Techniques for memorizing information. Memorization and memory Using mnemonic systems

To successfully prepare for the session. But we decided not to stop there and introduce you to at least four more effective methods for quickly memorizing text or any other information. Read, think, choose the one that suits you.

All of the following techniques are based on repeated reading. But we are not talking about haphazard and thoughtless reading, but about deep work on the text.

Mastering the text in 4 repetitions: the OVOD method

The name consists of the first letters of the names of the main stages of text memorization:

1. ABOUT main thought. The text is read for meaningful perception and identification of main ideas, establishing relationships between them. There is no need to perceive everything in the text. If necessary, basic information is underlined or written out on a separate sheet of paper.
2. IN attentive reading. The second reading is characterized by increased attentiveness and thoughtfulness; you should pay attention to small details and details. The text is read slowly. The main task of this stage is to mentally link the details to the main thoughts. At the end of the stage, you need to try to remember the main thoughts and the details already attached to them.
3. ABOUT overview. The text is skimmed quickly, without in-depth reading. Viewing starts from the end. The reader mentally asks himself questions about the main points and tries to draw parallels with the information already received about the text. At this stage, a rough outline of the text is drawn up and the order of the main thoughts is remembered.
4. D vodka. Repetition of the text from memory in a certain sequence: they remember the main points, gradually moving on to the details. At this stage, if possible, you should avoid looking into the text. Then there is a re-reading with mental “notches” in those places that the reader missed or forgot. Why did it happen so? If the missing information is significant, it should be worked through.

Among all the methods of assimilation of information, this one is suitable for small texts.

Since new information is quickly forgotten after the initial introduction, it is worth repeating it a little later (a few hours later on the same day or the next). Over time, the dynamics of forgetting slow down.

Reading aloud and mental repetition: the OCHOG method

This method of quickly memorizing information is similar to the previous one, but it also has its differences.

An experiment was conducted at Kazan University, during which the subjects formed 4 groups. The task for everyone is to remember the text. In the first group, the text was read aloud 4 times. In the second, the text was read aloud 3 times and mentally retold once by the students. In the third, the text was read twice and retold twice mentally. In the fourth, the text was read aloud only once, and mentally retold 3 times by the listeners.

The results showed the greatest memorization efficiency among students of the fourth group. Students of the third group remembered information a little less effectively, students of the second group remembered the information worse than the others.

Thanks to this experiment, the OCHOG method appeared:

1. ABOUT orientation. When reading a text, it is important to understand its main idea. If necessary, write it down or underline it, repeating it in memory many times.
2. H shading. When reading again, the information is read more carefully, smaller details are highlighted, and a connection is established between them and the main ideas of the text. The main thoughts attached to details are repeated mentally several times.
3. ABOUT overview. A quick review of the text determines whether the main ideas and their connection to the details have been correctly identified. For a deeper understanding, you can ask questions to the main parts.
4. G great. A mental retelling is performed, and, if possible, out loud. At this stage, it is important to remember the main thoughts and answer the questions posed.

Try to keep the number of readings to a minimum. In this case, the number of mental repetitions can be absolutely any necessary for better assimilation in memory.

Methods for memorizing large amounts of information: Cicero’s method

The previous methods are suitable for working with small texts. But what to do if you need to quickly master and remember entire notes, books, works?

As you might have guessed, this technique was named after Marcus Tullius Cicero, a brilliant orator and great statesman of Rome who lived in 106-43. BC.

It was not only his smartest thoughts that brought fame to this man. In his speeches, he never used notes, reproducing from memory a huge number of dates, facts, quotes of historical events and names.

This is one of the best methods for remembering information due to its simplicity. It is also called room system or place method.

The idea is to mentally arrange the important facts in a certain order in a familiar room. Then, if necessary, you will just need to remember that very room to fish out the necessary information. It was this technique that Cicero himself was guided by when preparing for speeches: he mentally walked around his house, placing the main points of the speech in it as conveniently as possible for himself.

Before you start mastering the method, it is important to choose your own sequence of walking around the rooms, so as not to get confused in your own logic of placing information.

For your first acquaintance with memorizing information in this way, try to actually walk around your home, mentally arranging information in its place. Then it won’t be necessary to walk around the house; it’s enough to mentally repeat the route you’ve taken.

