Mnemonic Devices: The Ultimate Study Tip

By Brittany Loeffler on April 29, 2017

While attending college, you are bombarded with new information every single day. When you take five classes each semester for just 15 weeks, it can be confusing, especially if the content is fairly similar. When it comes to exam time, all of that information may be jumbled and scrambled in your brain.

To ensure that you pass your exams, use mnemonic devices when studying. If you have taken an introductory psychology class, you have probably learned about this concept when studying memory and the brain. A mnemonic device is a system that assists your memory in recalling specific information. Acronyms, music, rhyming, and images are just some examples of mnemonic devices.

via Pixabay

Acronyms

Let’s take it back to elementary school. An acronym is when the first letters in a sequence of words are used to make a new word. You use acronyms every day, especially if you are accustomed to using text lingo. For example, ASAP is an acronym for “as soon as possible.”

When you take a sequence of words or topics you must remember for an exam and make it into an acronym, it will be easier to recall these words.

Chunking

Chunking is exactly how it sounds. When you have a lot of information, it can be overwhelming to remember it all at once, so break it down into smaller sections. If you have a sequence of 10 numbers (1234567890) you must remember, break them down into smaller chunks, 123-456-7890.

See what happened there? You use chunking every day when you pick up the phone and dial a phone number. This sequence of ten numbers is broken down into three chunks to make it easier to remember and read when dialing.

via Pixabay

Music

You have probably heard the phrase, “If I could remember this information like I remember the lyrics to my favorite songs, I would have an A+” plenty of times. Well, why not turn this information into a song? I’m not talking about a full out song with a chorus and melody, but a little jingle to remember the information.

Television and radio ads take advantage of people remembering musical melodies and tunes by incorporating jingles into their advertisements. How many times have you had the McDonald’s jingle stuck in your head or the Empire Today jingle that has their phone number in it? It’s extremely effective, it just takes a little time to come up with the tune and how to organize the information.

Sentence Expressions

Similar to an acronym, coming up with silly sentences using the first letters of a sequence of information is also helpful. For example, to remember the order of operations for math, the sentence “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” can be used to remember that the order is parentheses, exponents, multiply, divide, add, and subtract.

You may have also used this technique when learning the order of the planets in elementary school: “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles.” Unfortunately, the “P” has been taken out, because well, we all know how NASA betrayed us there.

Rhyming

Similar logic to turning your study material into a song, rhyming will also help you remember the information. This can be a whole poem or just one sentence. It may not even contain the vocabulary words you need to remember, but as long as it reminds you of what is being studied.

For example, when students are learning how to spell (and when adults forget how to spell sometimes) the rhyming mnemonic “I before E except after C” can be used. This rhyming sentence contains all of the information you may need when spelling “receive” or “piece.”

via Pixabay

Images

Associate your information with an image. If you have to remember a sequence of events for a history class, picture a timeline with dates and maybe related images to each event. This visual will help you to recall the events.

If you do not want to come up with your own picture or graphic, look for famous pictures you would know anywhere and can picture. Designate specific objects in the picture to represent different pieces of information.

via Pixabay

Flashcards

Flashcards are the classic studying method most college students will use. Notecards are great for organizing your notes and chunking the course into smaller materials. Not only does the repeated process of going through your notecards help you memorize the information, but it is helpful because you can picture the front of the notecard and hopefully recall the information on the back of it.

Mind Mapping

This may be a little more difficult for some students. Picture a page of your notes, or rewrite a chapter’s worth of notes to fit on one page. Use different colors, highlighting, and organization on this page. Try to “photograph” this page into your mind. With the different colors and different styles, you will be able to remember the information better because it will stand out. Associate different styles or colors to each section of your notes.

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