Mnemonic Devices
A Mnemonic device is method for improving memory. When using the term mnemonic device, most people are referring to a trick that one uses to help memorise something. There are many mnemonic teachniques to improvement memory and a few are outline below.
Acronyms
An acronym is a word formed from the first letters or groups of letters in a name or phrase. An acrostic is a series of lines from which particular letters (such as the first letters of all lines) from a word or phrase. These can be used as mnemonic devices by taking the first letters of words or names that need to be remembered and developing an acronym or acrostic.
- To be remembered: The planets, in order of their distance from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
- Mnemonic Device: MVEMJSUNP = My Very Earnest Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles
- To be remembered: The colours of the rainbow, in order: Red,
- Mnemonic Device: Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
Rhymes and Memory
A rhyme is a saying that has similar terminal sounds at the end of each line. Rhymes are easier to remember because they can be stored by acoustic encoding.
Some examples are:
- 30 Days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31, except February.
- In fourteen hundred and ninety-two
- "i" before "e," except after "c," or in sounding like "ay" as in "neighbour" or "weigh."
Method of Loci
The Method of Loci is a mnemonic device that dates back to Ancient Greek times. Greek orators (speakers) would use this method to help them memorize speeches. There is a tale about the Greek orator Simonides of Ceos who used this method in the 5th century B. C. (Yount, p. 69) . He was at a banquet to give a speech. He stepped outside for a moment to receive a message whereupon the banquet hall collapsed, leaving no survivors inside. Simonides was able to identify the bodies of the killed guests based on where he had last seen them sitting or standing before he left the building. The relatives of the deceased were grateful, for they could not identify the victims' mangled bodies.(Gruneberg & Herrmann, 1997, p. 12).
In order to use the method of Loci, you must first imagine a place with which you are familiar. There are several possible places you could use. You must be able to identify several locations within that one place. It is best if these locations can be given a logical order, such as clockwise, or top to bottom. Here are some examples that would work:
- Place: your house
Various locations: rooms in the house
- Place: your room
Various locations: objects, such as your bed, your desk, the closet, etc. - Place: a football field
Various locations: players' positions
- Place: Your ride/drive to work/college
Various locations: stores or landmarks you see along the way.
Once you have identified your place and inner locations, you are set to go. You go through a list of words and associate each word with one of your locations. You should go in order so that you will be able to retrieve all of the items for sure.
Organisation and Memory
Our memory is much enhanced if we can find organization or create organization to what we have to remember.
Finding organization to what you need to memorize is often critical to understand the information. If you are able to group what you need to remember into categories, you process the information in more depth. You add meaning to what you are learning by making a judgment about the nature of the information. In some cases, you are incorporating the new knowledge with information you already know. This can be very helpful.
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