A link is one of the best ways to remember a list of things. The link strategy is best suited for learning lists of things. The person forms an image for each item in a list of things to be learned. Then, you picture each image as interacting with the next item on the list so that all items link in imagination. To illustrate, suppose a person needed to remember to take her laptop, IPad, briefcase, customer report, power cord, and laser pointer home this evening. She could imagine a scene in which she tucks the customer report inside the laptop. The laptop is inside the briefcase. The iPad is on top of the briefcase and with the power cord wrapped around the briefcase and iPad. At the end of her workday, she mentally unwraps the interactive image that makes it probable that recall of any item on the list will queue recall for the others.
A story is easy for you to create and remember
Using stories to remember is also a simple and effective memory strategy. This simple mnemonic is a use of stories constructed from a list of words that one wants to remember. In this method, the story highlights the words of importance. When the person recalls the story, they also recall the words of importance.
For example, suppose a student is required to bring scissors, a three ring binder, a calculator, and a red marker pencil to school. In order to remember these items the student could construct the following story to help her or he remember these items. “A king put his calculator in a three ringer binder and draws a red bullseye on the binder with his red marker. Afterwards the king throws his scissors into the bullseye.
Should you use acronyms to improve your memory?
Among all mnemonics, the one that people most often report using is the first letter method. It is similar to the story mnemonic except it involves using the first letters of the pertinent words to construct acronyms. For illustration suppose a high school student is trying to remember that borax is made of boron, oxygen, and sodium. The student would take the first letter of each component and construct the word BOS. Then when he or she attempts to recall borax she or he will simply remember the word BOS and generate the ingredients from each letter in the word.
The basis for this post comes from Byrnes, J. P. (2009). Cognitive development and learning in instructional contexts. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.