Various techniques of representing learning material that make it easier to retain it in memory. Most popular mnemonic techniques are: mind mapping and peg lists. These techniques make use of the power of the visual cortex to simplify the complexity of memories. Thus simpler memories can be stored more efficiently. For example, a number can be remembered as a picture. This will make it easier to retrieve it from memory. Mnemonic techniques should be used in conjunction with active recall to actually be beneficial. For example it is not enough to look at a mind map. One needs to actively reconstruct it in one's memory
The Ars memoriae, "art of memory," practiced in the Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance periods relied on the capacity of the brain for recalling spatial detail. The principle was to initially memorise some large building, the more architectural elaboration of rooms, passages and niches the better - the so-called `Memory Palace' Mnemonic images could be placed about this palace to link to items that you wanted to remember, ususally in symbolic form, with the images as striking as possible to enable recollection. To recall something, the practitioner mentally moved around the palace, reviewing the images in order. This was an essential technique of rhetoricians and preachers.
There are also ways to remember information by trying to code it in the form of meaningful words. Like the famous mnemonic for approximating the digits of pi, "May I have a large container of coffee?" Counting the letters in each word yields the sequence 3,1,4,1,5,9,2,6
Other methods for remembering arbitrary numbers or number sequences use numerological (lit. number+word) systems like the abjad, where each numeral is represented by a consonant sound.
0 - s, z, soft-c - z is first letter of zero'
1 - d, t, th - letters with 1 downstroke
2 - n - letter has 2 downstrokes or n rotated
3 - m - letter has 3 downstrokes or 3 rotated
4 - r - "four" ends in "r"
5 - L - imagine the 5 propped up against a book end (L)
6 - j, sh, soft-ch, dg, soft-g - g is 6 rotated 180 degrees.
7 - k, hard-ch, hard-c, hard-g, ng - two 7s rotated and glued
together
8 - f, v - cursive "f" looks like 8
9 - p, b - b as 9 rotated 180 degrees.
Example:
206-735-7708 (a made up phone number) = no such camel cakes off. 2 0 6 7 3 5 7 7 0 8 Note that vowels are interchangeable.
Memory Peg Lists:
Number Rhyme system:
The following is useful for remembering ordered lists especially for those with strong auditory learning styles. The numbered list below is static. Note the rhyme of the digit and the word. The items you wish to remember should be associated with each word. A similar system utilizing a combination of this and the above "abjad" system can easily yield numbers through 100 or higher (ex. 76 lash, 77 lilly)
1 bun 2 glue 3 tea 4 door 5 hive 6 bricks 7 heaven 8 slate 9 line 10 pen
Egg and Spear or Number Shape system: This is much like the above but more suitable for those with visual learning styles.
1 - Candle, spear 2 - Swan 3 - Bosom 4 - Sail 5 - Hook 6 - Club 7 - Cliff 8 - Sand clock 9 - Flag 0 - Egg
Goroawase:
A system of (I believe) Japanese origin, that uses puns on number words. Aided by the fact that many numbers in Japanese have more than one name. The system is based on syllables.
NOTE #1: This is NOT a complete explanation of goroawase as used for numbers.
NOTE #2: Goroawase is also used to remember non-numeric data. Here, I only explain numeric.
| Number | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Name | rei, maru, zero | ichi, hitotsu | ni, futatsu | san, mittsu | shi, yon, yottsu | go, itsutsu | roku, muttsu | shichi, nana, nanatsu | hachi, yattsu | ku, kyuu, kokonotsu |
| Mnemonic sound | re, ma, ze | i, hi | ni, fu | sa, mi | shi, yo | go, (sometimes ko) | ro, mu | na | ya, ha (sometimes ba) | ku, kyu |
Example: Shakespeare's life years:
hito-go-ro-shi mo i-ro-i-ro (1564-1616)