What is spaced repetition?

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition
Spaced repetition is a learning technique that incorporates increasing inter
vals of time between subsequent review of previously learned material in order t
o exploit the psychological spacing effect. Alternative names include spaced reh
earsal, expanding rehearsal, graduated intervals, repetition spacing, repetition
scheduling, spaced retrieval and expanded retrieval.
Articles
Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm
Spaced Repetition and Learning
What software is recommended to help with learning?
Anki
Anki is a free, multi-platform, flashcard program that uses spaced repetition.
It is great for learning anything that needs to go into your long-term memory.
Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne is a multi-platform spaced repetition software. The strength of Mnemos
yne is the clear and minimalistic interface while the software still offers all
main features. Mnemosyne is open source and it has a research aspect associated
with it: by (voluntary) collection of your learning history, it collects a huge
database with useful information for mnemotechnic research.
Spreadsheets
Kinma posted an example spreadsheet that allows one to customize the repetition
frequency.
Supermemo
Another popular spaced repetition program is Supermemo.
How often should information be reviewed in order to retain it?
Resources:
Wired article on Supermemo
Gavino's comment
Dominic O'Brien
In the book, How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week, Dominic O'Brien sug
gests:
first review: immediately
second review: 24 hours later
third review: one week later
fourth review: one month later
fifth review: three months later
Many people might need more review than this.
Paul Pimsleur
Paul Pimsleur's intervals for language learning are:
5 seconds
25 seconds

2 minutes
10 minutes
1 hour
5 hours
1 day
5 days
25 days
4 months
2 years
_
I ve been through many repetitions lately, what about you?. If you have, then this
says repetitions should be all good, however, sometimes repetition is ineffecti
ve in promoting learning.
I ll share with you Spaced Repetition practitioners, what most software vendors do
n t usually tell you about the inefficiency of repetition or when all this adaptiv
e learning won t yield desired results, or in some circumstances, no learning at a
ll.
I m not denying that repetition is an important factor in learning, what I m saying
is that repetition under certain circumstances that you should definitively avoi
d it not only doesn t help, but could even impair your recall.
Simply repeating an item over and over has little benefit for memory in the
absence of attention or more elaborate processing of the material
The first example should start with a penny. Americans have seen this coin a gre
at number of times, probably in the future we ll only do cellphone transactions bu
t for know, many of us have seen this coin enough times to know every detail on
it, yet we only pay attention to its brownish color to differentiate it from oth
er coins and thus that s the most we remember about it. If I were to give you an o
ld roman denarius, and tested you a week from now about details on it, you would
be better a it than what you can currently remember about a penny (it would be
the same with the currency of any other countries then USA). This proves that re
petition in the absence of attention is strikingly ineffective in promoting lear
ning.
A little more elaborated example of the ineffectiveness of repetition in the abs
ence of attention is also illustrated when items are memorized through rote reh
earsal. In many experiments, where participants have to repeat items aloud over
and over. When they are given an unexpected memory test on the rehearsed words,
there is almost no relationship between the number of overt rehearsals devoted
to an item and later memory. Simply repeating an item over and over has little b
enefit for memory in the absence of attention or more elaborate processing of th
e material.
If an item has been presented in several contexts, it may become difficult t
o retrieve the occurrence that is being tested
Finally a some what curious effect is something very closely related to memoriza
tion of sets of elements. I ll explain it using a medicine example, as I find this
is a good explanation for why is it so difficult to learn list of symptoms for
specific diseases.
Say you have to remember the most frequent symptoms in two diseases. Disease C m
ost important symptoms being S1,S2,S3,S4 and disease D with its symptoms S3,S4,S
5,S6.
If you study C symptoms before than D symptoms, then when asked to recall the mo
st frequent symptoms in D, you ll have more trouble recalling S3 and S4, because t

hey re also included in C.

Repetition may impair learning if memory is tested for only one occurrence. If a
n item has been presented in several contexts, it may become difficult to retrie
ve the occurrence that is being tested.
So while doing you repetitions, never repeat with out attention, and preferably
do it with conscious elaboration (relating what you don t know to what you already
know).
As for the last inconvenience on not being able to recall symptoms of previous l
earned diseases, well I should probably keep the secret, but it all boils down t
o making you associations unique and finding relationships on the material you a
re memorizing, in this case it s easy to remember that C and D, have common sympto
ms S3, S4 by the equivalence in the alphabet you probably have already have gues
sed that out.
So avoid this two circumstances, and repeat over and over, while paying attentio
n.
+_
I frequently incrementally read SuperMemo articles from the web site and from ti
me to time little knowledge nuggets come by. Last week an extract about knowing
how many mistakes you ve made came trough.
How can I see how many memory lapses occurred in a given subset of elements? asked
the item?. The answer did not really address to the question, but this reminded
me about me drilling only on the mistakes made after the outstanding repetitio
ns (if you ever finished them).
Cognitive psychology research has shown that correctly answering even when done
with hesitation doesn t benefit from feedback or further learning (over-learning).
On the other hand not having feedback has huge impact on further recall, and no
t learning to, although of much lesser magnitude.
Many times I have a huge load of elements in the drill and don t make this drill.
But If I knew which elements where real mistakes on today s repetitions (or even i
n yesterday s repetitions) I might repeat them that same moment, lowering the forg
etting rate for this elements on next programmed repetitions.
I judge how efficient my daily repetition are by taking into account the number
of repetitions executed/hour spend. If I go trough all my repetitions and only a
nswer them and later on I focus the mistakes. I make more repetitions/hour and a
lso learn my mistaken items. In contrast with trying to learn during the outstan
ding repetitions.
Maybe you to have experienced this, those questions that where scored with pass
evel 3) get fast and easy responses in the drill face, and makes you wonder why
did you test them again in the first place.
If you ve got less then 10 items in the drill queue its probably easier to just do
the drill, but for longer drill queues this is my solution:
Element filter configuration for "Drill Today's Mistakes"
Element filter configuration for "Drill Today's Mistakes"
Preparation:
Create a Filter Today s Mistakes
1) Open up View Filter . Menu View: Filter
2) Check:

(l

repetitions (min=1,max=1),
lapses (min=1, max=1000),
last repetition (min=0, max=0),
type: item, status: memorized.
3) Click the save icon (save current filter for later use), choose and appropiat
e name (mine says: Drill today s mistakes)
Execution
Filter Today s Mistakes

and add the to the Drill queue

1) Open up View Filter . Menu View: Filter

2) Select previously saved filter: Drill today s mistakes
3) Change last repetition min y max to cero (program remembers the lasts date not
the number).
4) Click ok button
5) In browser (Alt+F10: Tools: Save Drill)
6) Ctrl+F2 (Execute new drill) Original drill minus pass level items.
This same process can be accomplished by using Workload windows (ctrl+w), but th
e above described procedure is easier. I m currently using Autohotkey to execute t
he whole sequence. For the purpose intended its working great!
Tell us what you think about using this sort of drilling phase, or if you think
of a better solution or drilling only the mistakes made.
Next time I plan to blog about how to revise before exams with supermemo and not
having to review all the material the day or week before.
_
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Incremental Reading in College
November 26, 2009
tags: incremental reading, medicine, ocr
I had an email from Sweden this week, the questions asked have been something I ve
been working on since I accepted the SuperMemo Method. I ll try to answer this qu
estions to my best knowledge and experience. As always feel free to comment furt
her.
Is it possible to outsource the complete learning process to supermemo?
I believe it is, but doing it takes a lot of time, from acquiring the necessary
skills to make the input to supermemo worth the time invested. Currently the bot
tle neck of outsourcing this leaning process to supermemo, is the time needed to
make the questions and this also means making questions trough Incremental Read
ing.
Incremental Reading is a way of learning with out the need to absorb every data
in a text from the first time, you go to the text several times and you only wor
ry about what is important at that moment, as you are sure this same text will c
ome later in your daily repetitions you don t have to strain trying to understand,
let alone memorize from the first reading. However when studying in college thi

s process would probably take a lot of time. Time is a precious commodity you do
n t have in Medicine studies, so sadly I would not recommend Incremental Reading f
or every material you read, I would absolutely not use it for reading upcomming
exams, you might leave something behind and not able to check it out before the
exam, and even if notting is missing you ll probably stress your self thinking it
might be better to check it out.
I use a combination of the traditional reading and Incremental reading, every th
ing is done in the SuperMemo collection. As the time has passed, I have a huge e
nciclopedia in it.
Some text are read from top to botton, later on I summarize main point in the to
p of the article and only make questions of this summary. But I keep the rest of
the text in my collection, this allows you to check previous information you re
ad someday.
Incremental reading is use for some more leisure reading, and any topic of my in
terest, including medicine, but which has no time deadline of any kind. I make q
uestions of this text but using the incremental method.
I was thinking about scanning relevant chapters in my textbooks and the OCR
them and add them to supermemo.
If you are able to scan and OCR text to Supermemo with out much
support this approach, as you can latter search very easily any
reviously lost much time searching something to review on paper
ou include information that is vital, moderation is the clue to

lost of time, I
information, I p
books. Be sure y
SuperMemo.

Traditionally I read my books and underline the stuff that seems relevant. T
he next logical step would then be to move that info from the books to SM. Howev
er, a lot of underlines tend to be forgotten and it is a tedious process.
A lot of the information you are tested on medicine school is only needed for, w
ell, the tests. This is a reality we can t deny. So as bad as it sounds a lot info
rmation must still be crammed to pass some tests, this includes a lot of biology
numbers and other kind of related info.
Make sure whe reading your book, you use marks not underlining, underlining look
s good, but also takes time (believe me, I ve timed my self using marks vs underli
ning is much much faster, and is no less effective). After marking make the comm
itment to extract the 10 or 20 most important fact to supermemo, go for speed wh
ile typing this questions not form, but ALWAYS include some reference that lets
you go back you text book any time later. This question should be made after you
finish the section, chapter or lecture, as this also helps you consolidate more
effectively you memory of the whole lecture.
Is there any possible time savings in using IR on i.e neural science and phy
siology books?
Neural Science requires two aspects a lot of mnemonics and visual imagination, y
ou have to remember pathways a lot. Using pictures in Supermemo is great for thi
s. Physiology is more about undertanding process, understanding the humanbody as
a machine, if you understand the principles (and make relevant questions about
this principles in Supermemo) it all comes much easy.
Summary:
Incremental Reading is a great tool but I would not recommend it for any reading
with a time deadline.

Read, sumarize and supermemorize only the most important.

OCR if possible any reading you want, except texts not suitable for IR
Use the Supermemo Method progresively, start with the least demanding courses, t
his will build confidence in the method without building much stress from using
a new aproach.
_
Mastering how to learn faster is something, we users of SuperMemo would love to
getter better at (or any other SRS system Anki, FullRecall, Mnemosyne, Vtrain, e
tc..). Colin Rose s acronym for the steps needed is a six letter word: MASTER
Mind positively set
Acquire the Knowledge
Search for the Meaning
Trigger your memory
Exhibit what you know
Reflect on you learning
This involve the same principles you probably already heard of, mainly a learnin
g suited context (internal and external), good information at hand (good sources
), understanding before memorizing, setting some cue for better recall (mnemonic
s some times), and recall (showing what you know, otherwise is not useful to lea
rn anything).
The last part of this acronym is the one that should lead us in become master le
arners, in fact without it we re just a bunch of people wasting time by using our
kindergarten or at best elementary learning skills. But, is something I constant
ly forget to do. We must reflect on the way and effectiveness of our learning sk
ills, what you are doing right or wrong?, how can you improve it?, take the firm
decision to make the necessary step in order to improve our learning habilities
and again check if we sticked to this new habits for better learning afterward.
If only supermemo could help us with this task, remember us that we must improve
our learning skills. Perhaps it can. One mistake at a time you can put them int
o items into SuperMemo, so you check out if you are following or not this new de
sired behavior. Remember to set the lowest forgetting index so that this item is
n t automatically postpone and gets a higher priority down the learning queue.
If you don t use supermemo, that s no trouble at all. I think we can even use a Card
box ala Leitner, to improve our bad learning habits, even all of them.. ok, I th
ink that s way out of what s achievable but then again maybe not.
Now, Where was that old shoe box?
_
m guilty of taking Speed Reading courses while on med school, I wanted to learn f
aster to have an edge, did it work? I don t think so, I forgot as fast as anybody
else after going through many pages while rubbing my index on them, but it also
contributed that I didn t have an organized system for reviewing my notes after a
year or so. Reading faster wasn t the answer to my learning deficits, even though
I was reading faster as was not retaining as much. After a couple of years of fr
ustration I decided I was going to read how to read
a very circular concept, I k
now.
Here is briefly, the most valuable methods on how to read and two easy suggesti
ons to filter what to include in the review phase of your learning system.
With SQ3R you have a nice mnemonic summarizing how read any type of text, but es
pecially non-fiction. This technique implies that you Survey, Question, Read, Re

cite, Review and was first proposed on Effective Study by Francis Pleasant Robin
son (1970). Perhaps, by current accelerated life standards you might considered
this approach to old, specially it a twitter informative style of many data out
there, but it still has enormous effectiveness to help us acquire information fo
r the long term.
In a similar fashion How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
(Simon and Schuster, 1972) gives a set of rules to be a able to critically read
a book. While many consider a How to read two books should have been a follow up,
a how to read many books would have been even better, and with many e-reader on
the market, even How to read many texts sound like a much precise contribution on
learning how to read.
Regarding How to Read , Paul N.Edwards professor at the School of Information in the
University of Michigan, has given us a nice piece of advice in his essay: How t
o read a book v4.0.
There is plenty of more information of ways to read, including the Skim and Dump
technique, and non of this address the greatest obstacle to learning while read
ing, or as Paul Edwards puts it how to:
The purpose of reading non-fiction is to gain, and retain, information as qu
ickly as possible. [emphasis mine]
When reading non-fiction you can, for sure, also adapt this same idea. If you lo
ve fiction why would like to read only a couple of books on the subjects you lov
e, you ll probably want to read them all, albeit something impossible even for Kim
Peek.
In order to retain information you have to choose it first, you have to know wha
t you really need, then you have a to use a system to review it. Systems make yo
u behave almost automatically and frees you cognitive energy better served to un
derstanding what you are reading.
You re system might be some note-cards, note papers or any Spaced Repetition Syste
m (SRS s or technically called adaptive learning systems). If you are very compuls
ive about wanting to remember everything you find interesting you ll end up with s
o much information you won t be able to deal with it at your daily studying sessio
ns doing the repetitions.
A simple way to choose what to put into SuperMemo or any SRS s is to determine if
you have any chance you ll need that piece of information in the next two months
while not having the opportunity to see it again even once over that same period
. The other requisite would be that failing to remember that information would
cost you a life threatening experience (such as not remembering to do CPR (cardi
o-pulmonary resurrection) if you are a medical doctor, or even the food your gir
lfriend dislikes most.
Include in a SRS if:
Need to remember it in two months with no chance of seeing it again in this
period of time
Avoiding Life threatening forgetting episodes .
For everything else, don t include it in your SRS s, there is no need to, you can al
ways find it later or fast enough, you ll remember it anyway, or you wont die if yo
u do forget or you re unable to recall it at the appropriate time .
By following this principles you ll have a much pleasant experience with any adapt

ive learning system and you ll stick to the repetitions more often, enabling your
effort to deliver the desired results on learning a book or anything else.
If you are thinking about using a SRS to learn for an upcoming exam then a diffe
rent approach is needed, enter the four quadrants of SRS s, that should make anoth
er post soon enough.
}
You can use flashcards and spaced repetition to memorize almost anything so why
did I come to hate my reviews? Explore the dark side of this amazing memory syst
em.
In my last post, I shared how spaced repetition flashcards made my memory feel l
ike a superpower. I learned to remember thousands of things that would otherwise
have misted away.
How Did I Come to Hate Reviews?
But flashcards depend on daily reviews. And after a few years, I just couldn t sta
nd the reviews anymore. I started skipping days. Weeks. Months. Today, if I fire
up Anki, I have over 2000 cards due.
What went wrong?
At first, I blamed myself. I lacked stamina. Determination. Something.
But the solution isn t that simple. On reflection, I ve realized that flashcards and
spaced repetition have some inherent dangers and difficulties. We can work arou
nd them, but only if we step back and think about them.
Review Clusters and Adding New Cards
The first problem: spaced repetition is uneven. That s the nature of the math. Som
e days will have only a few reviews. Others will have a ton of cards. Those huge
days can be demoralizing. You fire up Anki, and you have hundreds of reviews.
There are several ways to deal with this.
At a minimum, if you have a ton of cards due, don t add any new cards that day.
You can also break up your reviews into several short sessions. But I rarely did
that. I wanted to get reviews done (more on that later).
Also, Anki has a feature where you can see which days coming up will be big days
. If you know tomorrow s going to be a big day, you could review some of those car
ds today, ahead of time.
But there s a deeper problem: depending on how you add new cards today, you could
be creating mammoth review days down the road. That math is just too complex for
a normal person to do on the fly. I want to know: if I add 20 cards today, are
they going to land on some day next week that s already huge?
This seems like a problem the program could address. It can t predict exactly how
much you ll need to review. But perhaps it could estimate, and warn you if new car
ds today will land on a day next week that s already overbooked.
Boredom Bias
A much more difficult problem is the boredom bias. The more boring a card is for
you, (unless it s boring because it s easy), the more likely you are to get it wron
g.