Here are some tips that will help you arrange the information correctly:

• The best place to start is in your own room. Take the door as a starting point, then follow the left-hand rule (examine everything on the left side in order) and slowly move further clockwise;
• when placing information sequentially, it is worth taking into account stationary objects that always stand in the same places (curtains, chandelier, floor lamp, sofa, picture, photo frame, cornice, shelves, etc.);
• You should use sequential movement not only from left to right, but also from top to bottom, since objects are often located one under the other (a carpet under a sofa, a table under a chandelier, etc.);
• If you need to remember multi-level lists, use not only your home, but also the homes of your relatives, friends, the lecture hall, and even well-studied routes from home to school, to the store, etc.

Over time, as you become more familiar with this method, you will be able to use increasingly smaller objects from rooms and find increasingly secluded places to store information in your memory. But at the very beginning it is better to limit yourself to the most noticeable objects in the room.

This method has proven itself well when working with large texts, daily routines, and remembering the order of phone calls. Moreover, if important information is somehow connected with each other, and is not just a meaningless set of data, then you can reuse the same room several times.

The Cicero method is great for memorizing numbers. True, you will first have to convert the numbers from an abstract form to a more concrete one in any convenient way. And only then you can use the objects into which the numbers were converted to fill the spaces in the room.

The huge advantage of this method is that 2-3 training sessions are enough to master it, unlike many other techniques. In addition, it can be used in absolutely any situation and anywhere. At the same time, the very place where you are at a particular moment (auditorium, dacha, museum, dean’s office) will serve as support and help for you. All you need is to remember in detail a familiar room or use the one you are in at the moment.

We invite you to practice and try to reproduce the words below from memory using Cicero’s method: float, napkin, curlers, grass, mirror, album, comb, book, cat, light bulb, matches, blanket, scissors, ladle. You can use the picture as a sample room:

This technique is one of the most effective methods for promoting effective memorization of text information.

Using visual memory: the pictogram method

A pictogram is a set of graphic images that a person comes up with himself for the purpose of memorizing and subsequently reproducing any words and expressions.

The pictogram method in psychology is often used to study, diagnose and strengthen memory in people with a “visual” image (visuals).

During the study of thinking using the pictogram method, the following plan was developed for working with text information:

1. The text highlights key words or short phrases that should be written down and underlined.
2. For each word or phrase, a pictogram is drawn - a kind of image that will later help you remember that particular word/phrase. The image here plays the role of visual association. When drawing, you should not use sketchiness or unnecessary details. The picture should not contain numbers or letters. The process of creating an image should not take more than 10-20 seconds. Example: to remember the phrase “hard work,” you can draw a hammer or a person bent under a heavy load. The phrase “merry holiday” can be associated with fireworks, flags, a Christmas tree, etc.

A pictogram cannot be right or wrong. This is an association that belongs specifically to you and was created to fulfill the main goal - to remind you of the word or phrase to which it was attached.

It is much easier to make a drawing for a specific object (ice cream, bear, nose) than for a process or abstract concept (development, longing, reflection). But even in this case, the issue can be easily resolved - you just need to assign them a more substantive association, transform them into something specific. For example, for the word “development” you can use the image of a spiral, for the word “melancholy” - a tear or an anti-smile, for “reflection” - a light bulb, etc.

There are also words of average complexity of specification, for example, a school can be depicted with a desk, a blackboard, a hospital with a bed or a red cross, etc.

Before you start using the pictogram method, you need to practice. This will allow you to get better at drawing and prepare for the immediate task.

Example exercise : Draw pictograms for the words below. Please note that words of different complexity are used here. Try to draw a picture so that after a few hours you can remember the word for which you created the picture.

After a few hours, try to reproduce all the words in accordance with their pictogram, and then reproduce the entire text, looking at your pictures. Using the pictogram method when preparing for exams, you can use a sheet of paper with pictures as a cheat sheet, which you won’t be afraid to put on your desk in real time. exam.

By the way! For our readers there is now a 10% discount on any kind of work.

Using an accumulation system: Atkinson's method

But Atkinson is confident that memory should improve gradually, without sudden jumps and overloads. Therefore, the only safe and proven method of strengthening memory is the accumulation method.

The scientist proposes to leave aside all artificial techniques, using only what nature itself has given us. The brain, like all muscles, needs training and gradual loads. As loads increase, memory efficiency will also increase.

