Ten Steps to Boost Your Memory

There are many simple and effective strategies that can help boost your memory for important information. Before reading further, flip back to Chapter 1 and review the research-based study strategies described there. (You do remember those suggestions, don’t you?) Knowing what you now know about human memory, you should have a better understanding of why those strategies are effective. To recap, those strategies included the following:

Want to improve your memory? Read on for ten simple and effective memory-boosting techniques.

1. Commit the necessary time.

The more time you spend learning material, the better you will understand it and the longer you will remember it. Budget enough time to read the assigned material carefully. If you read material faster than you can comprehend it, you not only won’t understand the material, you also won’t remember it.

2. Organize the information.

We have a strong natural tendency to organize information in long-term memory into categories. You can capitalize on this tendency by actively organizing information you want to remember. One way to accomplish this is by outlining chapters or your lecture notes. Use the chapter headings and subheadings as categories, or, better yet, create your own categories. Under each category, list and describe the relevant terms, concepts, and ideas. This strategy can double the amount of information you can recall.

3. Elaborate on the material.

You’ve probably noticed that virtually every term or concept in this text is formally defined in just a sentence or two. But we also spend a paragraph or more explaining what the concept means. To remember the information you read, you have to do the same thing—engage in elaborative rehearsal and actively process the information for meaning (see page 234). Actively question new information and think about its implications. Form memory associations by relating the material to what you already know. Try to come up with examples that relate to your own life.

4. Explain it to a friend.

After you read a section of material, stop and summarize what you have read in your own words. When you think you understand it, try explaining the information to a friend or family member. As you’ll quickly discover, it’s hard to explain material that you don’t really understand! Memory research has shown that explaining new material in your own words forces you to integrate the new information into your existing knowledge base—an excellent way to solidify new information in your memory (Kornell, 2008).

5. Use visual imagery.

Two memory codes are better than one (Paivio, 1986). Rather than merely encoding the information verbally, use mental imagery (Carretti & others, 2007; Sadoski, 2005). Much of the information in this text easily lends itself to visual imagery. Use the photographs and other illustrations to help form visual memories of the information.

6. Reduce interference within a topic.

If you occasionally confuse related terms and concepts, it may be because you’re experiencing interference in your memories for similar information. To minimize memory interference for related information, first break the chapter into manageable sections, then learn the key information one section at a time. As you encounter new concepts, compare them with previously learned concepts, looking for differences and similarities. By building distinct memories for important information as you progress through a topic, you’re more likely to distinguish between concepts so they don’t get confused in your memory.

7. Counteract the serial position effect.

The serial position effect is the tendency to have better recall of information at the beginning and end of a sequence. To counteract this effect, spend extra time learning the information that falls in the middle. Once you’ve mastered a sequence of material, start at a different point each time you review or practice the information.

8. Use contextual cues to jog memories.

Ideally, study in the setting in which you’re going to be tested. If that’s not possible, when you’re taking a test and a specific memory gets blocked, imagine that your books and notes are in front of you and that you’re sitting where you normally study. Simply imagining the surroundings where you learned the material can help jog those memories.

9. Use a mnemonic device for remembering lists.

A mnemonic device is a method or strategy to aid memory. Some of the most effective mnemonic devices use visual imagery (Foer, 2011). For example, the method of loci is a mnemonic device in which you remember items by visualizing them at specific locations in a familiar setting, such as the different rooms in your house or at specific locations on your way to work or school. To recall the items, mentally revisit the locations and imagine the specific item at that location.

Another mnemonic that involves creating visual associations is the peg-word method. First, you learn an easily remembered list containing the peg words, such as: 1 is bun, 2 is shoe, 3 is tree, 4 is door, 5 is hive, 6 is sticks, 7 is heaven, 8 is gate, 9 is vine, 10 is a hen, and you can keep going as needed. Then, you create a vivid mental image associating the first item you want to remember with the first peg word, the next item with the next peg word, and so on. To recall the list, use each successive peg word to help retrieve the mental image.

10. Finally, sleep on it to help consolidate those memories.

As we discussed in Chapter 4 (see pages 144–145), numerous studies have demonstrated that sleep helps you consolidate new memories. (Don’t try this as an excuse in class.) A good night’s sleep also helps you integrate new memories into existing networks, making it more likely that you’ll recall the new information when you need to (Stickgold & Walker, 2013). In other words, all-night cram sessions just before an exam are one of the least effective ways to learn new material.