But the whole point of spaced repetition is to focus your time on the cards you
get wrong!
Pretty soon, you re spending most of your review time precisely on the most boring
and/or difficult cards.
Damien Elmes, the lead Anki developer, is aware of this problem. His leech feature
will remove a card after you miss it a whole bunch of times. But when you have
thousands of cards, it can take a long time to purge each leech.
Card Laziness
Of course, you can set leeches to disappear faster. But is that the answer? You
don t want to disappear a leech. You want to figure out how to learn it. Isn t that
why it s in your deck?
Either it s important, and you need to fix it, or it s not important, and it s been a
waste of time from the start.
But fixing leeches is a pain. It s especially a pain if you re reviewing with AnkiDr
oid, or another mobile app.
Yes, Anki on your phone is tantalizing. You can slip life-changing memory buildi
ng into the dribs and drabs of time that are otherwise wasted .
But when you trip up on a leech, the last thing you want to do is wrestle with y
our tiny onscreen keyboard.
Even if you have a usable mobile keyboard, fixing a leech feels like breaking th
e flow. I m trying to review here. Get this done. I don t want to slow down and
hink?

um

Wait.
Flashcards As Tests
At last we poke the raw nerve. What exactly am I doing when I review flashcards?
What s the flow that I don t want to break by fixing broken flashcards?
Am I taking a test?
I ve spent about half my life (at this point) in school. School is about tests.
When I started doing flashcards, I was excited about how different they are from
tests. Tests are a single snapshot of your recall at a particular time. Unfortu
nately, most students, including valedictorians, forget almost everything they e
ver get tested on. Traditional tests are a complete failure.
Flashcards are different, because you maintain knowledge. Spaced repetition ensu
res that you keep seeing things before you forget them.
But flashcards still feel a lot like school tests. Yes, in theory, it doesn t matt
er much whether I get a card wrong, since I ll see it tomorrow. But in practice, I
hated getting cards wrong.
At first, I thought this dislike was an old school hangup. I expected that, in t
ime, I would adjust to this awesome new world of gradeless reviews.
But the opposite happened. As time went on, my hatred for mistakes grew.
Spaced Repetition Collects Your Worst Cards
And because of the boredom bias , I was spending more and more time reviewing my le

ast favorite cards, getting them wrong, and knowing I would have to see them aga
in.
I began to amass a mental collection of cards that I could remember missing. The
card would come up, and I d think, I always miss this. And I would.
That is amazing. Think about that. Whatever I was doing, it was training my brai
n to remember that I couldn t remember this. Somehow, I had spent enough time to m
ake that connection, instead of connecting to the actual fact.
Why? Because I was mostly thinking about whether I d get it right, not about what
I was trying to learn.
Flashcards As Video Game
Flashcard review has an intense gravitational pull towards focusing on the actua
l flashcards:
How many cards you ve gotten wrong.
How many cards are left.
How long it ll take to finish them, so you can get back to your real life.
As a friend put it, flashcards feel like a video game. Wow! They really do. And
I like video games, but they re fundamentally geared towards success. Points. Leve
ls. Defeating obstacles.
Should memorizing be a video game?
No. Flashcards are a huge step forward from tests, but if you re focusing on succe
ss, you re still fundamentally focused on grades. And that leads to absurdities li
ke, in my case, actually memorizing that you always miss a question.
It also leads to the flashcard flow. I wanted to get through these cards as fast
as possible! The last thing I wanted to do is hit the brakes and reformulate so
me broken card. That felt like losing.
Atomizing and Randomizing Knowledge
Flashcards seemed to disconnect me from the actual knowledge. Instead of immersi
ng myself in the knowledge, I found myself controlling a flashcard slot machine.
The knowledge was atomized and randomized. I d get a Spanish word, then some obscu
re fact from Edible Forest Gardens, then a letter in Morse Code.
This randomization is essential to spaced repetition. I needed to see that Spani
sh word, on that day.
For vocabulary, this might have been fine. Words are tiny bits of information th
at need to be random. We want to be able to reach for any word at any time.
It s interesting that both SuperMemo and Anki were developed by programmers who we
re trying to learn a language. Despite all my problems with flashcards, I still
think they could be an essential tool for mastering large quantities of vocabula
ry.
But what about the facts from books? Does it really help that a particular fact
is only associated with the question on one flashcard? Is that really how our mi
nds work?
Flashcards Kill Clustering
No. Our minds use chunks and clusters. You want more connections to each fact, n
ot less.

Flashcards work directly against this mental need. Flashcards atomize each fact
completely out of any context, except its context as a random flashcard.
Think about your friends, or even acquaintances. You think of a name, and instan
tly you get a face, hair color, voice, an outfit, the rooms where you see this p
erson
and that s all in less than a second. If you focus, you can pull tens, hundr
eds, probably thousands of discrete facts that cluster around this single person
.
Spaced repetition and flashcards kill clustering. Instead of associating multipl
e facts from the same book with one another, you split them all up. Divide and f
orget.
For me, almost all this knowledge began to have no other meaning than as a flash
card. The only time I thought about it was when I was testing myself.
Solution?
In short, this tool for remembering more of reality had morphed into an oppressi
ve, self-contained computer game. The only way to win was to finish as fast as p
ossible.
How can I fix this?
By questioning my underlying assumptions about the whole method.
Next time: Reviewing as Thinking
Anki
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Comments
Flashcard (SRS/Anki) problems
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, May 7, 2012
Dear Bill,
This is a really interesting post about using SRS flashcards. As a heavy user of
Anki to study Japanese here in Tokyo, I have spend countless hours creating and
studying cards over the last three years. It is easy to relate to many of the t
hings you said.
I don't have much constructive to add in terms of flashcard fatigue or other sim
ilar problems. Perhaps we are so eager to learn that we add too many cards too q
uickly. At the beginning, it seems very doable, but with time, decks can become
very large, and they can easily slip out of control.
In terms of randomizing and clustering, I have had similar problems with the dec
ks I have made from my Japanese - Rosetta Stone materials. Some of the decks are
very large, and reviews can feel disjointed and disconnected, all of which can
be very discouraging...
However, recently I tried something that might be helpful. With a deck with almo
st 3000 cards, I had gotten behind in my reviews to the tune of almost 1500 card
s. It seemed hopeless. So I decided to use the tags to only study the cards from
the most recent lesson - about 260 cards. This did two things that really seeme
d to help.

One was psychological: suddenly the number of reviews did not seem overwhelming,
and I felt empowered to study in a dedicated fashion. I know all the other revi
ews are waiting out there for me, but reviewing now felt like a positive experie
nce.
The second thing was that now all the cards were from the same lesson: all about
food, cooking, tools, building, etc. They were clustered again and helped reinf
orce each other, again making it all feel good.
So perhaps the key is to break up large decks into more manageable chunks, both
in terms of number and content?
On a similar note, I have a review deck for the first 2000 kanji that I keep chi
pping away at. I also have a deck of new kanji with 330 cards and climbing that
I am able to zero out every morning - a small victory that keeps me motivated!
}
ance Armstrong that s who I have to thank for my renewed brainpower. But it s not what
you think no performance-enhancing drugs here. In fact, I ve never even met the guy
. But his story taught me something valuable about how human memory works, and h
ow we can manipulate it with technology.
By Shiv Gaglani
1 Notes
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As a medical student with a background in neuroscience, I m constantly searching f
or brain hacks that will help me learn and retain information more efficiently.
These range from well-established techniques such as spaced repetition to, well,
less evidence-based schemes, such as strapping an EEG to my forehead and "liste
ning" to 6-hours worth of pathology lectures while sleeping. (I didn t need the red
lines representing beta wave activity that is, wakefulness to figure out that instea
d of gaining knowledge I was simply losing sleep.)
However, last year I stumbled upon a largely unknown yet research-supported memory h
ack that actually worked. And it involved an unusual suspect: Lance Armstrong.
It s not what you think: He didn t give me a performance-enhancing drug for med scho
ol. Nor, for that matter, have I ever met the guy. What I have done is rely on h
is account of his battle with cancer to recall high-yield information about chem
otherapy.
Before I delve deeper, let s step back and discuss an interesting cognitive experi
ment known as the Baker-baker paradox, which revealed the impact of associations
on memory. In brief, researchers randomized people into two groups and showed b
oth a picture of a man.
Individuals in group one were told that the person s last name was "Baker," wherea
s those in group two were told that the person was a baker. When these people we
re shown the image and prompted to recall the word later, those in the latter ca
tegory (occupation) were significantly more likely to remember it than those in
the former (name). Same image, same word, and a randomized group of people so why
the difference?
The answer: Associations are powerful memory hooks. When you are told someone is
a baker you may begin thinking about the bakery nearby and your favorite baked

goods, which then provides more mental links back to the original image-word mem
ory. It s like trying to catch a whale (I m told): The bigger the schema of associat
ions, the bigger the net.
So what does this have to do with Lance Armstrong and med school? Medical studen
ts have to learn the indications, mechanisms, and side effects of hundreds of dr
ugs; one of which is the widely used anti-cancer drug bleomycin a drug which has t
he particularly nasty side effect of scarring lung tissue, a condition known as
pulmonary fibrosis. When a patient is prescribed the drug, their lung function s
hould be monitored; failing to do so may lead to irreparable harm to the patient
, and an easy lawsuit against the doctor.
Of course, no doctor can possibly memorize all the side effects to all drugs. (S
ure, we now have technologies to look these up in real-time, but as I wrote rece
ntly in The Health Care Blog, it s important to have a strong working knowledge ba
se given that we have a decreasing amount of time to spend with each patient.) W
hile I have forgotten and will need to relearn dozens of other drug-side effect
combinations, I have forever internalized bleomycin because I applied the associ
ative memory principle demonstrated in Baker-baker. Enter Lance.
In 1996 Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer, and gi
ven less than a 40 percent chance of survival. Despite this, he actually decline
d the front-line therapy involving bleomycin because (as an increasingly promine
nt professional cyclist) he did not want scarred lungs.
While he would unfortunately go on to destroy his cycling career anyway, the bol
d decision he made and the rationale behind it has inspired millions and helped medi
cal students like me anchor important medical information in our brains. Now, wh
enever I think about bleomycin my mind immediately jumps to Lance Armstrong not
wanting to jeopardize his athletic career, and thus the side effect of pulmonary
fibrosis. I can bet that if I ever prescribe the drug to a patient I ll be sure t
o closely monitor their lung function.
I ve found story-based memory hooks to work so well in my medical career that I ac
tually started a side project called Osmosis as in "learning by osmosis." It s a web
-based platform that, among other things, automatically recommends associations
based on what you re learning. The stronger the association the better, which is w
hy accounts from celebrities like Lance work so well. These associations may als
o come from art, music, politics, and scientific literature, among other areas.
We re focusing on medicine because it s our area of domain expertise and nowhere are
the stakes higher in terms of being able to learn and retain information. And i
f it works for medical students who are drinking from the proverbial fire hose,
it will likely work for others who also want to break out of the inefficient lea
rn-forget cycles that we ve become unnecessarily accustomed to.
_
Writing things down, on paper or on-screen, is the best way to make sure you rem
ember important info and tasks, but sometimes you've got to rely on your plain o
ld brain to keep essential data sorted and handy. Whether it's a client's name,
a password or combination you want stored only in your head, or answers for an u
pcoming test, there are plenty of techniques and tools to help you lock in impor
tant stuff and pull it out when needed. After the jump, we round up some memorab
le memory-boosting hacks. Photo by furryscaly.
Top 10 Memory Hacks
10. Nap to improve memory and learning
It may not seem like you're learning anything when you close your eyes and doze
off, but taking a daytime nap can help you reduce interference the brain's resista
nce to learning new material, rather than what it already learned earlier and help
your recall, as suggested in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The key number in

a study on nap-learning was 90 minutes, but it seems like general how-to knowle
dge sinks in better whenever you take any kind of siesta. Photo by cell105.
9. Boost learning power with strategic "distractions"
Top 10 Memory Hacks
This doesn't mean switching from your GRE prep to Nintendo Wii, but switching up
your studying from one subject to a slightly different one moving, say, from one
CSS function and then back forces your brain to try and hold onto the first thing
you were focusing on, according to researchers. The momentary distraction might
also help reduce your stress level, helping your concentration even further. (Or
iginal post). Photo by Sam Pullara.
Max Out Your Brain's Performance with Distractions
Next time you need to quickly memorize a small piece of information, Wired sugge
sts that you may
Read more
8. Visualize reminders with the Palace Technique
Top 10 Memory Hacks
Whether it's your home, an office, or some other place, there's a space most of
us can walk through in our minds. Turn that mental space into a list organizer b
y using the "Palace Technique." The LiteMind Blog has a good overview of the tec
hnique, which has you associating each thing you need to remember with objects y
ou'd see in a walk-through milk at the front door, printer paper on the floor mat,
paper towels on the kitchen table, etc. When you need to remember, just stroll
through your (mental) home, and you should recall the associations. (Original po
st)
Boost Your Memory with the Palace Technique
The "memory palace" is a well-known technique for remembering long sequences of
items
Read more
7. Draw a name map
Top 10 Memory Hacks
Got a meeting with the higher-ups and want to make a positive impression? Bring
a notepad or just an index card and map out the players' names, or just seating
positions, as soon as you sit down, along with some identifiers ("Jim/beard, #4/
glasses," and the like). From covering my fair share of board meetings for newsp
apers, I can attest to the benefits of writing notes and quotes from mapped numb
ers and later follow-up, rather than hoping your overwhelmed mind can juggle it
all at once. (Original post)
Remember names by drawing a map
Avoid the dreaded "what was your name again?" scenario the next time you're in a
Read more
6. Recall lists using dramatic imagery
Top 10 Memory Hacks
You're heading out the door, and you're absolutely sure you're going to forget t
o drop off the mail, or buy the milk, or both. Blogger Bert Webb might suggest f
ocusing on an image of dropping letters into a mailbox that looks like a giant m
ilk jug, or perhaps a mailman made entirely of liquid milk. In other words, anyt
hing that pushes your list items past your brain's boring/mundane filter is far
likelier to stick. (Original post)
How to remember lists