The essence of the system is this:

1. Choose a text (optimally in poetic form). On the first day, 4 to 6 lines are learned by heart.
2. On the second day, they repeat yesterday’s learned lines and additionally learn 4 to 6 more lines.
3. On the third day, 4-6 new lines are added to those already learned.

The greater the number of repetitions, the better the new material is remembered.

It's okay if you peek at the book from time to time. Don’t be upset if you forget something: over time, your memory will increase and memorization will become easier.

After a month, double the amount of information you master. In another month, you can triple the amount of information.

Research has shown that as a result of using this technique:

• learned knowledge remains for a long time and easily emerges in memory,
• the ability to remember absolutely any thing improves all the time,
• With the help of willpower, any information is easily remembered.

The essence of this method is nothing other than repetition. It is better to conduct classes in the morning, since at this time of day our perception is still fresh. Train every day and you will see: within a month your brain will begin to remember many times more information.

What's important to remember?

Multiple unsystematic repetition of information is unproductive.

And your memory can and even should be trained! Memorizing something new is useful not only when preparing for exams, but also for life in general. Soon after starting to use the chosen technique, you can see how the brain begins to remember other information that we use in life: remembering telephone numbers, addresses, regulating incoming/outgoing correspondence and much more.

The secret is that after repeated training, the memory automatically begins to apply the skill of remembering more information. And this is without the use of any mnemonic techniques or training. However, it is still worth helping your brain from time to time by sorting important and unimportant information. For example, when preparing for an exam in a discipline that will not be useful to you in real life, there is no point in learning a lot of useless information. It is enough to ask for help from people who will do it for you.

And here you can watch a video on methods of memorizing OVOD and OCOG - the most popular way to increase memory:

Even people who are far from the learning process need to quickly remember some information from time to time - passwords, abstracts of a report, arrays of numbers. Schoolchildren and students almost every day are faced with the need to train their memory. Scientists have long proven that rote memorization is ineffective, and have come up with many different techniques.

Techniques for memorizing information

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Organization of information

Ordered information is much easier to remember than chaotic information. So, if you need to remember what to buy at the store, the easiest way is to make a list of several items. Remembering that there were 9 items on the list, your brain will search for the answer until all the items are mentally checked off.

Categorize what you need to remember. Returning to the list of products, it is much easier to divide it into several subgroups, guided, for example, by the departments in the store - dairy, fish, meat, grocery, rather than trying to fit a random set of products into memory.

Charts, tables, charts and graphs help you remember more complex information. By composing them, you not only sort and generalize, look for similarities and differences, but also access spatial memory, connecting it to the memorization process.

Visualize it

Visualization is a powerful memory aid. To name the objects in your room, you just need to mentally imagine a picture - the appearance of the room, and now you are ready to list everything without exception. A bright, clear mental image will help you remember names, routes, and information structured by keywords.

If you need to remember many names and associate them with faces, highlight a characteristic feature in each person that catches your eye, and mentally attach a “label” with the name to it. As you try to remember the route, put red ticks in your mind on any notable details you encounter along the way. Our brain “clings” best to strange, unusual images, so the more ridiculous the picture, the better. The technique of “snapshots” is based on the visualization technique, when things necessary for memorization are organized into a certain picture, from which a photograph is mentally taken.

If you are not a visual person, try to remember information using your usual channel of perception - through sounds, smells, sensations. So, when remembering the road, highlight not a bright detail, but the sound with which the tram crosses a bump on the rails, the smell of the bakery on the corner, and the like.

Rhyme

Young children remember the alphabet easily because it rhymes. There are hundreds of funny rhymes in the world that allow you to remember certain things - irregular verbs, body muscles, exception words. Come up with your own poems and the funnier the better, because our brain loves to “have fun” and it will remember a funny, ridiculous rhyming text better than necessary but serious information.

For example, in order to remember the stress in complex words, someone came up with the following rhyme: The phenomenon calls on Wednesdays. Having accepted the agreement over the years, he gave the airport's petition to the escort experts

Use abbreviations and acronyms

Abbreviations and acronyms keep information compact. It is easier to remember the USA than the United States of America; it is easier to remember GLONASS rather than the Global Navigation Satellite System. If, for example, you need to remember the names of rivers or mountain peaks, organize their first letters into a sonorous word, preferably one that evokes a pleasant association in you. Don’t try to give meaning to the abbreviation; if you can’t, it will still remain in your memory. For example, the meaningless word DAMAN, which denotes the order of stress in verses of three syllables, is still easier to remember than the fact that a verse in which the stress falls on the first syllable is called dactyl (DA), on the second - amphibrachium (AM), and on the third - anapest (AN).

