 is much easier to remember
Resources:
Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
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Lukas
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