Blogger Bert Webb continues his series on improving your memory with instruction
s on how to
Read more
5. Never have to write down countless, unique passwords with a single master pat
tern
Top 10 Memory Hacks
The safest place to store your passwords is in your head, and you don't want to
use one password for all your logins. This isn't so much a "memory" hack as an e
fficiency tip, but it only forces your noggin to come up with one really great p
assword system rather than lots of highly forgettable variations. Choose a base
password, like an abbreviated or acronym version of a favorite phrase or song, t
hen create a system for changing it up site to site, like using the first three
letters of the site name, the first four consonants or first two vowels, whateve
r fits for you. Clicking "Forgot your password?" and waiting on verification ema
ils will be a distant memory, one you can feel just fine about forgetting.
Geek to Live: Choose (and remember) great passwords
by Gina Trapani
Read more
Top 10 Memory Hacks
4. Remember names with repetition techniques
Networking does you no good if you can't remember what to call the person you've
already schmoozed the next time you meet them. How-to web site eHow recommends
simply saying the person's name multiple times after you're introduced, as in: "
Hi, Bob, it's nice to meet you. So, Bob, where do you ...." But other tips from
CareerBuilder/CNN might work better with the visual-learning crowd, such as writ
ing the person's name on their forehead in your mind or associating them with a
linked image, like imagining someone named Leonard as, say, Leonard Nimoy. (Orig
inal posts)
How to remember names
eHow has some tips that'll help you remember people's names. They key is to trap
their
Read more
3. Convert long numbers to words
Top 10 Memory Hacks
Whether it's a hardcore software password or your car's VIN, long strings of num
bers are hard to keep straight. Using a technique like the Major system or its m
odified cousin, the Red Table, the long string of disconnected digits become a l
ot easier to grok. Check out this conversion helper, which even has its own conv
enient Firefox extension. (Original post)
Memorize Long Numbers Using the "Red Table"
Lifehacker reader Will writes in with a memorization system he picked up while t
aking an art class
Read more
2. Make your own memory devices with mnemonics
Many of the tips and techniques we've posted stem from the science of mnemonics,
which utilizes all the senses to aid learning. If number-to-word methods or viv
id images don't work for you, browse this great introduction and learn how to us
e three-dimensional images, symbols, and your own sense of humor to encode mustnot-forget items and happenings. The most important tip? Make your memory device
something funny or positive we all have enough negative reminders, and have gotte

n pretty good at channeling them out. (Original post)

Better memory with mnemonics
Mnemonics, put very simply, are tools and exercises used to help your memory. Ov
er at Mind Tools
Read more
1. Train your brain with SuperMemo
Top 10 Memory Hacks
Free Windows application SuperMemo helps you remember concepts using spaced repe
tition. SuperMemo is based on years of research by learning expert Piotr Wozniak
, who sought to find the exact moments when one is just about to forget somethin
g they just learned. Available in several versions for Windows, Pocket PC and Ye
Olde Palm Pilots, SuperMemo is a serious tool for super remembrance. (Original
post)
SuperMemo Helps You Remember Everything Before You Forget
Windows only: Remember everything you've learned using spaced repetition with Su
perMemo. From
Read more

What methods or tricks do you use to make sure you can't forget the important st
uff? How do you augment your paper and program lists with mental training? Which
ingenious techniques are we missing? Share your experiences and pointers in the
comments.
_
It s now well-established that exercise is not just good for your body; it s also go
od for your mind.
Exercise improves mood, information processing and makes your thinking more flex
ible.
But what effect does exercise have on memory? Well, it depends on the type of me
mory, since it is split into two main types: short and long.
Working memory
Something like short-term memory is usually called working memory
.

by psychologists

Working memory includes what s in your conscious mind right now and whatever you re
doing with this information. This might include the gist of the last sentence or
two and the meanings, conclusions and thoughts you re having about them. Roughly
speaking, it s the stuff that your mind is working on right now.
Studies suggest that exercise is broadly beneficial for working memory. After 30
minutes exercise, people s working memory improves. There s some evidence that accu
racy drops a bit, but this is more than made up for by increases in speed (McMor
ris et al., 2011).
Long-term memory
For psychologists, long-term memory is pretty much what you think it is: it s anyt
hing that leaves conscious thought to be recalled much later.
The effects of exercise on long-term memory are less clear. Some studies show be
nefits, others not.
But a recent study suggests that exercise only benefits long-term memory under c

ertain conditions (Schmidt-Kassow et al., 2013).

This study had young women trying to learn new words, either after or while they
rode an exercise bike.
What they found was that there was a boost to long-term memory when the new voca
b was learned during exercise, but not if the learning took place afterwards.
Studies suggest that the exercise should be relatively low-intensity or the brai
n gets over-stimulated and the benefits may be lost.
We don t yet know if these benefits extend to other types of learning, or during o
ther types of exercise, but it s likely they will.
So, if you re trying to learn a new language, it might be worth listening to those
language tapes while you re working out. Not only will you be keeping fit, but yo
u ll also be giving yourself a better chance of laying down stronger long-term mem
ories.
_
One single workout with weights can immediately enhance long-term memory by arou
nd 20%, according to a new study.
While it s now well-established that months of aerobic exercise can enhance memory
, this is the first study examining the effects of a relatively short amount of
resistance training.
In the study, people were shown a series of pictures which they were not asked t
o memorise (Weinberg et al., 2014).
Then half the participants did 50 leg extensions in a gym resistance machine.
The other half sat in the leg extension chair for the same time but did not do t
he exercise
instead the machine moved their leg for them.
The idea was to have both groups go through an almost identical experience, othe
r than one group having actually carried out some resistance training, while the
other had not.
When they were tested two days later, the participants who had not really exerci
sed managed to correctly identify 50% of the photos they d seen.
Those who had really worked out, though, identified 60% of the photos.
The reason this works is that exercise puts us into a heightened state, after wh
ich, memories especially emotional ones
are more likely to stick.
By measuring saliva levels during the study, the researchers were able to track
neurotransmitters levels.
Dr. Audrey Duarte, who led the study, said:
Even without doing expensive fMRI scans, our results give us an idea of what
areas of the brain might be supporting these exercise-induced memory benefits.
The findings are encouraging because they are consistent with rodent literat
ure that pinpoints exactly the parts of the brain that play a role in stress-ind
uced memory benefits caused by exercise.
Dr. Minoru Shinohara, a physiologist and another of the study s authors concluded:

We can now try to determine its applicability to other types of memories and
the optimal type and amount of resistance exercise in various populations.
This includes older adults and individuals with memory impairment.
So, if you want to boost long-term memory, do a few squat-thrusts or knee bends
before you start your learning session.
Just make sure no one s watching.
+
Many of the methods for improving memory like exercise, chunking, building associa
tions or brain training involve a fair amount of mental effort.
So here are ten (mostly) very easy ways to improve your memory that are supporte
d by research.
With two or three exceptions, most people can do these with very little effort o
r expense.
1. Clench your right fist
If you squeeze your right hand into a fist during learning, it can aid memory.
Later on, to aid recall, squeeze your left hand into a fist.
In study by Propper et al. (2013), participants who squeezed their right fist du
ring learning and their left during recall, did better than control groups clenc
hing the other fist or not clenching at all.
2. Chew gum
Chewing gum can help you stay focused on a task and so improve your memory.
A study by Morgan et al. (2013) tested the audio memory of those chewing gum, co
mpared with those who didn t.
The gum chewers had improved short-term memory compared with non-chewers.
3. Go to sleep
One of the many benefits of sleep is that it makes memory stronger.
That s because the brain is surprisingly busy during sleep and one of the things i
t s doing is working on our memories.
Not only does sleep make our memories stronger, it also restructures and reorgan
ises them.
Studies have shown, for example, that people are more likely to dream about thin
gs with a higher value to them, and are subsequently more likely to recall those
things (Oudiette et al., 2013).
And, if what s important to you is learning to play the piano, you could even try
listening to the piece while you nap, as one study has shown this helps cement t
he memory (Anthony et al., 2012).
More on how the mind learns during sleep.
4. Go for a walk
Many people suffer memory problems with advancing years.
But, walking just six miles a week helps to preserve memory in old age.

One study has found that older people who walked six to nine miles per week had
greater gray matter volume nine years later than those who were more sedentary (
Erickson et al., 2010).
5. Stop smoking
Although the physical benefits of quitting smoking are well-known, it s less wellknown that it will also benefit memory.
That s because smoking damages the memory, and quitting can almost restore it to n
ormal function (Hefferman et al., 2011).
That s one more reason to quit (or to be happy that you don t smoke).
6. Ignore stereotypes
If you think your memory will get much worse with age, then it probably will. It s
a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Older people who are reminded of stereotypes about age and memory perform worse
in tests (Hess et al., 2003).
So, suffer fewer memory problems with age by paying no heed to the stereotypes.
7. Read Facebook posts
One study has found that people s memories are much stronger for posts on Facebook
than for sentences from books, or even people s faces.
Mickes et al. (2013) found that Facebook posts were probably easier to remember
because they were mind-ready': they were already in an easily digestible format a
nd written in spontaneous natural speech.
Facebook is also full of juicy gossip, which probably doesn t hurt!
8. Sniff rosemary
The smell of the essential oil, rosemary, has been shown to improve long-term me
mory, mental arithmetic and prospective memory remembering to do things at certain
times.
In one study, participants who sat in a room infused with the scent of rosemary
performed better on a memory task than a control group (McCready & Moss, 2013).
9. Lose weight
Like smoking, putting on weight is associated with memory problems but these are a
lso reversible.
Lose some of the weight and memory function is likely to return.
Petterson et al.
from an average
improved memory
10. Turn off the

(2013) found that older, overweight, women whose weight dropped

of 85kg (188 pounds) to 77kg (171 pounds), over six months, saw
function.
computer and sit quietly

Now that you ve read this article, it s time to turn off the computer, tablet or pho
ne and sit quietly.
That s because when we are idle, the brain is actually still performing important
memory functions.
Professor Erik Fransn explains:
The brain is made to go into a less active state, which we might think is was

teful; but [is] probably [when] memory consolidation [ ] takes place [ ].

When we max out our active states with technology [ ] we remove from the brain
part of the processing, and it can t work.
+_
Human memory and recall works nothing like a computer, but that s what makes it al
l the more fascinating to understand and experience.
If we remembered everything we should on most occasions be as ill off as if w
e remembered nothing. ~William James
It s often said that a person is the sum of their memories. Your memory and recall
is what makes you who you are.
Despite this, memory and recall is generally poorly understood, which is why man
y people say they have bad memories . That s partly because the analogies we have to
hand like that of computer memory are not helpful. Human memory and recall is vastly
more complicated and quirky than the memory residing in our laptops, tablets or
phones.
Here is my 10-point guide to the psychology of memory and recall (it is based on
an excellent review chapter by the distinguished UCLA memory expert, Professor
Robert A. Bjork)
1. Memory does not decay
Everyone has experienced the frustration of not being able to recall a fact from
memory. It could be someone s name, the French for town hall or where the car is pa
rked.
So it seems obvious that memories decay, like fruit going off. But the research
tends not to support this view. Instead many researchers think that in fact memo
ry has a limitless capacity. Everything is stored in there but, without rehearsa
l, memories become harder to access. This means it s not the memory that s going off
t s the ability to retrieve it.
But what on earth is the point of a brain that remembers everything but can t reca
ll most of it? Here s what:
2. Forgetting helps you learn
The idea that forgetting helps you learn seems counter-intuitive, but think of i
t this way: imagine if you created a brain that could remember and recall everyt
hing. When this amazing brain was trying to remember where it parked the car, it
would immediately bring to mind all the car parks it had ever seen, then it wou
ld have to sort through the lot.
Obviously the only one that s of interest is the most recent. And this is generall
y true of most of our memories. Recent events are usually much more important th
an ones that happened a long time ago.
To make your super-brain quicker and more useful in the real world you d have to b
uild in some system for discounting old, useless info. In fact, of course, we al
l have one of these super-brains with a discounting system: we call it forgetting .
That s why forgetting helps you learn: as less relevant information becomes inacce
ssible, we are naturally left with the information that is most important to our
daily survival.
3. Lost memories can live again
There s another side to the fact that memories do not decay. That s the idea that al
though memories may become less accessible, they can be revived.

Even things that you have long been unable to recall are still there, waiting to
be woken. Experiments have shown that even information that has long become ina
ccessible can still be revived. Indeed it is then re-learned more quickly than n
ew information.
This is like the fact that you never forget how to ride a bike, but it doesn t jus
t apply to motor skills, it also applies to memory and recall.
4. Recalling memories alters them
Although it s a fundamental of memory and recall, the idea that recall alters memo
ries seems intuitively wrong. How can recalling a memory change it?
Well, just by recalling a memory, it becomes stronger in comparison to other mem
ories. Let s run this through an example. Say you think back to one particular bir
thday from childhood and you recall getting a Lego spaceship. Each time you reca
ll that fact, the other things you got for your birthday that day become weaker
in comparison.
The process of recall, then, is actually actively constructing the past, or at l
east the parts of your past that you can remember.
This is only the beginning though. False memories can potentially be created by
this process of falsely recalling the past. Indeed, psychologists have experimen
tally implanted false memories.
This raises the fascinating idea that effectively we create ourselves by choosin
g which memories to recall.
5. Memory is unstable
The fact that the simple act of recall changes memory means that it is relativel
y unstable. But people tend to think that memory is relatively stable: we forget
that we forgot and so we think we won t forget in the future what we now know.
What this means is that students, in particular, vastly underestimate how much e
ffort will be required to commit material to memory. And they re not the only ones
. This leads to
6. The foresight bias
Everyone must have experienced this. You have an idea that is so great you think
it s impossible you ll ever forget it. So you don t bother writing it down. Within te
n minutes you ve forgotten it and it never comes back.
We see the same thing in the lab. In one study by Koriat and Bjork (2005) people
learned pairs of words like light-lamp , then are asked to estimate how likely it
is they ll be able to answer lamp when later given the prompt light . They are massivel
y over-confident and the reason is this foresight bias. When they get the word li
ght later all kinds of other things come to mind like bulb or shade and the correct a
nswer isn t nearly as easy to recall as they predicted.
7. When recall is easy, learning is low
We feel clever when we recall
But in terms of learning, we
s to mind quickly, i.e. we do
have to work hard to bring it
.

something instantly and stupid when it takes ages.

should feel the exact reverse. When something come
no work to recall it, no learning occurs. When we
to consciousness, something cool happens: we learn

When people s memories are tested, the more work they have done to construct, or r
e-construct, the target memory, the stronger the memory eventually becomes. This
is why proper learning techniques always involve testing, because just staring

at the information isn t good enough: learning needs effortful recall.

8. Learning depends heavily on context
Have you ever noticed that when you learn something in one context, like the cla
ssroom, it becomes difficult to recall when that context changes?
This is because learning depends heavily on how and where you do it: it depends
on who is there, what is around you and how you learn.
It turns out that in the long-term people learn information best when they are e
xposed to it in different ways or different contexts. When learning is highly co
ntext-dependent, it doesn t transfer well or stick as well over the years.
I had a friend at University who swore that standing on a chair or up against a
wall helped him to revise. I used to laugh at him but there was method in his ma
dness.
9. Memory, reloaded
If you want to learn to play tennis, is it better to spend one week learning to
serve, the next week the forehand, the week after the backhand, and so on? Or sh
ould you mix it all up with serves, forehands and backhands every day?
It turns out that for long-term retention, memories are more easily recalled if
learning is mixed up. This is just as true for both motor learning, like tennis,
as it is for declarative memory, like what s the capital of Venezuela (to save yo
u googling: it s Caracas).
The trouble is that learning like this is worse to start off with. If you practi
ce your serve then quickly switch to the forehand, you forget how to serve. So you
feel things are going worse than if you just practice your serve over-and-over
again. But, in the long-run this kind of mix-and-match learning works best.
One explanation for why this works is called the reloading hypothesis . Each time w
e switch tasks we have to reload the memory. This process of reloading strengthens
the learning.
10. Learning is under your control
The practical upshot of these facts about memory is that we often underestimate
how much control we have over our own memory and recall.
For example, people tend to think that some things are, by their nature, harder
to learn, and so they give up. However, techniques like using different contexts
, switching between tasks and strenuous reconstruction of memories can all help
boost retention.
People also tend to think that the past is fixed and gone; it can t be changed. Bu
t how we recall the past and think about it can be changed. Recalling memories i
n different ways can help us re-interpret the past and set us off on a different
path in the future. For example, studies have shown that people can crowd out p
ainful negative memories by focusing on more positive ones (Levy & Anderson, 200
8).
All in all, our memory and recall isn t as poor as we might imagine. It may not wo
rk like a computer, but that s what makes it all the more fascinating to understan
d and experience.
_
"I can't remember that."
"I sit down to take a test and my mind goes blank."

"I'm not a good test taker."

