CREATED BY: EMILY SORENSON

Memory and Comprehension Improvement

MnemonicsAn invented, contrived relationship between items to be learned.

When to use it: When meaning-centered approaches to learning are not

effective. When there is complex information to be learned that has no

internal organization structure.How they work:

External associations Visualization Easy to create, store, and retrieve.

Rhymes, jingles, phrases, invented words. Most widely used methods:

-The Method of Loci-Use of First-Letter Mnemonics

-Narrative Chaining-Pegword method

-Chunking

The Method of LociTo use this use The Method Of Loci you establish a strong

memory of an exact route, pathway, or journey.

Associate the items or part of a story with particular objects or locations along the path.

The door by which you leave is a proton. The bicycle rack outside the door is a neutron. The fire hydrant a the beginning of the sidewalk is an atom. The group of students you pass is composed of molecules. The gymnasium is full off organelles. The math building is full of organisms. The student union is full of happy families. The building in which your class meets today is a community. The classroom, full of eager students, is a society.

Use of First-Letter Mnemonics

The anchor for the memory in Use of First-Letter Mnemonics is the first letter of each item to be recalled.

Never eat soggy waffles.

Please excuse my dear aunt Sally.

Narrative ChainingNarrative Chaining takes the concepts to be learned and weaves them into

some sort of memorable story. This might incorporate the parts of the brain, in order from the front to the back.

Example: “John got into his car, turned on the very large motor, and drove to a restaurant. The

smells sent him into somatosensory overload, and his

auditory reaction startled all those within visual range.”

Pegword MethodThe Pegword Method is similar to The Method of Loci, this method

involves visually relating new terms and concepts to a series of images already stored in long-term memory.

This method would work best for vocabulary. This method allows access to any item learned without the necessity of repeating the whole

sequence, unlike The Method of Loci. Once is a bun; two is a shoe; Three is a tree; four is a door;

Five is a hive; six is sticks; Seven is heaven; eight is a gate

Nine is wine; ten is a hen.

Good Old Reliable Chunking

*Most useful memory device.* Chunking is not a mnemonic but it organizes information into manageable “chunks” through either

internal or external relationships of information sets.

Chunks: Sets of interrelated information, organized by meanings or positions, which facilitate learning and memory.

We use chunking when information has no intrinsic meaning. Unlike Mnemonics, chunking is a terrific way to remember sets of information that are related by meaning. Chunking reduces the number of items the memory must hold,

while at the same time shoes interrelationships of issues and ideas.Example:

Alphabet, Phone Numbers, Social Security Numbers, Student ID numbers, License Plate Numbers

Example: Amendment 1: This amendment ensures civil liberties – freedom of speech, press, and

the right to petition the government. Amendments 2-4: These enumerate issues about armies (militia), the right to bear

arms; no more keeping soldiers in your home (quartering); no illegal searches and seizures.

Amendments 5-8: These set up rules for the court system. Amendments 9: The people retain their rights.

Amendment 10: Powers not specifically given to the federal government go to the states.

Cited Sources Bixby, Mary K. "Chapter 2/ Memory and

Comprehension Improvement." Learning in College: I Can Relate. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,

2000. 51-53. Print.

VanPatten, Bill, Michael J. Leeser, and Gregory D. Keating. Sol Y Viento: Beginning Spanish. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. Print.

Cugel2006. "YouTube - Mnemonic Wizards: Incredible Feats of Memory." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 10

Sept. 2007. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vsYCSmBcM0>.