Memorization? TECHNIQUES!!

Memorization! Most difficult aspect of student life for me. I wish the education system changes so as to require less memorization. 

But till then I'll give you useful tips for that.

A WRITE UP on memorization based on scientific evidence

There are 6 techniques: 

1. Revision at specific intervals

2. Association /Mnemonics

3. Loci technique

4. Chunking

5. Images/Visuals

6. Emotional response

1. We all know revision is important! But there is a science behind it!

Curve below shows how fast we forget anything we learn. We need to stop this forgetting process by an effective & scientifically researched revision schedule.

👉 Revision Schedule

Whatever you study today, revise it specifically at following times:

a) Tomorrow

b) In a week

c) After 1, 2 & 6 months

👉 With every revision

-Forgetting slows

-We remember more

- Information persists in memory leading to very high recall

    

2. Association: 

Forming associations with things we know or a sentence in a story format or Acronyms or Songs

Eg: Countries on equator can be remembered like below 

More you associate, easier it is to remember

Mnemonics:

The most used technique by many students ! It sticks to the mind once you remember it.

Remember:

- VIBGYOR for rainbow colors

- Below image for planets 

- Make your own song or ryhmes

3. Loci technique: -Useful for remembering sequence of anything -Create a mental journey. Eg. thru your house. -You go from Front Entrance to Bedroom, then to the Kitchen, then Dining room and finally washroom.  

-Place each item of information on each stop of journey

👉 Technique of 'Memory Palace'

Since you know the journey, if you associate each item of information with each stop, u will remember the sequence. 

 In the image below, see a journey which you may be taking every day. Hence you would know the stops

                               

4.  Chunking

- To remember a phone number, we remember it as 89-920-32-435 and not as single digits

- According to research, working (short-term) memory of  human brain can store 4 different things on average.

- By chunking, we increase it many fold by memorizing 4 chunks.

5. Images/Videos See information in images/videos . If visuals aren't available, create your own mind-maps with short pieces of information. Images are captured by the brain differently. You will be able to recollect the entire image.  

Check out magic hexagon below

6. Emotion:  Intensity of emotion attached to our mental state when we first encounter a fact has a large impact on learning. 

👉 Corollary: Study with extreme passion. History as if you yourself are a character of history. Geography as if a volcano is erupting around you.