These are all things students say when they forget assignments or don't do well
on tests. All of us, students and non-students alike, forget important things. T
his happens when we don't transfer information into long-term memory. It is impo
rtant to know how to do this in order to do well in school and beyond. Just thin
k about it: you need to remember what you read, what your boss told you, the dri
ving directions someone rushes at you at a stoplight, or, if you are a student,
what the teacher says.
This article is written from a student's perspective as this will make it easier
for them. However, these strategies are just as helpful for adults, because we
all need a little help remembering new things.
Have you ever noticed that some things are easy for you to remember while others
are difficult? For example, you may be able to remember how to put an engine to
gether, or why it rains, but you may have trouble remembering the lines to a sch
ool play or multiplication facts. You'll be relieved to know that there's nothin
g wrong with you; this happens to everyone. The good news is that there are stra
tegies that can help you remember what you need to remember. The twelve strategi
es (some of which are called mnemonic "ni mon ik" devices) introduced below will
help you learn how to memorize important information. We know they are effectiv
e because they have been helping students at STRONG Learning Centers for years, n
ot only on homework and tests, but continuing to be valuable in their daily live
s.
STRATEGY 1. CHUNKING
It is easier to memorize information when you break it up into small chunks. Thi
s is called chunking. You may not realize it, but you use chunking often, like w
hen you memorize your friend's telephone number, a locker combination, or your s
ocial security number. It's easier to remember long numbers when you "chunk" the
m into groups of threes, fours and fives. That's because most people can only re
member about three, four or five bits of information at a time.
Here are suggestions on how you can use "chunking" to remember information as we
ll as numbers.
Chunk vocabulary words by grouping them by parts of speech or other attributes.
Chunk history by time periods or events.
Chunk foreign language by grouping words into categories like household items or
occupations.
If there is no pattern to the information you need to study, just group the item
s into three, four or five at a time, and that will help a lot.
STRATEGY 2. UNDERSTANDING
Before you begin trying to memorize something, try to understand it. A good way
to do this is by making a connection between what you are learning and what you
have experienced. The better you can relate the new information to what you alre
ady know, the easier it is to learn. For example, before attempting to memorize
events of European history, find the places on a globe (or world map) and see wh
ere they are relative to one another and also relative to where you live.
STRATEGY 3. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

These tools help you see things you are trying to learn. They help organize info
rmation. There are many different types of graphic organizers. You can even desi
gn them yourself.
the Venn Diagram for comparing and contrasting
a Web for the main topic and details
the Cause and Effect Design with the event in the middle box, the causes listed
in the left boxes and the effects listed in the right boxes. (The effects and th
e causes are connected to the event by lines.)
the Cycle Organizer consists of shapes drawn in a cyclic pattern with words in e
ach shape to represent things or events that go in cycles. For example, the wate
r cycle.
To see/print examples of these graphic organizers, find No. 452 Improve Your Mem
ory Skills, Silbert, at our StrongLearning website.
STRATEGY 4. VISUALIZATION
To visualize means to see an image in your head without actually looking at it.
Visualization can help you learn almost anything. Here is an example. Let's say
the topic is the water cycle. Create a mental image of a cloud. Picture it growi
ng. Now see, and "feel" its heavy cold rain. See the rain hitting the ground, th
en flowing toward streams and rivers toward the ocean. Now "see" the hot sun hit
ting and evaporating the water and forming clouds . Get the picture? If you can vi
sualize parts of the water cycle, the boring diagram becomes meaningful and reme
mber-able. In general, if you have trouble visualizing material, try drawing map
s, charts, graphs, or pictures.
STRATEGY 5. ASSOCIATION
Another learning strategy is to associate, or "connect," each word or event with
a person, place, thing, feeling, or situation. For example, you may connect wha
t you are trying to learn with someone you know, or with a movie character or sc
ene. When you have to learn vocabulary words, just write the new words, write th
e definitions next to them, and then write a person, thing, event, movie, or any
strong association to help you remember the meaning of each word. For example,
"My altruistic Aunt Alice gives great gifts." (Altruistic means generous.)
STRATEGY 6. RHYMING
We all used rhyming in the ABC song to learn the alphabet. And the rhyme "I befo
re E, except after C, or when it sounds like A as in neighbor or weigh." This is
also a great strategy even when learning the times tables. For example, 7 and 7
went down the line to capture number 49; 8 and 4 made some stew and gave it to
32. (Rhymes don't have to make sense!)
STRATEGY 7. TALKING
Here's a strategy that's easy and fun to use, especially if you like to talk! Ju
st talk about the information you have to learn. Tell Grandpa, Mom, a friend, or
your dog what you have to learn! Do you want to learn history? Then talk histor
y discuss, debate, argue. Think of a person who may have lived during a major hi
storical event and pretend to be that person. Now talk about the important event
s: who was involved, when it happened, where it took place, what happened, and w
hy? If you're learning a language, then speak it at the dinner table. It doesn't
matter if others know what you are saying; you do, so you'll learn.

STRATEGY 8. STORYTELLING
Storytelling is a great way to help you remember information in any subject. Wri
te a story by focusing on the key points of what you're learning and arranging t
hem in a logical sequence. It can even be a song or rhyme that tells the story.
And there's a bonus: each event in the story triggers your memory of the next ev
ent, so you'll remember even more.
STRATEGY 9. WRITING SENTENCES
Do you remember learning the silly sentence "Every good boy does fine" from musi
c class? We used this to remember the notes. You may also have used the sentence
"My Very Excellent Mom Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" to remember the planets. (Oo
ps, change the sentence because Pluto is no longer considered a planet). This st
rategy can even help us learn those extra troublesome spelling words. Just make
up a sentence using words that begin with the letters. So, to learn "aardvark,"
you may make up a nonsense sentence like: Aardvarks Always Run Down Very Angry R
owdy Kids.
STRATEGY 10. ACRONYMS
An acronym is a word made up from the first letters of a list of words. Here's h
ow it works. You take the list of words or facts that you want to remember and p
ut them in an order so that the first letters of each word, or the first syllabl
es, spell a real word or a made-up word.
How do you memorize the names of the five Great Lakes? Easy, just remember "HOME
S." H=Huron, O=Ontario, M=Michigan, E=Erie, and S=Superior. While this strategy
won't help you understand the information, it at least helps you to memorize it.
It's easy and fun, and you'll probably remember the information forever. You ma
y be interested in knowing that our company name is an acronym. STRONG stands fo
r: Self-esteem, Trust, Responsibility, Options, Needs, Goals.
STRATEGY 11. REHEARSING
When you want to remember information, you have to practice it, or else it fades
. So, just as actors need to rehearse in order to remember their lines, students
need to rehearse to remember what they are learning. Here are some helpful hint
s on "rehearsing" whatever information you need to learn for homework or tests:
Rehearse for short practice periods (perhaps 30 to 60 minutes) and then take a s
hort ten-minute break to call a friend, have a snack, or shoot some hoops.
Use a multisensory approach every time you rehearse: say it, write it, read it,
draw it, sing it
do whatever it takes.
Just before going to sleep, review everything you will need to know for the next
day or for the upcoming test. It's amazing how much more you'll remember if you
rehearse the night before.
Review in the morning while brushing your teeth, eating breakfast or sitting on
the bus.
STRATEGY 12. PLAYING GAMES
Playing games is a great way to memorize information. You see, as you play the g
ame you are learning the material and practicing it over and over again. Games c
an help you remember facts, formulas, definitions, events or any other informati
on you're trying to learn. Here is an example.

Play Memory, alone or with others, using decks of cards you make from ordinary i
ndex cards you cut in half. Create pairs by writing the same number on each of t
wo cards, 1 and 1, 2 and 2, etc. Write the numbers tiny so they will not interfe
re with play. On each pair, write a question on one card and the answer on the o
ther card. For example, "2x7=" is on one card and "14" is on its pair, or "Where
did the Pilgrims land?" is on one card and "Plymouth, Massachusetts" is on its
pair. Then shuffle all the cards and play Memory with yourself or with a friend.
If you're alone, see how fast you can match up all the pairs. You'll be able to
check yourself by making sure the small numbers are the same. Have Fun!
For the Tough Ones: for the pairs that are really hard to remember, make a strin
g "clothes line" between two places on a wall. Hang the pairs next to each other
with spring type clothes pins. So, for example, if circle formulas get you down
, every time you walk into your room you'll see "C=" and "2*pi*r" and "A=" and "
pi*r squared" next to each other. Pretty soon you'll remember the info.
Another example is the many commercially available games to make learning to rea
d easier and fun. A good example is, by using any of the twenty STRONG Learning
Phonics Games, children in grades 1-6 can learn important phonics rules while pl
aying popular card games: Go Fish, War, Memory, or Old Maid.
We hope you find that some of these techniques and strategies make it easier for
you and your children to remember important things. We also hope that these str
ategies will help make school days and home nights a whole lot better.
_
Human memory is quirky, complicated, and unreliable. Even when we think we're re
membering everything accurately, chances are things have gotten twisted along th
e way. Let s take a look at why your memory sucks, and how you can change that.
Science is still figuring out all kinds of new things about our brains and memor
y. What we do know is that a lot of people struggle with remembering things, and
in many different ways. Perhaps you're always forgetting a few items at the gro
cery store, or to pick up the dry cleaning on your way home. Worse, maybe you ca
n't remember events from your childhood that well, or you remember an event from
college differently than a friend. So, let's take a look at what's really going
on in your brain, and then see if we can actually do anything to improve your m
emory.
Why Your Memory Is Terrible
Why Your Memory Sucks (and What You Can Do About It)
Everyone's memory is different, but none of us have a perfect memory. In fact, e
ven if you think your memory is perfect, chances are it isn't. To understand how
this works, we need to look at a few different things, starting with how we rem
ember anything to begin with.
Why You Remember What You Remember
The fact is, human memory is complicated. As an example, consider how you rememb
er visual images. It seems straightforward, you see something, and you remember
it. But as Scientific American points out, it's more complex than that:
Memories of visual images (e.g., dinner plates) are stored in what is called
visual memory. Our minds use visual memory to perform even the simplest of comp
utations; from remembering the face of someone we ve just met, to remembering what
time it was last we checked...
Memories
articularly,
sual working
d works away

like what you had for dinner are stored in visual short-term memory p
in a kind of short-term memory often called visual working memory. Vi
memory is where visual images are temporarily stored while your min
at other tasks like a whiteboard on which things are briefly written

and then wiped away.

So, what causes those memories to stick around and not be wiped away from that w
hiteboard? According to a one study from MIT, it might simply be how meaningful
an image is and if we can connect it to other knowledge. If you can connect that
image to something else, it increases the chances you'll remember it later. Lik
e learning, memory is all about context. This is why, as The Atlantic points out
, pattern recognition is key. Essentially, the more connections a new memory has
to knowledge you have, the more likely it is you'll remember that information.
The same basic process seems to happen with most memories.
Underneath the hood, all types of things are happening in your brain. How Stuff
Works does a good job of breaking it down:
Experts believe that the hippocampus, along with another part of the brain c
alled the frontal cortex, is responsible for analyzing these various sensory inp
uts and deciding if they're worth remembering. If they are, they may become part
of your long-term memory... these various bits of information are then stored i
n different parts of the brain. How these bits and pieces are later identified a
nd retrieved to form a cohesive memory, however, is not yet known...
To properly encode a memory, you must first be paying attention. Since you c
annot pay attention to everything all the time, most of what you encounter every
day is simply filtered out, and only a few stimuli pass into your conscious awa
reness... What we do know is that how you pay attention to information may be th
e most important factor in how much of it you actually remember.
The fact of the matter is, we're still learning a lot about human memory. Why we
remember certain details over others is still a mystery.
Memories Are Fallible
Why Your Memory Sucks (and What You Can Do About It)
It's probably no secret to you that you can't trust your memory. All of us have
had moments where we've misremembered a detail, forgotten something, or even mad
e details up completely. The reason is pretty simple: our memory isn't always re
liable because it's about perception.
Memories are changed by all kinds of things. Nostalgia plays a roll in how we re
member, and according to Scientific American it's surprisingly easy to instill f
alse memories in people. Most shocking though, is how often we're just plain wro
ng about the details. For example, eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliabl
e, but as The Smithsonian Magazine points out, our memory of major events is con
sistantly inaccurate:
How to Plant Ideas in Someone's Mind
If you've ever been convinced by a salesperson that you truly wanted a product,
done something
Read more
Most people have so-called flashbulb memories of where they were and what th
ey were doing when something momentous happened: the assassination of President
John F. Kennedy, say, or the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. (Unfortu
nately, staggeringly terrible news seems to come out of the blue more often than
staggeringly good news.) But as clear and detailed as these memories feel, psyc
hologists find they are surprisingly inaccurate.
Nader, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, says his memory of
the World Trade Center attack has played a few tricks on him. He recalled seein
g television footage on September 11 of the first plane hitting the north tower

of the World Trade Center. But he was surprised to learn that such footage aired
for the first time the following day. Apparently he wasn t alone: a 2003 study of
569 college students found that 73 percent shared this misperception.
It's not just traumatic events that cause our memories to flake out. One study i
n The Journal of the Association for Psychological Science points out that simpl
y recalling memories enhances and distorts them. Which is to say, when you remem
ber something you're actively changing it. In part this has a lot to do with a w
ide variety of memory biases that color the ways we remember. From the positivit
y effect where we tend to remember the positive over the negative to the egocent
ric bias where we remember ourselves as being better than we are, we're constant
ly changing memories in a way that benefits how we view ourselves. Which is to s
ay, trusting your own memory isn't always the best idea.
For example, one study published in The Journal of Experimental Psychology showe
d that we tend to think we'll remember something important more than we will. Th
is is essentially when you don't write down a brilliant idea because it's good y
ou'll never forget it, and then you immediately forget what it was. It's happene
d to the best of us, and it's because we're overly confident in our ability to r
emember.
Unfortunately, like most of our biases, the only way to really counteract them i
s to know they're there. Knowing that your memory isn't perfect means you'll pay
more attention to those imperfections in the future.
What You Can Do to Improve Your Memory
Improving your memory is possible, but despite what the self-help section at you
r local bookstore might say, it's not just about a series of mental hoops you ca
n jump through every day. In fact, while there certainly are some techniques pro
ven to help you retain information, improving your memory is just as much about
lifestyle as anything else.
Exercise Regularly
Why Your Memory Sucks (and What You Can Do About It)
We know that physical activity affects the brain in a number of positive ways, a
nd one of those is a boost to memory.
What Happens to Our Brains During Exercise (and Why it Makes Us Happier)
Most of us are aware of what happens to the body when we exercise. We build more
muscle or more
Read more
Physical activity's role in memory is incredibly complicated. Studies published
in Behavioral Neuroscience, The Journal of American Geriatrics Society, and The
Journal of Aging Research, among others suggest that exercise plays a signifigan
t role in memory. The New York Times breaks the current research like so:
What all of this new research suggests, says Teresa Liu-Ambrose, an associat
e professor in the Brain Research Center at the University of British Columbia w
ho oversaw the experiments with older women, is that for the most robust brain h
ealth, it s probably advisable to incorporate both aerobic and resistance training
. It seems that each type of exercise selectively targets different aspects of co
gnition, she says, probably by sparking the release of different proteins in the
body and brain...
[B]eyond merely stemming people s memory loss, she says, we saw actual improvements
, an outcome that, if you re waffling about exercising today, is worth remembering.
Essentially, exercise improves cognitive functions, and when that happens it enh

ances our memory storage and retrieval. Basically, the better shape your brain i
s in, the better the chances you'll remember something.
Get a Good Night's Sleep
Why Your Memory Sucks (and What You Can Do About It)
Most of us have heard before that sleep plays an important role in memory, but a
s time goes on we're learning a lot more about how that works. Sleep and memory
is an intensely researched subject, and it's pretty clear that sleep plays a sig
nifigant role in memory formation. Sleep does this in two key ways. Speaking wit
h NPR, Robert Stickgold from Harvard Medical School explains it like so:
Well, it turns out that probably all the stages of sleep are involved, but t
hey're involved in different ways. And so what we will classically do is we'll t
rain subjects on some memory task, and it might be a list of words, or it might
be a typing sequence. So it can be very different types of memory problems...
And what we see pretty consistently is that the ones who got a chance to sleep w
ill actually be performing much better after that 12 hours than the ones who had
been awake... So on one task it might be the amount of deep sleep you get early
in the night, and this would be the case more for things like verbal memory, th
at you'll see that the amount of improvement subjects show after sleep will depe
nd on how much of that slow wave, that deep sleep they get, whereas in other tas
ks it might correlate with the amount of REM sleep that they get.
Basically, certain stages of sleep are thought to help form different types of m
emories. So, declarative memories (things like facts and knowledge) are enhanced
by slow wave sleep (deep sleep), whereas implicit memories (long term memories
that don't require conscious thought, like riding a bike or tying a shoe) are en
hanced by REM Sleep. Essentially, it's thought that the better the sleep you get
each night, the better your memory.
How to Get Better Sleep (and Need Less Every Night)
Many of us struggle to get enough sleep every night, but is the sleep we get any
good? While
Read more
The New York Times breaks down the importance of sleep and memory pretty bluntly
:
Some of the most insidious effects of too little sleep involve mental proces
ses like learning, memory, judgment and problem-solving. During sleep, new learn
ing and memory pathways become encoded in the brain, and adequate sleep is neces
sary for those pathways to work optimally. People who are well rested are better
able to learn a task and more likely to remember what they learned. The cogniti
ve decline that so often accompanies aging may in part result from chronically p
oor sleep.
Case in point, a good night's rest really can improve your memory in the long te
rm. The good news is that rebooting your sleep schedule isn't that hard to do. I
f you stick with it, your memory should stay strong.
How to Reboot Your Sleep Cycle and Get the Rest You Deserve
Nothing can stand in for a good night's sleep. Today we're not going to show you
how to
Read more
Try These Memorization Techniques
Why Your Memory Sucks (and What You Can Do About It)