How to memorize numbers and formulas

For those who constantly need to quickly memorize large arrays of numbers, a technique was invented in which each number corresponds to an image, selected according to the most convenient association for the memorizer. So, for someone, two is a swan, seven is a saber, four is a chair, and so on. To remember a series of numbers, come up with a story about them and fix it in your memory with the help of a bright picture. For example, 274 - this is a swan with a saber climbing onto a chair. Agree, this is not so easy to forget.

According to this technique, you can easily remember formulas by also presenting Latin letters and symbols (subtraction, addition, division, etc.) in the form of some animals or objects.

When memorizing just a long number, divide it into “pieces” of 3-4 digits. Scientists have long proven that this is the amount of information that is ideal for our brain.

Remember through “pleasant”

To remember something boring and uninteresting, try to find some bright, important pair for it. For example, if you love ancient Greek philosophy and you have to study Chinese history, remember that Confucius was 10 years younger than Socrates.

Make up stories

To remember a certain sequence, come up with short stories. For example, to quickly remember the order in which organisms are classified: - kingdom; - type; - Class; - squad; - family; - genus; - types, you can use the following sentence: “Tsar Timothy appreciated the kvass with juice, rum and vodka.”

Since ancient times, people have attached great importance to the ability to remember and retain information, rightly believing that a person’s success in any activity largely depends on it. In Antiquity, the process of memorization was considered a real art, patronized by one of the nine muses - Mnemosyne. Therefore, the art of preserving knowledge in memory was called mnemonics, and control techniques were called mnemonic, or mnemonics.

The process of memorization is the basis of our memory, and in order to master the art of mnemonics, you need to have a good understanding of how its laws work.

Have you ever noticed that our memory is selective? Some things are remembered easily and quickly, but some information, despite persistent cramming, just doesn’t want to stay in your head. The thing is that memorization works differently; in fact, there are two completely different types of memorization, subject to different laws.

Involuntary memorization

Thanks to it, a huge amount of information is stored in our memory, almost without any effort, and often unconsciously. Getting the necessary knowledge without putting any effort into it is the dream of all schoolchildren and students. However, in order for information to be remembered involuntarily, a number of conditions are required:

1. The main one is the following: we involuntarily remember what attracts our attention - bright, unusual information related to our interests or that has caused a strong emotional response.
2. Information included in an activity is easier to remember. That is, when we need knowledge not just for memorization (as often happens at school and university), but to perform professional duties or do what we love. In this case, the brain quickly evaluates the acquired knowledge as important and necessary, and it is consolidated in memory, and its constant participation in activity ensures long-term storage. Thus, the teacher teaching the course remembers the material faster and better than the student who listens to it.

Memory is associative in nature. This means that during the process of memorization, conditional-temporal connections (associations) arise in the brain between new and existing information. It acts as a kind of anchor that holds knowledge. But for this there must be a connection between the new and the old. In relation to completely new information that has no connections with our experience, involuntary memorization does not work.

And if these conditions are absent, then it is necessary to make an effort to remember and use different ones.

Voluntary memorization

Purposeful, deliberate preservation of information most often requires, especially if we need to save the received data for a long time.

Voluntary memorization has a multi-stage structure:

• Once on the first level of short-term memory, information is not stored for long, just long enough for the brain to assess its need and importance - from 30 seconds to several minutes.
• In order for knowledge to be consolidated and move to the level of long-term memory, the emergence of temporary connections between foci of excitation in the cerebral cortex is required.
• In the case of involuntary memorization, they arise on their own, but when there are no conditions for their occurrence, then we must take care of their purposeful creation.

That is, voluntary memorization involves various methods and techniques for consolidating and storing acquired knowledge in memory. Everyone knows one of these techniques and uses it all the time, starting from school. This is a technique of repetition. If new information is repeated several times, this causes repeated passage of a nerve impulse along the chain of neurons in the brain, and those same temporary connections are formed.

But this method is labor-intensive, ineffective and suitable only for small amounts of information. Try, for example, memorizing a psychology or physics textbook. Have you tried it yet? And how, was it successful? Most likely not, unless you have . In addition to being labor-intensive and ineffective, the method of repeated repetition leads to a situation where you feel as if your head is swollen from the abundance of information, and new knowledge is not absorbed. This is not due to the overflow of long-term memory - its volume is enormous. And with short-term and operational overload, which are associated with information processing.

