Dean of Students' Office

MEMORY TRAINING

Human beings are capable of extraordinary feats of memory. Even the 'memory
experts' agree that their skill was not all due to an inborn ability, but was developed
through the use of various techniques, and considerable practice.

Like the experts, you too can improve your memory. In the next few pages, several
steps will be presented which, if learned and practised, can make your studying not only
easier but more rewarding.

Steps for memory training

Have you studied for hours trying to memorise material for a test and then gone
'blank'? To help you reduce 'blanking out', practise the following memory strategies. If
test taking anxiety is severe, practice relaxation exercises.

Overview of Memory Training Steps

• Spread your memory work over several sessions

Step 1
Spread memory work

Sometimes students think that the longer they study, the more they will learn.
Unfortunately, the reverse is true. Shorter periods of memory work - not more than
two hours each - are far superior to six hours of frantic cramming.

Remember!
Reviewing memory work within 24 hours of the first study session is the most effective
way to master the material.
Step 2
Recite material aloud

When you are studying or memorising, recite the answers to your study questions aloud
so that you can hear the answer. Don't simply recite the answer in your head! That's a
beginning, but only a beginning.

Research studies show that answering questions aloud improves recall by at least 80 per
cent!

Question yourself aloud and answer yourself aloud.

If you study in a group or with a friend, quizzing one another will improve recall.
Although your memory may begin to fail on a test, the voice of the person you studied
with will often come through loudly and clearly.

Use all your senses

The more senses you involve in the learning process, the longer you will remember.

See it Read and visualise the material.

Say it Answer questions aloud that you formulate from your class notes. Use
the cues in the recall column of your textbook and your notes to help you
ask yourself study questions.

Write it Write answers to questions from your study notes. Outline major points
from the text.

Repeat it Repeat this entire process until you have mastered the material.

Step 3
Expect to remember

Make a decision to remember! As obvious as this seems, many students fail to realise
the power of an intent to recall. Because you want to remember a favourite song, you
can easily repeat the lyrics word for word. If you want to remember, you will.

Your attitude is the secret. Believe in yourself and in our ability to learn.
Step 4
Organise the material

People who recall long lists of numbers often can do so because they have found a
pattern or a relationship.

Look at this string of numbers and take a moment to try to memorise the list.

3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24

(a) What is the pattern in this string of numbers?

______________________________________________________________

(b) Do you see a pattern to these numbers?

6 13 19 24 28 31 33 34

(c) Create categories to organise visualisations or maps of the information.

If you were trying to remember the names of students in one of your classes, how would
you organise the material? Write your answer below.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Answers:
(a) Increasing by 3 each time
(b) Increasing by 7, by 6, by 5, etc. in a regular sequence each time.
(c) Perhaps you would use the same technique teachers use: they make seating
charts and remember students by rows and specific seat location
Step 5
Test and retest yourself

If you had to learn 10 definitions for class tomorrow, how could you test yourself?
Would you write the definitions over and over or read the list aloud 20 times? Neither
method is the best choice.
Instead, follow this self-testing process:

1. Memorise the first item.

2. Go on to the second item and memorise it.

3. Now repeat the first item and the second from memory.

4. When you know those two, go to the third.

5. Memorise the third item and repeat items one, two, and three.

6. Continue in this manner until all 10 definitions have been learned.

DON'T FORGET TO USE ALL YOUR SENSES

Step 6
Over-learn

Revise material that you have learned several times. When final examinations or half-
term come round, you will have mastered material that you have encoded for long-term
recall. In maths classes, rework the model or sample five or more times to encode the
correct process deeply.

• Commercials can haunt you for years because of the constant repetition of a jingle
or song.

Review of memory techniques

A. The eight memory strategies

1. Spread memory work over several sessions

2. Recite material aloud

3. Expect to remember - assume a positive attitude

4. Organise material to be memorised into a logical pattern

5. Test and retest regularly

6. Over-learn

7. Use hooks, catchwords and silly sentences

8. Do memory work before sleeping

1. Use chronological time lines to remember dates

2. Sketch trees and fill in the branches with material to be learned

3. Use flow charts to remember things in sequence

4. Create a study map

5. Make sun shapes or clocks to remember the relation on various items

6. Cluster thoughts in an outline format

7. When there are ten or fewer items to learn, use hand prints

C. Review this section of study skills strategies often