In the end, your memory probably isn't as bad as you think. It just takes some r
egular maintenance and a little training to keep it in shape. You can't magicall
y just improve your memory by studying. If you're the type who forgets your keys
, you'll probably always do so. That said, you can employ certain techniques to
help you with memory retention, and perhaps more importantly, your initial perce
ption. We've talked about this a lot in the past, so here are a few places to ge
t started:
Train your brain like a USA Memory Champion: Our own Melanie Pinola went thr
ough the USA Memory Championship and shares her techniques, including several di
fferent memorization systems.
Improve your memory with the chunking technique: The chunking technique uses
the pattern recognition we talked about in the first section to help you rememb
er things. In the simplest terms, it's like remembering a phone number using the
letters on a phone's dial pad instead of just the numbers.
Combine information with bizarre images: If you need to remember a certain s
et of details, it's often easier for us to do so when we combine that informatio
n with something crazy. So, if you need to remember milk and bananas at the groc
ery store, remember a giant banana with a hatchet chasing after a cow that's rea
dy to burst with milk.
Use a mnemonic peg system: This one's a bit complicated, but a peg system es
sentially lists items as a rhyme so it's easier to remember. Once an item is peg
ged to the list, you can usually recall that information later.
Increase your powers of observation and perception: You're only going to rem
ember what you notice, so if you want to improve your memory skills one thing yo
u need to do is pay more attention to what's happening. Watch the world closely,
form connections between what's happening and what you know. Remember, accordin
g to research in The Journal of Neurosciece, the more we value a memory, the mor
e likely it is to stick around. The more you see, the more accurate your memory
will be.
Take a nap: We already mentioned that sleeping has a direct impact on your m
emory, but so does a quick nap. If you can sneak one in during the day, go for i
t. A solid nap is an effective tool for improving memory and learning ability. I
f a nap's not possible, medidation has been shown to work as well.
Memory is weird, and it works in strange ways. It's unreliable, but we still hav
e to put our trust in it. Memory is hard to work with, but it's still malleable
and you can force memories into your brain. Science is still figuring out exactl
y what works best, but for now it seems like few things trump a good night's res
t and exercise.
_
A team of scientists recently discovered that repetition is a terrible way to me
morize information and their findings highlight much better strategies.
A new study published in Learning and Memory found that simple repetition interf
eres with the ability to learn new information, especially when it is similar to
a set of familiar facts. This may mean that memorizing facts about an issue thr
ough repetition could interfere with the ability to remember a more nuanced vers
ion of the same issue later on.
Our findings suggest that although the ability to generally recognize something i
s strengthened with multiple encounters, one s ability to discriminate among simil
ar items in memory decay, the study says. In contrast to past beliefs, repetition
may reduce the fidelity of memory representations.
In study, subjects said a list of objects either one or three times. Later on, i
n the recall phase, another set of similar objects ("lures") was snuck in. Those
who had seen objects multiple times better recalled the original objects but ha
d a harder time distinguishing the lures. In other words, their memories were st
ronger but less precise. Over the long run, repetition can be a false temptress,

making us think we've learning something when we really haven't.

"On your first reading of something, you extract a lot of understanding. But whe
n you do the second reading, you read with a sense of I know this, I know this, " e
xplain psychologists Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel, authors of Make it Stick.
"So basically, you re not processing it deeply, or picking more out of it. Often,
the re-reading is cursory and it s insidious, because this gives you the illusion t
hat you know the material very well, when in fact there are gaps."
Here are a few tips for better memory:
Pace your studying
Not all repetition is bad. It's more accurate to say that cramming is ineffectiv
e. The better idea is to space repetition. Practice a little bit one day, then pu
t your flashcards away, then take them out the next day, then two days later," e
xplain McDaniel and Roediger.
Repetition can be a false temptress, making us think we've learning somethin
g when we really haven't.
Mentally testing yourself on materials generally increases recall days later, ev
en if there's no feedback on how well you actually remember the facts. In other
words, just going over the material in your head at regular intervals has benefi
ts.
Within academia, there's a raging debate about the optimal spacing between recal
l intervals [PDF]. One of the original systems, by foreign language learning ico
n Paul Pimsleur, advocated for a pacing of five seconds, 25 seconds, two minutes
, 10 minutes, one hour, five hours, one day, five days, 25 days, four months, an
d two years after the facts are initially learned. Since then, others have found
that a slight delay of 10 minutes in the first retrieval made the task just men
tally challenging enough to be beneficial [PDF]. But it depends on the goal; if
it's to memorize a speech in a day, you'll probably want to cram more intervals
than if you want to remember something five years later [PDF].
I've been experimenting with recall intervals one hour after I read material, th
en again when I'm at the gym, trying to recall facts learned during the previous
three days, one week, and one month prior. The optimal intervals will ultimatel
y depend on your schedule.
Use Loci
The ancient granddaddy of advanced memory techniques is the method of Loci, whic
h involves placing objects in sequential order in a mentally constructed (imagin
ary) world. The most famous memory man of all time, Solomon Shereshevsky, who co
uld recall sets of random numbers years later, used to imagine himself placing o
bjects near buildings.
World Memory Champion Dominic O'Brien gives practical tips about developing one'
s own Loci method in You Can Have An Amazing Memory. O'Brien advocates using Loc
i places of familiarity, like the walk down a familiar neighborhood block or loc
ation within your own home. So, for instance, if you want to memorize the words
"Duck," "Car," and "Boat," you might imagine placing a duck on the living room f
loor, a car in the bathroom, and a boat on the patio. For more complicated tasks
, it might help to link them together, like imagining a giant duck walking to a
car in the bathroom.
Connect the dots

Understanding is the basis for easier memorization. Chess masters have a much ea
sier time memorizing location of chess pieces than beginners, even though they'r
e recalling the same information.
In a study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, researchers found
that second-year biology students had an easier time learning new information i
f it was related to programs they were already studying. "If you don't immediate
ly know the answer to a question, you could first try recalling what you already
know about that topic. This might help you to come up with the right answer aft
er all," concludes one of the researchers.
In other words, the more widely knowledgeable we are about a subject, the easier
it is to retain and retrieve information. So, read books and the news widely. T
he more you know, the more you'll be able to know
_
t s been more than a century since the first scientific evidence was produced that
sleep benefits memory.
But the man who stumbled on it, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus, couldn t b
elieve that learning during sleep could explain anomalies in his results, and he
rejected the possibility.
It wasn t until forty years later that the power of
d directly (Jenkins & Dallenbach, 1924).

the sleep effect was demonstrate

Since then, studies have been carried out to find out what types of memory are a
ffected by sleep, how much sleep is required and how the effect occurs.
For example, people have asked: is it just memory for facts, or does it also wor
k for physical movements?
The interest in the effect is hardly surprising: the idea that you can learn whi
le unconscious is one more beautiful thing about sleep.
Learn while you sleep
Here s a recent example of a typical study investigating the effect.
Payne et al (2012) had people learn a series of word-pairs, like RIDER and SWITC
H, either at 9am in the morning or 9pm at night.
There were then tested at 30 minutes after learning, 12 hours later and 24 hours
later.
The results showed that whether they learned in the morning or evening, it made
little difference to their recall just 30 minutes later.
But, over a longer delay, differences did emerge.
The people who had learned the word-pairs before bed performed better than those
that had learned them in the morning.
These are not isolated results. Fenn and Hambrick (2012) carried out a similar s
tudy and got the same result: people who learned before they slept did better th
an those who followed the learning with a period of wakefulness.
These researchers also found that some people, those with a better
were particularly good at learning while they slept.
Six-minute benefit

working memory ,

There is now all sorts of research showing that different types of learning are

improved by a subsequent period of sleep.

For example, procedural learning like that involved in playing tennis or learning
fingering on the piano is improved by subsequent periods of sleep.
Similarly, perceptual learning like being able to distinguish two notes from each
other has also shown improvements from subsequent periods of sleep.
Researchers then wondered how short the sleep can be to see the benefits.
It turns
t hours.
t as six
Learning

out that you re better off to learn new information before your full eigh
But benefits to learning have been shown in one study for a nap as shor
minutes (Lahl, 2008).
offline

Scientists aren t exactly sure why learning benefits from sleep. The old theory us
ed to be that everyday events interfered with newly learned memories causing the
m to fade away or get muddled. In other words, sleep was better after learning b
ecause no new memories could interfere.
Now, though, many psychologists believe that there is an active process at work
while we sleep.
During the unconscious period, our minds may be working on the memories and more
strongly encoding them for later retrieval.
This may be part of the reason why, like many others, John Steinbeck pointed out
:
It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in th
e morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.
_
ou ll have heard about the usual methods for improving memory, like using imagery,
chunking and building associations with other memories. If not Google it and yo
u ll find millions of websites with the same information.
The problem with most of these methods is they involve a fair amount of mental e
ffort.
So here are seven easy ways to boost your memory that are backed up by psycholog
ical research. None require you to train hard, spend any money or take illegal d
rugs. All free, all pretty easy, all natural!
1. Write about your problems
To do complex tasks we rely on our working memory . This is our ability to shuttle
information in and out of consciousness and manipulate it. A more efficient work
ing memory contributes to better learning, planning, reasoning and more.
One way to increase working memory capacity indirectly is through expressive wri
ting. You sit down for 20 minutes a few times a month and write about something
traumatic that has happened to you. Yogo and Fujihara (2008) found that it impro
ved working memory after 5 weeks.
Psychologists aren t exactly sure why this works, but it does have a measurable ef
fect.
2. Look at a natural scene
Nature has a magical effect on us. It s something we ve always known, but psychologi
sts are only just getting around to measuring it.

One of nature s beneficial effects is improving memory. In one study people who wa
lked around an arboretum did 20% better on a memory test than those who went for
a walk around busy streets.
In fact you don t even need to leave the house. Although the effects aren t as power
ful, you can just look at pictures of nature and that also has a beneficial effe
ct (I describe this study in detail here).
3. Say words aloud
This is surely the easiest of all methods for improving memory: if you want to r
emember something in particular from a load of other things, just say it out lou
d. A study (described here) found memory improvements of 10% for words said out
loud, or even just mouthed: a relatively small gain, but at a tiny cost.
4. Meditate (a bit)
Meditation has been consistently found to improve cognitive functioning, includi
ng memory. But meditation takes time doesn t it? Long, hard hours of practice? Wel
l, maybe not.
In one recent study, participants who meditated for 4 sessions of only 20 minute
s, once a day, saw boosts to their working memory and other cognitive functions
(the study is described here, also see my beginner s guide to meditation).
5. Predict your performance
Simply asking ourselves whether or not we ll remember something has a beneficial e
ffect on memory. This works for both recalling things that have happened in the
past and trying to remember to do things in the future.
When Meier et al. (2011) tested people s prospective memory (remembering to do som
ething in the future), they found that trying to predict performance was benefic
ial. On some tasks people s performance increased by almost 50%.
6. Use your body to encode memories
We don t just think with our minds, we also use our bodies. For example, research
has shown that we understand language better if it s accompanied by gestures.
We can also use gestures to encode memories. Researchers trying to teach Japanes
e verbs to English speakers found that gesturing while learning helped encode th
e memory (Kelly et al., 2009). Participants who used hand gestures which suggest
ed the word were able to recall almost twice as many Japanese words a week later
.
7. Use your body to remember
Since our bodies are important in encoding a memory, they can also help in retri
eving it. Psychologists have found that we recall past episodes better when we a
re in the same mood or our body is in the same position (Dijkstra et al., 2007).
This works to a remarkably abstract degree. In one study by Cassasanto and Dijks
tra (2010), participants were better able to retrieve positive memories when the
y moved marbles upwards and negative memories when they moved marbles downwards.
This seems to be because we associate up with happy and down with sad.
More effort?
If all these methods seem a bit lazy, then you can always put in a bit more effo
rt.
Probably the best way of improving your overall cognitive health is exercise. St
udies regularly find that increasing aerobic fitness is particularly good for ex
ecutive function and working memory (check out this previous article on which co
gnitive enhancers work).

Conversely, stay in bed all the time and your working memory gets worse (Lipnick
i et al., 2009).
Take your memory training to the limit and an incredible study by Ericsson et al
. (1980) shows what can be achieved. Our typical short-term memory span is about
7 things. In other words we can hold around seven things in mind at the same ti
me. These researchers, though, increased one person s memory span to 79 digits aft
er 230 hours of practice, mostly using mnemonic systems.
Shows what you can do if you put in the hours. That said, I ll be sticking to a ni
ce walk around the park.
_
I have made the case that with the advent of the internet went the need to memor
ize anything. Why worry about memorizing when I'll never be tested for a grade a
nd can access knowledge nearly instantaneously? As well, I reasoned, I have prob
ably already memorized everything I need to. I focused my time instead on learni
ng thinking techniques, such as Bayesian calculations, expected value calculatio
ns and various things for improving emotional control.
But after reading this a couple months back I decided to experiment with Anki, a
digital flashcard program which exploits a cognitive phenomenon called the Spac
ing Effect by implementing a memorization technique called Spaced Repetition. Th
e Spacing Effect is the widely observed tendency for people to recall informatio
n better when studied a few times over a long period than when studied many time
s over a short period. Balota et al (2007):
Spacing effects occur across domains (e.g., learning perceptual motor tasks
vs. learning lists of words), across species (e.g., rats, pigeons, and humans),
across age groups and individuals with different memory impairments, and across
retention intervals of seconds to months.
Gwern analogizes the spacing effect with radioactive decay:
You can think of the forgetting curve as being like a chart of radioactive hal
f-lives: each review bumps your memory up in strength 50% of the chart, say, but
review doesn t do very much in the early days because the memory simply hasn t deca
yed very much! (Chart)
One consequence of the spacing effect is that cramming is useful for recalling t
hings shortly after memorizing them; however, if those crammed memories are not
eventually refreshed then they are likely to decay to nothing. From this observa
tion came Spaced Repetition: a memorization technique using flashcards (usually)
shown at increasing intervals of time to optimize the relationship between numb
er of reviews and strength of memory. The PC explosion was a boon to Spaced Repe
tition since storing and showing flashcards as well as physically calculating th
eir frequencies were delegated to the computer. The program Anki, for instance,
permits the user to generate flashcard decks, specify study session length and f
requency, specify how many new cards are introduced per session and specify the
frequency of the cards based on the user's input. Hard material is shown more of
ten than easy material, with the ease or difficulty being determined directly by
the user selecting buttons marked again,
easy,
good, and hard.
That sounds nifty, but how well does it work? As for myself, using the Anki defa
ult settings, I was able to thoroughly memorize a deck of 80 cognitive biases an
d related terms (160 cards total, name to definition and vice avers) in about th
ree weeks using Anki ~15 minutes/day. Since the cards are pushed back further an
d further for review as I progressed, I have only five cards to review today. Th
e first one, Endowment Effect, came instantly to me so I selected the easy button.
Now, as a result of the Anki algorithm, I won't see that card for 1.3 months. M

y low expectations for the Anki experiment were exceeded.

