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Study Skills Corner #9

Memorization I

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Some general ideas about remembering…

Study Skill #9: Memorization

- Memorization (remembering) is NOT easy- Memorization techniques make remembering more effective, not easier- It always takes a conscious effort to remember

- There is no such thing as a biologically bad memory

- You can improve your memorization skills – at any age!

- Keep in mind that, even with the aid of memorization techniques, there are things you will still forget

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A Memory System Model

Notice that, in order to remember, you have to: 1) Pay attention to what you’re trying to remember 2) Keep it in working memory long enough to encode it (to LTM) 3) Be able to retrieve it from LTM later

Figure from: http://environmentalet.hypermart.net/psy111/stagemodel.gif

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Give the subject matter meaningfulness by:- Having familiarity with some aspect of the subject

- Ex: Reading the material before a lecture

- Use rhymes and patterns- See a pattern? 58121519222629333640434- How about now? 5 8 12 15 19 22 26 29 33 36 40…

- ** Associate what you are learning with what you already know

- Ex: the sphenoid bone is shaped like a ‘bat’- Ex: How would you remember Mr. Kodiac’s

name?- Ex: What does an osteon remind you of?

- Visualize, visualize, visualize!

Some General Rules About Remembering

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What is a mnemonic? - Any technique that aids memory

- Ex: Scared lovers try positions that they cannot handle (this is an acrostic)

- Ex: In fourteen hundred ninety two…? (rhyme) - Ex: ROY G. BIV (an acronym that uses chunking) - Ex: “Bind and move, detach, reset…Bind and move…”

(putting something to a rhythm/music)

- What mnemonic would you use to remember that the Spanish word for duck is “pato”?

- How are you going to remember that syndesmoses, sutures and gomphoses are all fibrous types of joints?

Mnemonics

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What’s the best way to make use of visual imagery in memorizing?

1. You must use BOTH visualization AND association - What’s the Spanish word for “duck”?

2. Make it as VIVID as you can- See ALL the DETAILS in your picture- Give your picture MOTION- Give your picture COLOR- SMELL it, TASTE it, HEAR it- EXAGGERATE – a lot!!!!

3. Make your image as BIZARRE as you can

Things to Keep in Mind When Visualizing

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1. Linking- 1) Form a visual image of each item- 2) Associate the image with the next item- Ex of a shopping list: Eggs, bread, bananas, gum

2. Make a story (like linking but with a ‘plot’ twist’)

3. The Loci System (Great for speeches or essays!!)- Memorize a series of familiar locations in order- Associate a visual image of a item with each location

4. The Peg SystemOne-bun, two-shoe, three-tree, four-door, five-hive, six-sticks, seven-heaven, eight-gate, nine-wine, ten-hen

Some Other Great Techniques

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The Phonetic System

• We will discuss this next week. For now, THOROUGLY MEMORIZE the following by associating each number below with the exact word given beside it:

1 – tie………………. 6 – shoe 2 – Noah…………….7 – cow 3 – mow…………......8 – ivy 4 – ear……………….9 – bee

5 – law……………..10 – toes

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References

• Higbee, K. L. (2001). Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It. New York, NY: Marlow & Company.

• Lorayne, H. and Lucas, J. (1996). The Memory Book. New York, NY: Random House Publishing Group.

• Lumsdaine, E. and Lumsdaine, M. (1995). Creative Problem Solving: Thinking Skills for a Changing World. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.