If you want to master the art of mnemonics, then it is better to abandon the practice of memorization altogether and use more effective methods and techniques.

Associative figurative techniques

Methods of memorizing information, which are based on associative memory and, are considered the most ancient. These techniques arose when our ancestors still had poorly developed abstract logical thinking. Therefore, image-based memorization is simple, convenient, and even a small child can use it.

By the way, ancient associative-figurative techniques for memorizing and reproducing information are passed down from generation to generation and some have reached us. And I think you use them sometimes. These are the so-called memory knots. By tying a knot, making a cross on our palms, or winding a thread on our finger, we repeat what we must remember. At this time, an associative connection is established in our brain between the “node” sign and specific information. And then, as soon as we see this “knot,” something that we should have remembered immediately pops up in our heads.

In the distant past, there was even a knotted letter, where each knot tied in a special way meant a certain information block. And the man talked, fingered the wicker with knots, remembering what to talk about next. The role of “knots” could be played by shells, multi-colored pebbles, and drawings on a tablet.

Nowadays, no one remembers a large amount of information using “knots.” But some techniques related to the activation of associative-figurative thinking can be recommended.

Techniques for memorizing numbers

Many people have difficulty remembering numbers. The point is not only that this is abstract, most often dry information, but also that it does not require thinking. Unless, of course, it's a numerical example or a math problem. And what is not processed by the brain in any way, is not included in mental activity, is remembered worst of all.

If instead of numbers you use images associated with them, then the memorization process is significantly simplified, and active mental activity promotes memorization.

Association images are usually individual in nature; everyone can come up with their own, the main thing is that they are interesting and bright. For example, the number 32 is easy to remember because it means 3 cheerful geese. And if it is 732, then the geese follow the hunched over granny (number 7). The image for the number 31 can be a trio of horses driven by a coachman. But this picture can be created for the more complex number series 324-17-05: three cheerful geese were sitting on a chair, and a hunched over granny with a stick brought them a dish and a ladle.

The images should be as lively and moving as possible; try to create a meaningful picture, a kind of cartoon. This will significantly increase the efficiency of memorizing and subsequent reproduction of information.

If you are not good with imaginative thinking, then numbers can be associated with words that begin with the same letter or have as many letters as the number you need to remember. For example: 457 – “Peter loves fishing.”

Associations can be meaningful, and numbers are easier to remember if you link them (establish a connection) to the house and apartment number, day and year of birth, school number, etc.

Remembering names and word groups

Associative-figurative techniques are also suitable for remembering names. The principle here is still the same - establishing connections and associations with images that have arisen in the brain.

The success of this technique is possible only if the associations, firstly, are vivid, and secondly, associated with a specific person. For example: Mikhail Belov is a polar bear. This is the simplest option. But Irina Stroganova is more complicated. What can you come up with here? Strict and vulnerable (if the characteristics match), slender and ruddy, scary and swearing, whittling and drawing, etc.

Often there is a problem with remembering a list of unrelated words. When memorizing, you need to establish a figurative or semantic connection between them. For example, listing the items we need to buy: bread, sugar, printer paper, thread and nails. We make up a sentence: “Bread and sugar, wrapped in paper and tied with threads, hang on a nail.”

Memorizing text

Large text is, of course, more difficult to remember, and you should not try to learn it word for word. Associative-figurative techniques will help in this case too. These include Cicero’s famous “Roman Room” method, which can be used to memorize the text of a message, report or speech at a seminar. Its essence is as follows.

Carefully read the text of the message, at the same time breaking it into small pieces - semantic parts. Each part should contain a key idea that can be summarized in a short phrase. By the way, just this elaboration of the text will help you remember it.

Imagine a room that is familiar to you, for example, your own apartment with all the furnishings, furniture, accessories, etc.

• Enter the apartment.
• Start reading the text again and at the same time “laying out” selected pieces of text on different pieces of furniture, not forgetting to repeat the main ideas. For example, you will place the introduction on the mirror on the right, and the next passage on the nightstand under the mirror. You will place the next part on the shoe rack. Remember what it's about? Then move from the hallway into the room and continue laying out the text.
• Having placed all the semantic pieces, look around the apartment again, check if they are all in their places, using short phrases-ideas for this.
• Then imagine walking out the door and locking it so that no one can change the order of the pieces.