Piotr Wozniak, who designed the first SuperMemo algorithm in the early 80's (of
which later versions are still in use in SuperMemo as well as Anki), and devoted
enormous energies to studying modern computer aided self-instruction systems pr
omotes spaced repetition. He and two others developed a two-variable framework f
or memorization which they built upon to examine a way of optimizing interval sp
acing in Spaced Repetition. The first variable, memory retrieval (R), is the pro
bability of recalling something and is approximated by an exponential decay func
tion, while the second variable, memory stability (S), measures how long a memor
y lasts before it is forgotten entirely. Wozniak et al, expressed S as the inter
-repetition interval time that produces R = 90% (the likelihood of recall being
a 9 out of 10 chance) and concluded the following:
We express the changes in retrievability as:
(3.1) R=e-d*t
where:
t - time
R - probability of recall at time t (retrievability)
d - decay constant dependent on the stability
We can replace the constant d dependent on stability, with a constant k that
is independent of stability:
(3.2) R=e-k*t/S
where:
t - time
R - probability of recall at time t
S - stability expressed by the inter-repetition interval that results in
retrievability of 90% (i.e. R=0.9)
k - constant independent of stability
Drawing on analysis of large data sets cultivated from SuperMemo, Wozniak et al
provide empirical evidence that memory decay matches their exponential decay app
roximation. The goal of Wozniak's SuperMemo algorithm is to optimize inter-repet
ition spacing by (theoretically) refreshing a memory the moment before it decays
totally, thus spiking that memory until it decays near totally again and gets s
piked again. (Although, depending on the importance of being able to recall of a
piece of information, it can be used, theoretically, to spike a memory every ti
me it decays to likelihood of recall of 90%, 80%, 70%, etc.) Interestingly, in a
meta-analysis by Balota et al (2007) , the authors conclude that while spaced r
epetition is certainly better than massed practice (studying all at once and the
n not reviewing again), spaced repetition shows no advantage over static spaced
repetition (holding intervals constant)! Since most studies cited in the meta-an
alysis used a small number (usually three) retrieval attempts, the authors sugge
st that future research should expand this number to better reflect the way peop
le can practically use spaced repetition. In my estimation, when it comes to mem
orization, given the ease of use of these digital flashcards programs, the speci
fic algorithm design is a secondary concern to being personally disciplined to c
onsistently review material until you think you've internalized it fully.
Another consideration beyond algorithm design is formulating a usable flashcard
deck: simplifying the information and implementing techniques to enhance recall.
Wozniak et al found evidence that it was harder to recall information the more

complex it was. Hence, Wozniak recommends 20 rules for formatting knowledge to m

ake flashcards more digestible during reviews. The first three rules are standar
d: understand before you learn, learn before you memorize and build on the basic
s. The remaining rules are specific to developing and maintaining flashcard deck
s, such as simplifying questions, using clozed deletion (a sentence missing a pa
rt replaced by three dots), including images, avoiding sets, etc. If you are pla
nning on creating your own deck then familiarize yourself with these rules.
Additionally, I recommend including hyperlinks, if available, in your cards to s
ources with thorough explanations of the topics, and to be careful doing Wikiped
ia-based decks. Having small previous knowledge of cognitive biases when I start
ed, it was essential to read expanded explanations on many of the terms to under
stand them completely, so I actually updated the deck, which someone else create
d, with hyperlinks on every card. I think it greatly enhanced the usability and
effectiveness of the deck. Incidentally, when I went to Wikipedia to better gras
p many of the terms, I found several entries there lacking in credibility. On at
least two occasions, after being skeptical of an entry on a term, I Googled the
term and found every other mention of it on the internet was either sourced to
Wikipedia or directly copied from there.
This all still sounds nifty, but, I'll repeat, why worry about memorizing when I
'll never be tested for a grade and can access knowledge nearly instantaneously?
As for standard trivia type information (state capitals, etc), memorization is
virtually a total waste of time (thank you, technology!). Instant recall of fact
s, except on Jeopardy or when using a foreign language, is generally not of valu
e. Think of a time when your inability to instantly recall a fact resulted in a
financial loss for you I can't. On the other hand, every damn day I am confronted
with dynamic situations where I am forced to make quick decisions that vary in e
ffectiveness based on how well I analyze what is happening and construct counter
-strategies that maximize my utility. In these moments, when the necessary facts
are right in front of us, what we usually don't have is a comprehensive databas
e of methodologies, heuristics and other decision theoretic knowledge to surf th
rough and use for calculating useful outputs. You might be familiar with Bayesia
nism, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), PUA, logical fallacies and the like, but i
t is unlikely you have internalized the concepts to the point where even in the
face of chaos or emotional turmoil (when it likely matters most) you can impleme
nt them to the best of your mental ability. Thus, I recommend using digital flas
hcards employing Spaced Repetition to memorize a relatively small set of widely
applicable methods (and related knowledge) for use in dynamic situations that re
quire instant or near-instant action.
NVC is the poster-child because it is an easy to remember step-by-step process w
hich does not require complicated inputs for any of the steps; virtually anyone
can observe a situation, dissect relevant information from it and then run it th
rough the NVC process. While simple, NVC might be most valuable in chaotic or em
otionally-charged social situation when minds are thrust into primate mode, maki
ng it that more important to ingrain thoroughly. Divia, who created an NVC deck
and several other useful Anki decks, recounts successfully using NVC on a train
when a drunk sports fan near her was acting belligerent (imagine that!). In my e
xperience, having internalized a bunch of cognitive biases, I'm feel like I am v
igilant about recognizing them in my thoughts and behaviors and in those of othe
rs, without devoting much conscious effort to doing so. I expect that databasing
of logical fallacies and human behavioral cues will have the same effect. Pleas
e list other methods or knowledge that you think would be worth devoting time to
memorize.
In sum, spaced repetition for memorization is superior to massed consumption wit
hout further review, although it is undetermined what inter-repetition algorithm
is best. It seems that having discipline and consistency in review is more impo
rtant than the inter-repetition spacing, as even static spacing works well. Also

important is the design and maintenance of the flash card decks used for spaced
repetition exercise, with an emphasis on simplifying the information presented.
Lastly, be thoughtful about what things use spend time memorizing. Almost all i
nformation is just as useful to us wherever it currently is, especially if it is
on the internet, than it would be if we had it memorized. Thus, I suggest using
Anki or other spaced repetition software to memorize methods, concepts and know
ledge can be deployed in dynamic situations where we are forced to make importan
t decisions in an instant or near-instant.
_
Brain training games, apps, and websites are popular and it s not hard to see why
who wouldn t want to give their mental abilities a boost? New research suggests th
at brain training programs might strengthen your ability to hold information in
mind, but they won t bring any benefits to the kind of intelligence that helps you
reason and solve problems.
The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Associatio
n for Psychological Science.
It is hard to spend any time on the web and not see an ad for a website that prom
ises to train your brain, fix your attention, and increase your IQ, says psycholo
gical scientist and lead researcher Randall Engle of Georgia Institute of Techno
logy. These claims are particularly attractive to parents of children who are st
ruggling in school.
According to Engle, the claims are based on evidence that shows a strong correla
tion between working memory capacity (WMC) and general fluid intelligence. Worki
ng memory capacity refers to our ability to keep information either in mind or q
uickly retrievable, particularly in the presence of distraction. General fluid i
ntelligence is the ability to infer relationships, do complex reasoning, and sol
ve novel problems.
The correlation between WMC and fluid intelligence has led some to surmise that
increasing WMC should lead to an increase in both fluid intelligence, but this as
sumes that the two constructs are the same thing, or that WMC is the basis for f
luid intelligence, Engle notes.
To better understand the relationship between these two aspects of cognition, En
gle and colleagues had 55 undergraduate students complete 20 days of training on
certain cognitive tasks. The students were paid extra for improving their perfo
rmance each day to ensure that they were engaged in the training. Students in th
e two experimental conditions trained on either complex span tasks, which have b
een consistently shown to be good measures of WMC, or simple span tasks. With th
e simple span tasks, the students were asked to recall items in the order they w
ere presented; for complex span tasks, the students had to remember items while
performing another task in between item presentations. A control group trained o
n a visual search task that, like the other tasks, became progressively harder e
ach day.
The researchers administered a battery of tests before and after training to gau
ge improvement and transfer of learning, including a variety of WMC measures and
three measures of fluid intelligence.
The results were clear: Only students who trained on complex span tasks showed t
ransfer to other WMC tasks. None of the groups showed any training benefit on me
asures of fluid intelligence.
For over 100 years, psychologists have argued that general memory ability cannot
be improved, that there is little or no generalization of trained tasks to untraine
d tasks, says Tyler Harrison, graduate student and lead author of the paper.
So we
were surprised to see evidence that new and untrained measures of working memor

y capacity may be improved with training on complex span tasks.

The results suggest that the students improved in their ability to update and ma
intain information on multiple tasks as they switched between them, which could
have important implications for real-world multitasking:
This work affects nearly everyone living in the complex modern world, says Harriso
n, but it particularly affects individuals that find themselves trying to do mult
iple tasks or rapidly switching between complex tasks, such as driving and talki
ng on a cell phone, alternating between conversations with two different people,
or cooking dinner and dealing with a crying child.
Despite the potential boost for multitasking, the benefits of training didn t tran
sfer to fluid intelligence. Engle points out that just because WMC and fluid int
elligence are highly correlated doesn t mean that they are the same:
Height and weight in human beings are also strongly correlated but few reasonable
people would assume that height and weight are the same variable, explains Engle
. If they were, gaining weight would make you taller and losing weight would make
you shorter
those of us who gain and lose weight periodically can attest to the
fact that that is not true.
The researchers plan to continue this research to better understand how training
specific aspects of cognition can lead to positive transfer to other tasks, bot
h in the lab and in the real world.
_
If you find it difficult to remember what you ve read, try giving the memory time
to consolidate.
I have a great memory for books I ve read on trains.
I always thought this had something to do with the nature of train travel: the r
ocking of the carriage, the rhythm of the stops, the continually changing pictur
e window. Perhaps the combination of all these helps induce a focus which is har
der to achieve in familiar circumstances.
Or perhaps the answer is simpler.
Psychologists have found that brief resting periods after learning aids memory.
In studies, when people take a little rest after learning, say, a string of numb
ers, they do better in recall than other people who ve been given another task str
aight away.
It is thought that this little rest helps consolidate the memory, making it easi
er to retrieve. On the other hand if you go straight on to another task, the mem
ory doesn t have a chance to solidify.
I began to wonder if this suggested why I find it easier to recall books I ve read
on trains.
Unlike at home where I read continuously, on a train I tend to stop more frequen
tly to look out of the window or see who is getting on at the next stop. These w
ould be exactly the type of restful periods described in this research.
The problem is these findings have only been shown over very short periods. That
is until now.
10-minute break
In a new study the effect of a 10-minute break was tested on participants recall
of a story 7 days later (Dewar et al., 2012).

They found that even after 7 days people s memory was enhanced when they took a 10
-minute break after reading the story. In fact, 7 days later people who d taken a
break were as good as those trying to recall the story just 15-30 minutes later,
but without the break.
So perhaps this helps explain why I have a clearer memory of books I ve read on tr
ains.
It also shows that one of the pleasures of reading pausing to let it wash over you i
s not only agreeable but also helps you remember what you ve read.
_
There s little doubt that people s names are hard to remember. No, it s not just you,
research suggests there s something unusual about names which makes them particula
rly tricky to recall. Indeed some researchers suggest that people s given names ar
e the most difficult of all words to learn (Griffin, 2010).
One study gave participants fake names and biographies to study (Cohen & Faulkne
r, 1986). Then they were tested on what they could remember. Here are the percen
tages for different pieces of information that were recalled:
Jobs: 69%
Hobbies: 68%
Home towns: 62%
First names: 31%
Last names: 30%
So names are more difficult to remember than what people do, what their hobbies
are and where they come from. And, you won t be surprised to hear, as we age, most
of us get even worse at remembering names.
But, why?
All kinds of theories have been put forward. One is that lots of us have the sam
e names. People guess that common first names like John and surnames like Smith
more difficult to remember because, on our minds, one John Smith interferes with
another.

are

Counter-intuitively, though, some research suggests common names are easier to r

ecall than unusual names (James & Fogler, 2007). Other research suggests the opp
osite so it s not exactly clear what is going on (Griffin, 2010).
What s in a name?
The most popular explanation in the research is that names are essentially arbit
rary and meaningless.
For most of us our names give away few clues about our appearance, our personali
ties or anything about us, except maybe a rough age, ethnicity, social class and
whether our parents were celebrities (hello Moon Unit , Tu Morrow and Moxie Crimefigh
ter yes, all real names of celebrity offspring).
If, for example, I was called The Pink Panther , and I happened to look like a pink
panther, you d almost certainly find it easy to remember my name (Fogler et al.,
2011).
Meaning is the key: we seem to find it difficult to remember names because they
have weak semantic hooks. Oddly we find it easier to remember that a person is a
potter, i.e. makes pots, than if their surname is actually Potter (James, 2004)
. We automatically treat names as meaningless, even if they have meaning.

Perhaps it s because we get so used to the lack of association between a person s na

me and what they do, or much else about them. Dave could just as easily be a seria
l murderer as a quantity surveyor. In fact it s surprising if we meet, say, a Mira
nda Brain and she turns out to be a neurosurgeon.
That s why one common trick for remembering names is to force yourself to make som
e kind of memorable association in your mind. It s also probably why nicknames are
better remembered than given names: they have more meaning because people acqui
re them for particular traits or events.
So, the next time you are beating yourself up for forgetting a name, don t worry,
it s perfectly normal. Just be kind to others and keep reminding them what your na
me is. And when someone forgets your name, console yourself with Shakespeare:
What s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
}
New study finds that short-term memory is improved 20% by walking in nature, or
even just by looking at an image of a natural scene.
I m sitting in front of the computer and I ve been working too hard for too long wit
hout a break. My brain feels like it s filling with wet cardboard. In fact what I m
doing isn t writing any more, it s just typing. I go to the kitchen, stand there for
a moment, can t remember what I ve come in for, feel foolish, then eat a biscuit.
It doesn t help.
Time for a walk. But where to? Perhaps into town to pick up some supplies, or ma
ybe the other way, towards the park and the river?
Most of us are aware that a quick walk around the block does wonders for the min
d. But what a new study reveals is that if you want to come back with your brain
power enhanced, the scenery en route really matters.
Communing with nature
Marc G. Berman and colleagues at the University of Michigan wanted to test the e
ffect of a walk s scenery on cognitive function (Berman, Jonides & Kaplan, 2008).
In the first of two studies participants were given a 35 minute task involving r
epeating loads of random numbers back to the experimenter, but in reverse order.
After this cognitive psychology special (!) they were sent out for a walk
one g
roup around an arboretum and the other down a busy city street both while being
tracked with GPS devices. They each repeated the memory test when they got back.
The results showed that people s performance on the test improved by almost 20% af
ter wandering amongst the trees. By comparison those subjected to a busy street
did not reliably improve on the test.
In the second study participants weren t even allowed to leave the lab but instead
some stared at pictures of natural scenes while others looked at urban environm
ents. The improvements weren t quite as impressive as the first study, but, once a
gain, the trees and fields beat the roads and lampposts.
These results replicated a previous study by Berto (2005) who found that just vi
ewing pictures of natural scenes had a restorative effect on cognitive function.
People s performance was soon restored by picture of trees, fields and hills, but
not by streets, industrial units or even complex geometric patterns.
Attention Restoration Theory
What is it, then, about being immersed in real natural scenes that allows the mi
nd to unwind? Kaplan (1995) provides a nice explanation based on the idea that a

ttention is split into two types:

Involuntary attention is grabbed by whatever is most immediate to our surviv
al. We have less control over this and consequently find it very difficult to ig
nore things like buses coming straight at us.
Directed attention is what we use to override our instinctual, involuntary a
ttention. It allows us to resolve conflicts so that, for example, we can work ou
t we are in more immediate danger from a car overtaking that bus. Vitally, direc
ted attention is thought important to our short-term memory.
Imagine crossing a busy street: our involuntary attention is being pulled one wa
y then the other by all sorts of stimuli. There are other people on a collision
course, crossing signals to decipher, police sirens in the distance
not to menti
on the cars, buses and motorcycles whizzing past on the road. All this buzz mean
s we continually have to decide where our attention should be directed. This is
tiring.
In comparison natural scenes only engage our involuntary attention modestly: it s
enough to stop us getting bored, but not so much we need to engage our directed
attention to work out where to put our focus. Effectively gazing at the sunset g
ives our directed attention a rest and we can let our minds wander.
Trees and fields: the ultimate cognitive enhancers?
So just as we might have predicted nature is a kind of natural cognitive enhance
r, helping our brain let off steam so it can cruise back up to full functioning.
The beauty of this study is it neatly tests the idea and puts a concrete number
on the improvement. Of course it only tested an arboretum, and only one type of
cognitive function. It may well be that other natural areas provide even greate
r benefits. What about the sea-side, sunsets or sand dunes? What about perceptio
n, problem-solving or executive function?
Whatever the outcomes in different natural environments, these benefits for cogn
ition are impressive for what is essentially a free activity (providing natural
areas are close). In fact these results are even more impressive when you consid
er the difficulty researchers have had showing the benefits of brain training soft
ware for cognitive function (see: which cognitive enhancers really work?).
Like many a favourite psychology study this one is also practical. When our mind
s need refreshing and if natural scenery is accessible, we should take the oppor
tunity. If not then just looking at pictures of nature is a reasonable second be
st.
Of course many people already decorate their homes with images of landscape, pro
bably without realising the cognitive benefits. So even if you can t get out of th
e house, and all your windows look out onto urban jungle, when you need a break
take a glance at a few images of nature. Flickr wouldn t be a bad place to start.
}
An experiment suggests doodling may be more than just a pleasant waste of time a
nd paper.
All sorts of claims have been made for the power of doodling: from it being an e
ntertaining or relaxing activity, right through to it aiding creativity, or even
that you can read people s personalities in their doodles.
The idea that doodling provides a window to the soul is probably wrong. It can s
eem intuitively attractive but it falls into the same category as graphology: it s
a pseudoscience (psychologists have found no connection between personality and
handwriting).
Although it s probably a waste of time trying to interpret a doodle, could the act

of doodling itself still be a beneficial habit for attention and memory in cert
ain circumstances?
To test this out Professor Jackie Andrade at the University of Plymouth had fort
y participants listen to a mock answerphone message which was purportedly about
an upcoming party (Andrade, 2009). People were asked to listen to the message an
d write down the names of all the people who could come to the party, while igno
ring the people who couldn t come.
Crucially, these participants were pretty bored. They d just finished another bori
ng study, were sitting in a boring room and the person s voice in the message was
monotone. The question is: even though the task is pretty simple, would they be
able to concentrate long enough to note down the right names?
Here s the experimental manipulation. Half the participants were told to fill in t
he little squares and circles on a piece of paper while writing down the names.
The rest just listened to the message, only writing down the names.
Doodlers memories 30% better
Looking at the results the beneficial effects of doodling are right there. Non-d
oodlers wrote down an average of seven of the eight target names. But the doodle
rs wrote down an average of almost all eight names.
It wasn t just their attention that was enhanced, though, doodling also benefited
memory. Afterwards participants were given a surprise memory test, after being s
pecifically told they didn t have to remember anything. Once again doodlers perfor
med better, in fact almost 30% better.
So perhaps if you re stuck in a boring meeting or someone is droning on at you abo
ut something incredibly uninteresting, doodling can help you maintain enough foc
us to pull out the salient facts.
The mind on idle
But why does it work? We can t tell from this study but Andrade speculates that do
odling helps people concentrate because it stops their minds wandering but doesn t
(in this case) interfere with the primary task of listening.
When people are bored or doing a simple task, their minds naturally wander. We m
ight think about our weekend plans, that embarrassing slip in the street earlier
or what s for supper.
Perhaps doodling, then, keeps us sufficiently engaged with the moment to pay att
ention to simple pieces of information. It s like keeping the car idling rather th
an turning it off. On idle we re still paying some attention to our surroundings r
ather than totally zoning out.
Obviously doodling is not a task you want to indulge in while concentrating on a
complicated task, but it may help you maintain just enough focus during a relat
ively simple, boring task, that you can actually get it done better.
Research on doodling might sound a little trivial but it s fascinating because it
speaks to us about many facets of human psychology, including mind wandering, zo
ning out, attention and the nature of boredom. Plus it s a really nice idea that d
oodling has a higher purpose, other than just wasting time and paper.
_
Can flashbulb memories be distorted? Some of the most widespread beliefs about m
emory are plain wrong.
One of the classic criticisms levelled at psychology is that it s just common sens
e. And there s nothing that winds up psychologists more than having this old saw r

epeated back to them.

If it s true we should be able to ask the general public six easy questions about
the psychology of, let s say, memory, and they should do pretty well. After all, e
veryone has a mind of their own and can introspect and see what s going on inside
it, so they should be able to answer these questions easily, shouldn t they?
Simons and Chabris (2011) had 1,838 Americans polled with six basic statements a
bout the psychology of memory. Great care was taken to try and get a representat
ive sample of the general population.
Their responses were compared with those of almost 100 psychologists. Amongst th
ese were 16 professors with at least 10 years experience in researching memory.
The statements are all below in their original form:
1. People suffering from amnesia typically cannot recall their own name or ident
ity.
Fully 83% of people agreed either mostly or strongly with this statement. In contras
t all the experts disagreed mostly or strongly with this statement. In fact people s
uffering from amnesia normally can remember their own name and identity.
The reason people get this so wrong is probably because they are often exposed t
o incredibly inaccurate depictions of amnesia. Films like The Bourne Identity (and
every sitcom ever made that uses an amnesia plot) are partly to blame; while fi
lms like Memento , with its much more accurate depiction of amnesia, are in the min
ority.
2. In my opinion, the testimony of one confident eyewitness should be enough evi
dence to convict a defendant of a crime.
37% of the public agreed, while all 16 experts disagreed. Actually eyewitness te
stimony can be frighteningly inaccurate. One of the problems with memory is that
people are surprisingly suggestible.
Even relatively small differences in the way eyewitnesses are handled can have a
huge impact on what they claim to have seen. For a good example have a look at
this article I wrote about faulty eyewitness testimony.
3. Human memory works like a video camera, accurately recording the events we se
e and hear so that we can review and inspect them later.
63% of the public agreed, while all 16 experts disagreed. This is a surprisingly
high percentage given how most people frequently have problems recalling basic
facts. Human memory works nothing like a video camera.
In reality what we recall is affected by our current emotional state, our motiva
tions and so on. And, of course, a lot of the time we can t remember it at all. Se
e this previous article on the transience of memory.
4. Hypnosis is useful in helping witnesses accurately recall details of crimes.
55% of the public agreed, while 14 experts disagreed and 2 didn t know or thought
it was unclear.
Hypnosis is a bit more controversial, but still the public had a lot more faith
in it than the psychologists. Part of the problem with hypnosis is that it can m
ake people incredibly suggestible to completely false information. Through hypno
sis, eyewitnesses can come to believe things that never happened. One great exam
ple is the lost in the mall study.
5. People generally notice when something unexpected enters their field of view,
even when they re paying attention to something else.
78% of the public agreed and 13 experts disagreed, while 3 agreed. This one was

the most controversial for the experts, but probably because there s little eviden
ce about how often we fail to notice when something unexpected comes into view.
The general point here is that people are much more absent-minded than they thin
k. That s because of the paradox that we don t notice what we don t notice. For all th
e classic examples check out this previous article on attentional blindness.
6. Once you have experienced an event and formed a memory of it, that memory doe
s not change.
48% of the public agreed while 15 experts disagreed and one thought it was uncle
ar. Actually even so-called flashbulb memories like where you were when Kennedy was
shot can be quite inaccurate or easily change over time.
For a great example of how malleable memories are, check out this previous artic
le on how memories are distorted and invented.
Not common sense
By and large, then, according to memory experts, all these statements are false.
So, should anyone say to you: psychology is just common sense , try asking them if
they agree with a couple of the above six statements. If they do, your work is
done.
You ll have spotted that the context for these questions is often related to eyewi
tness testimony. That s because in court, lay beliefs about memory are so importan
t. Simons and Chabris conclude by saying:
The prevalence of mistaken beliefs in the general public implies that similar
misunderstandings likely are common among jurors and could well lead to flawed
analyses of testimony that involves memory. At least for these basic properties
of memory, commonsense intuitions are more likely to be wrong than right.
Try not to think about what kind of effect these mistaken models of how memory w
orks have on our legal system and public life in general or you re likely to becom
e mighty depressed.
_
What is this instrument called? Is it on the tip of your tongue?
What s the name of that guy who was in that film with you know the one he s no, no it s not
enzel Washington, the other guy. Oh God, I know it, it s right there. This is driv
ing me crazy ! I can see his face. This is ridiculous! No, not Denzel Washington!
The tip-of-the-tongue or TOT phenomenon is now well-documented in psychology. It i
s a very common example of what Daniel L. Schacter calls blocking , one of the seve
n sins of memory (Schacter, 1999). It s the subjective experience that the memory
is right there and yet for some reason you can t quite access it.
Sometimes all you can think about is something similar, say another actor who is
often in the same types of films. It s this memory that seems to block the retrie
val of the one you really want. Other times there s apparently nothing blocking th
e memory s retrieval other than your mind s stubborn refusal.
Studies on blocking have shown that around half of the time we will become unbloc
ked after about a minute. The rest of the time it may take days to recover the me
mory.
As anyone getting on in years will tell you, blocking increases with age. Older
adults certainly experience more problems recalling names than younger adults. O
ne study finds college students have one or two TOTs a week, while older adults
have between two to four per week.
The taste of words on the tip of the tongue

One fascinating aspect of the TOT phenomenon is the study of synaesthetes. Synaest
hesia is a fairly common condition where people have a cross-wiring in their bra
ins between senses. This means that people with synaesthesia may experience numb
ers as colours, sounds as images or even words as tastes.
This last category, a rare form known as lexical-gustatory synaesthesia, provide
s an opportunity to study the TOT phenomenon in an unusual way. Simner and Ward
(2006) figured that if the cross-wiring in synaesthetes brains turns words into t
astes, perhaps they would literally be able to taste words that are on the tips
of their tongues before they could even recall the word itself.
Magically, there s evidence this really does happen.
Simner and Ward (2006) set about inducing TOT states in the lab by showing 6 par
ticipants with this rare form of synaesthesia pictures of unusual objects, such
as a platypus. In some trials, the experimenters managed to successfully induce
a TOT state in the synaesthetes.
Amazingly, these lexical-gustatory synaesthetes did actually feel a taste on the
ir tongues as they struggled for the word to describe the picture. In one case a
participant tasted tuna when she was trying to remember the word castanet .
To check the answers were correct, participants were asked after the study which
taste they associated with each word in the study. The tastes they reported bei
ng on the tip of their tongues matched up with their word-taste associations.
But what if the synaesthetes are just making these tastes up? Well, to check, th
e experimenters called them up more than a year later in a surprise retest. Sure
enough, the participant who reported that the word castanets was associated with
the taste of tuna, still did so, even after a year. Similarly, the other 5 synae
sthetes in the study all consistently reported their particular connections betw
een tastes and words.
While these sorts of experiences are alien to the majority of us, Simner and War
d suggest that this link between words and tastes may nevertheless be active in
all of us, but at an unconscious level.
I ve remembered, it s Will Smith!
So how do we finally remember what s on the tip of our tongues? One theory has it
that our memory can be jogged by hearing a word that sounds similar. (James & Bu
rke, 2000). While this is probably true, in real life it s just plain good luck if
our memory is jogged by the environment. Nowadays, though, we have a new tool f
or resolving those tip-of-the-tongue nuisances: look it up on the internet.
_
Last June I posted a blog entry about training working memory, focusing on a stu
dy by Tom Redick and his colleagues, which concluded that training working memor
y might boost performance on whatever task was practiced, but it would not impro
ve fluid intelligence.
(Measures of fluid intelligence are highly correlated with measures of working m
emory, and improving intelligence would be most people's purpose in undergoing w
orking memory training.)
I recently received an email from Martin Walker, of MindSparke.com, which offers
brain training. Walker sent me a polite email arguing that the study is not eco
logically valid: that is, the conclusions may be accurate for the conditions use
d in the study, but the conditions used in the study do not match those typicall
y encountered outside the laboratory. Here's the critical text of his email, rep
rinted with his permission:

"There is a significant problem with the design of the study that invalidates al
l of the hard work of the researchers--training frequency. The paper states tha
t the average participant completed his or her training in 46 days. This is an
average frequency of about 3 sessions per week. In our experience this frequenc
y is insufficient. The original Jaeggi study enforced a training frequency of 5
days per week. We recommend at least 4 or 5 days per week.
With the participants taking an average of 46 days to complete the training, the
majority of the participants did not train with sufficient frequency to achieve
transfer. The standard deviation was 13.7 days which indicates that about 80%
of the trainees trained less frequently than necessary. What s more, the training
load was further diluted by forcing each session to start at n=1 (for the first
four sessions) or n=2, rather than starting where the trainee last left off."
I forwarded the email to Tom Redick, who replied:
"Your comment about the frequency of training was something that, if not in the
final version of the manuscript, was questioned during the review process. Perha
ps it would ve been better to have all subjects complete all 20 training sessions
(plus the mid-test transfer session) within a shorter prescribed amount of time,
which would have led to the frequency of training sessions being increased per
week. Logistically, having subjects from off-campus come participate complicated
matters, but we did that in an effort to ensure that our sample of young adults
was broader in cognitive ability than other cognitive training studies that I ve
seen. This was particularly important given that our funding came from the Offic
e of Naval Research having all high-ability 18-22 year old Georgia Tech students
would not be particularly informative for the application of dual n-back traini
ng to enlisted recruits in the Army and Marines.
However, I don t really know of literature that indicates the frequency of trainin
g sessions is a moderating factor of the efficacy of cognitive training, especia
lly in regard to dual n-back training. If you know of studies that indicate 4-5
days per week is more effective than 2-3 days week, I d be interested in looking a
t it.
As mentioned in our article, the Anguera et al. (2012) article that did not incl
ude the matrix reasoning data reported in the technical report by Seidler et al.
(2010) did not find transfer from dual n-back training to either BOMAT or RAPM
[Bochumer Matrices Test and Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, both measures
of fluid intelligence], despite the fact that Participants came into the lab 4 5 d
ays per week (average = 4.5 days) for approximately 25 min of training per sessi
on (Anguera et al., 2012), for a minimum of 22 training sessions. In addition, Ch
ooi and Thompson (2012) administered dual n-back to participants for either 8 or
20 days, and Participants trained once a day (for about 30 min), four days a wee
k . They found no transfer to a battery of gF and gC tests, including RAPM.
In our data, I correlated the amount of dual n-back practice gain (using the sam
e method as Jaeggi et al) during training and the number of days it took to fini
sh all 20 practice sessions (and 1 mid-test session). I would never really trust
a correlation of N = 24 subjects, but the correlation was r = -.05.'.
I re-analyzed our data, looking only at those dual n-back and visual search trai
ning subjects that completed the 20 training and 1 mid-test session within 23-43
days, meaning they did an average of at least 3 sessions of training per week.
For the 8 gF tasks (the only ones I analyzed), there was no hint of an interacti
on or pattern suggesting transfer from dual n-back.
So to boil Redick's response down to a sentence, he's pointing out that other s
tudies have observed no impact on intelligence when using a training regimen clo

ser to that advocated by Walker, and Redick finds no such effect in a follow-up
analysis of his own data (although I'm betting he would acknowledge that the exp
eriment was not designed to address this question, and so does not offer the mos
t powerful means of addressing it.)
So it does not seem that training frequency is crucial.
A final note: Walker commented in another email that customers of MindSparke con
sistently feel that the training helps, and Redick remarked that subjects in his
experiments have the same impression. It just doesn't bear out in performance.
_
Training working memory *might* make you smarter
4/20/2012
The New York Times Magazine has an article on working memory training and the po
ssibility that it boosts on type of intelligence.
I think the article is a bit--but only a bit--too optimistic in its presentation
.
The article correctly points out that a number of labs have replicated the basic
finding: training with one or another working memory task leads to increases in
standard measures of fluid intelligence, most notably, Raven's Progressive Matr
ices.
Picture
Working memory is often trained with a N-back task, shown in the figure at left
from the NY Times article. You're presented with a series of stimuli, e.g. you'r
e hearing letters. You press a button if a stimulus is the same as the one befor
e (N=1) or the time before last (N=2) or. the time before that (N=3). You start
with N=1 and N increases if you are successful. (Larger N makes the task harder.
) To make it much harder, researchers can add a second stream of stimuli (e.g.,
the colored squares shown at left) and ask you to monitor BOTH streams of stimul
i in an N-back task.
That is the training task that you are to practice. (And although the figure cal
ls it a "game" it's missing one usual feature of a game; it's no fun at all.)
There are two categories of outcome measures taken after training. In a near-tra
nsfer task, subjects are given some other measure of working memory
to see if their capacity has increased. In a far-transfer task, a task is admini
stered that isn't itself a test of working memory, but of a process that we thin
k depends on working memory capacity.
All the excitement has been about far-transfer measures, namely that this traini
ng boosts intelligence, about which more in a moment. But it's actually pretty s
urprising and interesting that labs are reporting near-transfer. That's a novel
finding, and contradicts a lot of work that's come before, showing that working
memory training tends to benefit only the particular working memory task used du
ring training, and doesn't even transfer to other working memory tasks.
The far-transfer claim has been that the working memory training boosts fluid in
telligence. Fluid intelligence is one's ability to reason, see patterns, and thi
nk logically, independent of specific experience. Crystallized intelligence, in
contrast, is stuff that you know, knowledge that comes from prior experience. Yo
u can see why working memory capacity might lead to more fluid intelligence--you
've got a greater workspace in which to manipulate ideas.

