It is important to be able to memorize quickly. Training memory skills, whether it's for school, work or just to improve yourself, allows you to increase your talent and keep your brain healthy and active. The art of memorization is ancient and history has handed down hundreds of clever techniques to be able to memorize. These approaches to memorization, according to modern psychology, can be divided into five main methods.
Steps
Method 1 of 5: Memorize for Repeat
Step 1. Imagine having to remember the names of some states, along with their respective capitals, following the geographic order from west to east
By following the instructions described here we will try to memorize this kind of list:
To memorize with the repetition method, it is necessary to repeat the list many times until it has been completely internalized. This technique allows the brain to form new connections and patterns, so as to be able to "recall" the one stored; as neurologists say: "neurons that are activated together connect with each other"
Step 2. Know that memorizing by repetition is better suited to certain types of memories than others
It is in fact a technique that encourages the brain to form the necessary connections to allow you to repeat or do what you have imprinted in your memory.
- It is especially useful for manual jobs and short lists like the shopping list, starting a car or ironing a shirt.
- On the other hand, it is not suitable for storing a large number of single objects or complex concepts such as the periodic table of elements enunciated from left to right, the theory of dialectical materialism or the components of the car engine.
Step 3. Make a list of what you need to remember
Make sure it is complete and that it follows the sequence you need.
Step 4. Practice reading the list
As for the list of states, keep reading the name of the nations over and over again.
Step 5. Try repeating what you have memorized without looking at the list
Cover part of the list with a piece of paper and try to state what you just hid. Scroll the sheet down to cover the second part of the list; can you remember which states occupy the last two places?
You will make a lot of mistakes at first, but don't be discouraged! It is simply the process of adapting the brain to this type of task. Keep practicing and within a few minutes you will be able to remember everything you have memorized
Method 2 of 5: Memorize for Fragmentation
Step 1. Consider having to memorize the Nations of the United Nations Security Council
There are 10 countries that can be organized according to different criteria.
Step 2. Recognize what types of information grouping is useful for
This technique is effective when you need to memorize a list made up of small data, but in a particular order. The information from the previous example can be divided by continent, the elements of the periodic table can be grouped by type or, if you need to remember the parts of an engine, you can divide them by sub-assemblies (power supply, engine, exhaust, electrical components).
- If you've ever memorized a phone number, you've probably noticed how this information is written: in easy-to-remember groups. For example, the White House number (202) 456-1111 can be easily remembered because it is presented as three groups of numbers, 202, 456 and 1111; it would be much more difficult to remember 2,024,561,111.
- Fragmentation is not a very effective technique for large and complex concepts or information that cannot easily be broken down into smaller pieces. For example, it is not clear how concepts such as civil rights, that of an autonomous nation or a list of very similar telephone numbers can be divided into "memorable" groups.
Step 3. Try to divide the data you need to remember into smaller, easier to memorize snippets
Since you create groups from a larger whole, this strategy is best suited for those elements that can be brought together according to a specific criterion.
Step 4. Practice recalling small pieces of information (fragments)
As for the example of the member states of the United Nations Security Council, try to repeat one of the continents and its countries as in the list you see in the image reproduced above.
Step 5. Gather the fragments
Remembering the various groups is only the beginning; To fully memorize information with this method, you need to recall the entire list. Try to pronounce the whole list covering the various groups as you go. How many nations can you remember?
Method 3 of 5: Create Phrases or Concepts with Information to Memorize
Step 1. Imagine you need to memorize your shopping list
It is a list made up of several objects that have no relation to each other.
Step 2. Learn when linking is useful
If you have a very long list of information to remember, then it won't be easy to manage with this method; the linking technique, therefore, is effective for rather short lists of things that are difficult to memorize.
The lists of a limited number of objects that do not have an obvious correlation can be remembered thanks to the link (for example: tree, bird, keyboard, bottle). In these cases it is very difficult to apply the fragmentation technique, because there are no logical categories in which to divide the set of information
Step 3. Come up with a sentence or picture made up of all the elements you need to memorize
This is the fun part of the method: the more extravagant or bizarre the phrase or image, the easier it will be to remember it. For instance:
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Butter and coffee bean sandwich wrapped in an ethernet cable and pierced with a screwdriver.