This method is very effective, but it only works if you can speak well enough, that is, coherently express your thoughts on the merits of the matter, and know the terminology if you have a scientific message. After all, you didn’t memorize your report word for word.

The Roman Room method of Cicero is also called the method of places. It is based not only on figurative-associative memorization, but also on semantic one. Semantic techniques are currently considered basic for memorizing large amounts of textual information.

Method of semantic memorization

This type of memorization is based on one of the fundamental laws of memory: in order for information to be preserved, the brain must work on it. And semantic memorization presupposes active mental work on the material. And this, by the way, does not like the method for those who would like to learn how to assimilate complex information easily, without making any effort. It doesn't happen that way. Mastering any activity requires effort, and mnemonic is no exception.

Semantic techniques relate primarily to memorizing text. They are largely individual and depend both on the characteristics of a person’s thinking and on the nature of the material that needs to be remembered. But there are a few general rules that should be followed:

• Remember that you need the information you want to remember. Convince yourself of this. Nothing interferes with the acquisition of knowledge more than the belief that it is useless.
• Try to understand and comprehend the text. If the presentation is too complex, then, while reading, “translate” it into a language more convenient for you.
• Do not cling to individual words, phrases, formulations. Focus on remembering the meaning, and this is impossible without understanding.
• Highlight the main thoughts and don’t be lazy to draw up a plan. It will help you comprehend the text and sort out the main semantic units. Maintain a logical sequence when moving from point to point; awareness of the connections between points reduces the amount of time for memorization.
• Supplement your main ideas with examples; they are always remembered better than dry theoretical formulations. If there are not enough examples in the text, come up with them yourself. Use your experience, information from books, films, and professional activities.
• Ask questions, they perfectly activate thinking and help in understanding complex material. Reason, argue with the author and with yourself. Imagine an invisible interlocutor and discuss the most controversial issues with him.
• Always take notes. Firstly, this will allow you to focus on the main thing, because you will not write down everything, but only the essential ones. Second, writing in a more organized and linear manner will allow you to organize and organize the information you remember. Thirdly, writing also connects motor memory to semantic memory, which significantly increases the efficiency of memorization.

Some may find these tips too complicated. But if you form the habit of working with any text in this way, then everything will be remembered easily and simply, and it will take a little time. At least less than reading the same text three times. And the efficiency of storing information will be much higher.

Do not forget that semantic memorization requires well-developed, free speech and a decent vocabulary. But you will also develop this quality if you follow the tips on organizing semantic memorization.

Acceptance of versification

Along with the well-known and common mnemonic techniques, there are quite original, but also effective. One of these methods is the method of versification - this is rhyming, versification. I think you have noticed that a poem is easier to remember than a prose text. The main reason here is rhyme (although rhythm also matters). Rhymes play the role of hooks that draw out the next line. In this case, association connections are also established, but they are of a sound and rhythmic nature.

This technique is widely used in school to remember rules and laws. For example, the well-known phrase “Pythagorean pants are equal on all sides” helps to remember that the square of the hypotenuse of a triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of its legs. And this is from Russian:

Drive, hold, look and see,
breathe, hear, hate
and depend, and twirl,
both to offend and to endure.
You will remember, friends,
They cannot be conjugated with “e”.

In general, the versification technique can be used to memorize any small amount of information. For example, sequences of colors in the rainbow spectrum: “How Once Jacques the Bell-Ringer Broke the Lantern with His Head.” This rhyming line is less known, but more interesting than the usual one: “Every Hunter Wants to Know Where the Pheasant Sits.”

And this is the order of the planets in the solar system: “We Know, Yulia’s Mom Sat on Pills in the Morning.” But we can recommend coming up with rhyming memos for those who generally like to write poetry.

Very often, after studying information about mnemonic techniques, people chuckle skeptically and are in no hurry to use them. Why? Not because they don’t believe in their effectiveness, but because they believe that it’s easier and faster to repeat them 25 times than to write a poem, draw up a plan, or come up with a bright, lively picture, much less think about a complex and tedious text. This is what you need to think about!

That's it! Why do you need meaninglessly boring, fragmentary (all of it won’t be remembered anyway) information? The techniques proposed here are not just mnemonics, they develop thinking and create the habit of correct, meaningful memorization. With their help, you can truly master the art of mnemonics.

Video version of the article:

From the moment homosapiens came down from the tree, took a stick and began to arrange their habitat, they were faced with the need to accumulate experience and pass it on to the younger generation.

Before the advent of writing, information was passed down orally from father to son. In this regard, there was a need to use techniques that would help memorize large amounts of information.

During this time, humanity has come up with a huge number of memorization techniques, ranging from rhyming new information to advanced mnemonic techniques and methods.

In this article we will talk about the pros and cons of some of them. We will also discuss what an effective memorization system should be.

IMPORTANT: The essence of any memorization technique comes down to creating connections between memorized information.
Why is that? Read the article “How does our memory work?” .

So let's begin.

Memory technique #1. Rhyming

Based on the title, I think you understand what we are talking about. The essence of the method comes down to composing poems from memorized information. This method has several significant disadvantages.

First, you must have the talent of A.S. Pushkin in order to rhyme, for example, a sequence of several dozen numbers. Secondly, this method is not intended for quickly memorizing a large amount of information.

On the plus side... . Perhaps only the development of poetic skills.

Example:
a) You need to remember the sequence of numbers 8,9,3,4,6,7,2,4,5.
To do this, we make up a rhyme.
Eight, nine, three, four
I'm alone in my apartment
Six, seven, two, four, five
I'm going to look for you

Memory technique No. 2. Writing a story or story

This method is easy to use and does not require special skills. Its essence boils down to compiling a story in which the characters will be visual images associated with memorized information.

For example, you need to remember the same shopping list - milk, cheese, loaf, apples, soap. To do this, we are writing a story in which the main characters will be products from our list.

Example:
Imagine...
You open the door to the store and... here, you are picked up by a wave of a milk river that flows out of the open doors. You miraculously manage to grab onto a piece of cheese floating by. Holding on to the saving cheese, you swim to an unusual island on which, instead of leaves on the trees, loaves grow. You feel hungry, pick up a stone from the ground to try to knock down a loaf, and then the stone turns into a juicy red apple. Are you surprised. Bring the apple to your mouth and want to taste it. You bite and realize that you have a bar of soap in your mouth. Wince. You throw it aside.

This is the story we have. A little crazy, but it gets the job done. We remembered the shopping list.

This method has a peculiarity - the more unusual the story, the better you will remember it. Now about the advantages and disadvantages of this method.

Pros:
- easy to use;
- does not require special training;
- quite versatile.

Minuses:
- large time costs;
- limitation in the amount of data to be remembered (for example, a list of 20 or 30 elements will be difficult to remember).

Memory technique No. 3. Compiling phrases using the first letters

You are familiar with this technique of memorizing information from school. To remember the colors of the rainbow, you were asked to learn the following phrase: Every Hunter Wants to Know Where the Pheasant Sits. Essentially, this phrase encodes a sequence of colors - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Light Blue, Indigo, Violet.

This technique has limited use. It is mainly used to remember a sequence of abstract concepts that cannot be represented in the form of visual images. For example, a list consisting of the words: love, happiness, peace, gratitude, respect, is better remembered using this technique. Since these words do not have visual images. In all other cases, it is advisable to use other techniques.

Memory technique No. 4. Cicero's method

This technique has many names: “Cicero Method”, “Place Method”, “Cicero Road”, “Location Method”, etc. This method has a long history and is one of the most ancient techniques for memorizing information.

The essence of this technique comes down to the following. You choose a well-known room. Select objects that are in the room. Moreover, in a certain sequence clockwise or counterclockwise. For example, in a room clockwise there is a table, a bookcase, a bed, a TV, a bedside table.

Subsequently, when memorizing the list, we mentally superimpose images of the things being remembered onto the selected interior items.

We place the milk on the table. We will have cheese on the shelf of the bookcase. There is a loaf of bread on the bed, covered with a blanket:) A branch with an apple hangs from the TV screen, and there is a bar of soap on the nightstand.

When connecting an image with an interior item, we mentally fix the connection for 5 seconds. After that we move on to the next image.

Subsequently, in order to remember the grocery list, we mentally move around the room along a predetermined route from one item to another.

Unlike previous techniques, this method has many advantages and is effectively used in many modern information storage systems.

Firstly, it is a high speed of memorizing information. Provided that you have previously formed a system of auxiliary images on which new information will subsequently be recorded.