386197 14 1 Step 4. Repeat and memorize the sentence or picture and then try to list the elements with it
You can use a phrase or image as a key to bring to mind what you have internalized.
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Butter and coffee bean sandwich wrapped in an ethernet cable and pierced with a screwdriver
=
butter, coffee beans, bread, ethernet cable and screwdriver bit
Method 4 of 5: Mnemonics
386197 15 1 Step 1. Consider the case of having to remember basic trigonometry
Imagine that for this task you need to remember how to find the sine, cosine and tangent of an angle at the base of a right triangle.
386197 16 Step 2. Learn about mnemonic techniques
Mnemonics is just a slightly strange word to describe learning processes that you may have been familiar with since elementary school. If you too have learned the number of days of the months with the phrase "Thirty days has November with April, June and September, there is one of twenty-eight, all the others have thirty-one", or you can remember the order of value of poker card suits just by saying "Like when it rains outside", then you have already used mnemonic techniques.
386197 17 Step 3. Know when mnemonics are useful
If the objects you need to remember are numerous and you can hardly fit them into a sentence or chorus, then this method of memorizing is not very useful. Memory techniques, such as linking, are best suited for short lists of objects that must comply with a certain pattern. For example, they are effective when you need to memorize a list of words, but not large lists of terms that don't have a clear organization, such as phone numbers or digits that make up pi.
386197 18 Step 4. Find a mnemonic pattern
This is a simple "key" phrase or chorus that brings to mind what you have memorized. For example, you can come up with a nonsense word that is easy to remember.
386197 19 Step 5. Practice remembering the mnemonics and the information they contain
Remember that these are a key to opening the "memory drawers". Cover the next part of the list in the picture, can you remember what the sentence means?
Method 5 of 5: Store for Association
386197 20 Step 1. Suppose you need to memorize the components of the M1911 gun carriage
Starting from the front and moving towards the back, here's the list of pieces you need to remember:
- Cart
- Barrel bushing
- Cane
- Striker
- Extractor
- Safety
386197 21 Step 2. Understand how the association method works
The human mind is very good at this. It is such a deep-rooted ability; in fact it is possible to use it to remember a lot of information. In this case you will create a kind of imaginary journey or path that allows you to associate the things you need to remember. Walking this "path" allows you to recall stored information.
386197 22 Step 3. Learn when the associative method is useful
This is a very powerful technique, especially if you have a lot of imagination. Throughout human history, people have used variations of this technique (such as imagining walking into a house of the mind, observing a room, or leafing through a book) to organize memories.
- Information that can be easily fragmented and organized according to a spatial criterion is suitable for remembering with the associative method; for example the verses of a poem, the pieces of a machine or the procedures for cooking eggs.
- Information that cannot be divided, such as the basic concept of abstract expressionism, the story of the War of the Roses, or how to ask someone out, is less suitable for this method.
386197 23 Step 4. Imagine a second set of memories and associate it with what you need to memorize
This second set will be the "mechanism" that will trigger the memory you need.
For this reason, if you have a list of single objects that are not associable with each other in any way, it will be difficult to organize a second list of memories that acts as a "code". In the example of the pistol, you can imagine a small man walking inside the magazine of the M1911 pistol
386197 24 Step 5. Mentally review the journey or path of your imaginary map by recalling the concepts you have internalized
This phase can be very particular or interesting, as well as simple and quick to revive the memories as you go through it. In the gun example, the little man walking into the magazine might say:
First we meet the barrel bushing and inside it we can see the barrel itself sticking out. As we proceed past the barrel and the front of the bolt we can see a small hole through which the firing pin is visible; at its on the left we find the extractor leaning against the side of the trolley. When we reach the back, finally, we find the safety
386197 25 Step 6. Practice walking and exploring your mind map
Focus and visualize your path a couple of times a day. The more you train, the easier it will be to remember.
386197 26 Step 7. Repeat what you have internalized through the mind map over and over
As you perform this visualization exercise, your mind will be able to improve and shape your imaginary code. However, this is not enough, you have to remember the individual components to be included in the "code". Try to "work backwards", starting from a list of objects and try to understand if you can make a mental path or a "code".
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