Secondly, the volume of memorized information is limited only by the number of interior items - auxiliary images. And their number is limitless, because you can constantly expand the volume of your spatial memory.

So, this article presents some of the techniques for memorizing information. Each of them has positive and negative sides. Experience has shown that an effective memory system incorporates the best of each technique.

Author's techniques for memorizing information

This is a fairly broad area that includes both highly specialized and universal methods of memorizing information.

Highly specialized techniques are maximally adapted for working with a certain type of information: numbers, maps, foreign languages, etc. Such techniques have well-developed image templates that can significantly increase the speed of memorizing information. Similar techniques are used by participants in speed memory competitions, or by specialists in a narrow professional field.

Universal mnemonic techniques allow you to work with various types of information, which is more preferable in everyday life. Having understood the general ideas and principles of memory, you can form your own technique for memorizing information, which will be completely adapted to your characteristics and needs.

If you want to master a universal, EFFECTIVE author’s system for memorizing information, I recommend paying attention to the section

If you need to remember some numbers for a long time, then you can use the following mnemonics:

Association with other familiar numbers. Dale Carnegie advises remembering dates by associating them with significant dates that you know. For example, it is easy to remember that the Battle of Kulikovo took place exactly 600 years before the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.

Shedd system (Shed system). Small numbers, for example, historical dates or short telephone numbers, can be learned by composing a special phrase, each word in which is in a strictly defined order and has the number of letters corresponding to the memorized number. For example, if you want to remember the number 467, then you need to come up with a phrase in which the first word will consist of 4 letters, the second - of 6, and the third word - of 7 letters. Thus, the number 467 corresponds to the phrase “an elephant gallops” (4, 6 and 7 letters, respectively). A zero in this system often corresponds to a word of 10 or any number of letters.

Rhymes. It is often convenient to memorize a large number of numbers by creating rhymes or poems. This method is suitable if you need to remember certain numbers for a long time, having the opportunity to spend some time on it. This way you can easily remember which signs come after the decimal point in the number “Pi”.

Remembering names and faces

Very often we need to remember people we just met. We all tend to be kind to those who remember our name. In order to quickly and accurately remember the names and faces of people, there are the following mnemonics.

Show interest in a person, chat a little, addressing him by name. There are several memorization rules at work here. Firstly, you show interest in the person, and also receive information about him, which can serve as the basis for building associations with him. Secondly, you repeat his name several times, which also improves memorization.

Association with another person well known to you with the same name. For example, many of us will easily remember a person's name if he is your namesake. It is also easy to remember the names of people who coincide with the names of your parents and good friends. But even if you don’t know the name of the person you need to remember, try to remember famous personalities with the same names: actors, politicians, musicians.

Selection of other modifications of his name. For example, the name Alexander has several modifications: Sasha, San, Shura. Once the person has introduced himself, try silently naming several modifications of his name.

Writing the name. Think about how a person's name is written - imagine it visually. How many letters are there in this name? What is the first letter? The answers to these questions will further cement the image of the person’s name in your visual perception. If possible, you can even write the person's name on the paper to enhance the perception.

Remembering last names. You can remember last names using mnemonic techniques based on visual associations. You need to start by searching for a mental replacement or modification of the surname. For example, my surname Buyanov can be associated with Buyan Island from children's fairy tales, as well as with a violent temperament. Then some noticeable feature of the person is selected, for example, a facial feature or character trait (which is more suitable for the Buyanov surname), which needs to be tied to the selected surname association.

Memorizing foreign languages

Language mnemonics will be useful for memorizing words, expressions, grammatical rules, verb forms, etc.

Method of phonetic associations (MPA). This method appeared due to the fact that in all languages ​​of the world there are words or parts of words that sound the same, but have different meanings. Moreover, in different languages ​​there are words that have a common origin. For example, the word look can be remembered by associating it with the similar-sounding Russian word “onion.” And when cutting an onion, we cannot “look” at it, because our eyes water.

Method of interaction of all sensations (MSI). This mnemonic approach is useful for those who want to become fluent in a foreign language. If words don't come to your mind automatically, you won't be able to speak the language fluently. Therefore, the main thing is not to memorize a foreign word as a translation of a native word, but to immediately associate the foreign word directly with the corresponding concept. To learn the word “cup,” imagine a cup with a handle, and holding the image in your mind, say “cup” several times, trying not to remember the word “cup.”