A standard measure of fluid intelligence is the Ravens Progressive Matrices task

, in which you see a pattern of figures, and you are to say which of a several c
hoices would complete the pattern, as shown below.
Picture
So, is this finding legit? Should you buy an N-back training program for your ki
ds?
I'd say the jury is still out.
The Times quotes Randy Engle--a highly regarded working memory researcher--on th
e subject, and he can hardly conceal his scorn:
May I remind you of cold fusion ?
Engle--who is not one of those scientists who has made a career out of criticizi
ng others--has a lengthy review of the working memory training literature which
you can read here.
Another recent review (which was invited for the journal Brain & Cognition) conc
luded "Sparse evidence coupled with lack of scientific rigor, however, leaves c
laims concerning the impact and duration of such brain training largely unsubst
antiated. On the other hand, at least some scientific findings seem to support t
he effectiveness and sustainability of training for higher brain functions such
as attention and working memory."
My own take is pretty close to that conclusion.
There are enough replications of this basic effect that it seems probable that s
omething is going on. The most telling criticism of this literature is that the
outcome measure is often a single task.
You can't use a single task like the Ravens and then declare that fluid intellig
ence has increased because NO task is a pure measure of fluid intelligence. Ther
e are always going to be other factors that contribute to task performance.
The best measure of an abstract construct like "fluid intelligence" is one that
uses several measures of what look to be quite different tasks, but which you ha
ve reason to think all call on fluid intelligence. Then you use statistical meth
ods to look for shared variance among the tasks.
So what we'd really like to see is better performance after working memory train
ing on a few tasks.
The fact is that in many of these studies, researchers have tried to show transf
er to more than one task, and the training transfers to one, but not the other.
Here's a table from a 2010 review by Torkel Klingberg showing this pattern. (Cli
ck the image to see a larger version.)
Picture
This work is really just getting going, and the inconsistency of the findings me
ans one of two things. Either the training regimens need to be refined, whereupo
n we'll see the transfer effects more consistently, OR the benefits we've seen t
hus far were mostly artifactual, a consequence of uninteresting quirks in the de
signs of studies or the tasks
My guess is that the truth lies somewhere between these two--there's something h
ere, but less than many people are hoping. But it's too early to say with much c
onfidence.
_
ately, I ve been really busy with work, and haven t done as much with memory as I wi
sh I were doing. I m about to leave to Hawaii for a week, though I m not sure how m

uch free time I will have.

Though I haven t had time to work on memorizing Portuguese vocabulary, I ve been lis
tening to the Pimsleur Brazilian Portuguese CDs. The Pimsleur System is very int
eresting. I think they have the best audio materials for learning languages that
I ve come across so far.
One of the interesting concepts is Pimsleur s schedule of how often information sh
ould be repeated in order to keep it in memory: 5 seconds, 25 seconds, 2 minutes
, 10 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, 1 day, 5 days, 25 days, 4 months, 2 years. The C
Ds are designed so that you listen to one lesson per day, and vocabulary is repe
ated along certain intervals.
Here are some of the concepts of the Pimsleur System, copied from Wikipedia unde
r Creative Commons License:
Pimsleur developed his system using four principles he regarded as important
to forming memory associations and language recall.
Anticipation Language courses commonly require a student to repeat after
an instructor, which Pimsleur argued was a passive way of learning. Pimsleur de
veloped a challenge and response technique, where a student was prompted to transl
ate a phrase into the target language, which was then confirmed. This technique
is intended to be a more active way of learning, requiring the student to think
before responding. Pimsleur said the principle of anticipation reflected real-li
fe conversations in which a speaker must recall a phrase quickly.
Graduated-interval recall
Graduated interval recall is a method of revie
wing learned vocabulary at increasingly longer intervals. It is a version of ret
ention through spaced repetition. For example, if a student learns the word deux
(French for two), then deux is tested every few seconds in the beginning, then
every few minutes, then every few hours, and then every few days. The goal of th
is spaced recall is to help the student move vocabulary into long-term memory. P
imsleur s 1967 memory schedule was as follows: 5 seconds, 25 seconds, 2 minutes, 1
0 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, 1 day, 5 days, 25 days, 4 months, 2 years.
Core vocabulary
The Pimsleur method focuses on teaching commonly used wo
rds in order to build up understanding of a core vocabulary . In the typical Simon
& Schuster 60 cassette/CD course (four modules of 15 cassette/CDs each) this doe
s not provide a large breadth of vocabulary. Word-frequency text analyses indica
te that a relatively small core vocabulary accounts for the majority of words sp
oken in a particular language. For example, in English, a set of 2000 words comp
oses about 80% of the total printed words. In other words, an understanding of t
hese 2000 words would lead to approximately an 80% word comprehension rate. Even
the most advanced Pimsleur courses fall well short of this, with an average of
around 600 words. The Pimsleur method never teaches grammar explicitly, instead
leaving the student to infer the grammar through common patterns and phrases rep
eated over and over. Pimsleur claimed this inductive method is precisely how nat
ive speakers learn grammar when they are children; only in schools is it taught on
the blackboard.
Organic learning The program uses an audio format because Pimsleur argue
d that the majority of students wanted first and foremost to learn to speak and
understand. He suggested that this auditory skill, learned through their ears an
d mouths, is a very different skill to the visual one of reading and writing and
believed that audition and vision should not be confused. He referred to his au
ditory system as organic learning, which entails studying grammar, vocabulary, and
pronunciation simultaneously. Learning by listening is also intended to teach t
he proper accent
_
The old saying healthy body, healthy mind has been proved true in physically fit
children.

U.S. researchers have shown for the first time that youngsters who are more aero
bically fit have more white matter in their brains, which is a marker for better m
emory and attention.
A new study used brain imaging to explore the link between body and mental fitne
ss in nine and 10-year-olds.
Those rated at a higher level of fitness also had brains with more fibrous and c
ompact white matter, the network of nerve fibres important for sending signals b
etween different brain regions.
Physically fit children have more 'white matter' in their brains, associated wit
h memory, learning and attention, a team of researchers at Illinois University f
ound
+3
Physically fit children have more 'white matter' in their brains, associated wit
h memory, learning and attention, a team of researchers at Illinois University f
ound
Joint study author Laura Chaddock-Heyman, of Illinois University, said: Previous
studies suggest that children with higher levels of aerobic fitness show greater
brain volumes in gray-matter brain regions important for memory and learning.
Now for the first time we explored how aerobic fitness relates to white matter in
children's brains.
She said the study found significant fitness-related differences in the strength
of several white matter tracts in the brain connecting different regions.
Dr Chaddock-Heyman said:
tention and memory.
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It suggests that white matter structure may be one additional mechanism by which
higher-fit children outperform their lower-fit peers on cognitive tasks and in t
he classroom, she added.
Although the study did not test for cognitive differences in children with diffe
rent fitness levels, previous research has found fit adults perform better on wh
ite matter-related tasks.
Psychology professor Doctor Arthur Kramer said: Previous studies in our lab have
reported a relationship between fitness and white-matter integrity in older adul
ts.
Therefore, it appears that fitness may have beneficial effects on white matter th
roughout the lifespan.

The researchers looked at 24 children given scans using diffusion tensor imaging
(DTI, also called diffusion MRI) to investigate five white matter tracts.
White matter describes the bundles of nerve fibres carrying
in region to another, with more compact white matter linked
efficient nerve activity.
The team found children with a higher level of fitness, had
e' researchers said
The team found children with a higher level of fitness, had
e' researchers said

signals from one bra

with faster and more
'greater brain volum
'greater brain volum

The scientists found children with a higher level of fitness, had 'greater brain
volume' in gray-matter regions
The scans analyse water diffusion into tissues, with less water diffusion denoti
ng more fibrous and compact material with desirable traits , says a report in the j
ournal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
Researchers took into account factors such as social and economic status, the ti
ming of puberty, IQ, or a diagnosis of ADHD or other learning disabilities that
might have affected the reported fitness differences in the brain.
The analysis revealed significant fitness-related differences in the integrity o
f several white-matter tracts in the brain.
To take the findings further, the team is now two years into a five-year trial t
o determine whether white-matter tract integrity improves in children who begin
a new physical fitness routine and maintain it over time.
C-researcher Professor Charles Hillman said: Prior work from our laboratories has
demonstrated both short and long-term differences in the relation of aerobic fi
tness to brain health and cognition.
However, our current trial should provide the most comprehensive assessment of th
is relationship to date.
_
We all create stories to explain what happens in a day. A story is a tool to hel
p us make sense of the world. But what about the future? What would happen if yo
u turned your to-do list into a story as a rehearsal for the next day? Personall
y, it's helped me not just Get Things Done, but also boosted my memory so that I
've been able to ditch complicated to-do lists and schedules for good.
Blast from the past is a weekly feature at Lifehacker in which we revive old, bu
t still relevant, posts for your reading and hacking pleasure. This week, we're
revisiting one of our more interesting productivity tricks: turning your to-do l
ist into a story.
Two months ago I started writing my calendar for the next day including to-do list
s, scheduling, and everything else in the form of a story. My story for the day is
no work of Pulitzer Prize winning fiction, nor is it filled with Michael Bay-st
yle highs and lows, but it has helped me better map out my day, schedule it, try
new things, and the most curious part actually remember everything on my lists, n
o tech tricks required. The idea is to grab the hardest details of your day (the
lists, tasks, schedules) and make sense of them in the same way your brain make
s sense of the world: through a short, simple story.
I came across this idea after listening to an interview on the science podcast R
adiolab, where neuroscientist Paul Broks mentions a theory that we define oursel
ves by a story and that story is defined by language. The theory suggests that y

our entire personhood is a story you tell yourself. His comment was in reference
to the present and past, but after hearing this I decided to see what would hap
pen if I applied this same logic to the future.
I have a few theories on why this worked that we'll get to in the final section,
but let's start by taking a look at the step-by-step process for how you can us
e storytelling as a means to better structure your day.
The Step-by-Step Process
How Turning My To-Dos Into a Story Boosted My Memory and Motivation
Like any new scheduling technique, this one takes time to get used to and start.
At first, the idea of writing out a story-driven narrative for tomorrow's tasks
instead of a series of bullet points and time slots sounds like a waste of time
. For the first few days it is. You have to look at those paragraphs again to re
member what you're doing and that takes more time than glancing at a calendar. H
owever, I started to click into the process and within a week it replaced my var
ious lists for good. Here's the breakdown of implementing this for yourself. Pho
to by Braden Kowitz.
Step 1: Pull Out Your Calendar and Your To-Do List
First, pull out your calendar, schedule, and to-do list and take at look at the
next day. Don't worry, eventually you can skip this step, but for now it's neces
sary to get an idea of what needs to get done.
Step 2: Map Out Your Day Including Times and Tasks You Need to Accomplish
Next, mash your to-do's, goals, and calendar together into one linear list. Esti
mate your to-do and goal location wherever you think they'll fit. When you write
this out as a story you'll see if they'll actually work. For instance, here's a
(slightly abbreviated) sample of one of my days:
Wake up: 5:30.
Lifehacker posting: 7-8:30.
Exercise: 10:30-11:15.
Call and reschedule dentist.
Lunch 12:00 (remember leftovers).
Write/edit 12:30-4 (finish draft of feature).
Grocery store: pick up (list). Say something random to a stranger. Return Re
dbox rental.
Clean bathroom.
Obviously your day is different and every one of mine has variations. When you'r
e first plotting this out it's easiest to get a quick look at your schedule in a
simple list format. After about a week, you only need to keep a running list of
dates and times.
Step 3: Write Down Your Day as a Linear Story in the Third Person
How Turning My To-Dos Into a Story Boosted My Memory and Motivation
Now comes the tricky part, actually turning this list into a story. Initially, t
his might take you 10-15 minutes depending on the complexity of your day, but as
you get better you can get it done in about five minutes. The key is to visuali
ze your day as best you can and write it out as you'd like it to go. Toss in a f
ew jokes, bad metaphors, and offbeat visual cues as you go along. I do this with
a pen and paper, but a computer, tablet, or phone works just as well.
Here's a section of one of mine:
After some chest-pumping and grabbing a piece of gum (it temporarily makes y
ou smarter, right?), Thorin is prepared for the inevitable grocery store visit.

As he walks from the car to the store he drops his copy of SSX into the Redbox r
eturn slot and makes his way past the burly security guard who's always chewing
a cigar. The list is an easy one this week. Starting in the produce section he g
rabs some spinach, bananas, carrots, and bell peppers. He skips the personal pro
ducts and heads straight for the cat litter before rounding the corner and snagg
ing up some beef and chicken. He makes a comment to a woman in spandex with a bl
inking light on her hat as she stares confusingly at the ground beef selection,
"The meat here sucks," Thorin says. She chuckles and notes, "I just want some gr
ound beef that doesn't look like vomit." Thorin turns and strolls down the soup
aisle to pick up a couple cans of tomato soup. Finally, he snags a block of ched
dar cheese, tortillas, and a loaf of bread.
You don't really have to worry about grammar or spelling when you're doing this.
It isn't meant for anyone but you and doesn't really need to reflect some innat
e storytelling talent. The only rule is that you keep it in the present tense. Y
ou can embellish with all the metaphors and adjectives you like if you want to s
pice it up. In my case, I try to throw in one extroverted thing each day as a re
minder to myself to do something out of the ordinary. I picked this up when read
ing Dr. Timothy Wilson's Redirect as a way to influence change by simply stating
it as a fact. It's on my to-dos, it's in my story, and therefore it has to happ
en. For what it's worth, I did make a comment to someone about the bad selection
of meat at the store, but it wasn't a woman in spandex.
Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change
Amazon.com: $17.81
Buy now
45 readers bought this
When you're doing this step you
ay you want. I don't put in the
use it's not something I forget
s of your day and let the other
lauren.
Step 4: Revise

can gloss over any details or sections of your d

fact I have to take a shower, for instance, beca
to do. Instead, concentrate on the action moment
bits work themselves out on their own. Photo by

How Turning My To-Dos Into a Story Boosted My Memory and Motivation

Once you start writing out your day as a story you're going to notice the incons
istencies in your plan. This is good because it gives you ample time to edit you
r schedule and rework your day. If the timeline isn't lining up, it's not doable
. Think of it like a rehearsal where you're working out the kinks to make everyt
hing more efficient.
For instance, last week I was shooting video in the morning, had a lunch planned
in the afternoon, and a movie in the early evening. As a list, this made perfec
t sense, but when I started writing it out I realized that it wasn't actually do
able because all of those things would take longer than I expected them to. When
I visualized my to-do list as a story I found the problems that would likely ar
ise and modified my schedule from that. Photo by Jennie.
Be Prepared for a Few Oddities
Doing an experiment like this isn't without its faults. The bulk of my experienc
e over the last two months has been positive, but a few oddities crept up.
First off, it took me a little while to get used to the idea of letting things f
low out of the schedule. A fluid schedule is something I've always kept so I cou
ld adapt to new things, but the story-schedule felt more concrete. Subsequently,
I'd feel weird when I wasn't meeting scheduled times or things weren't working

out exactly like I'd expected them too. In some ways this is a good thing becaus
e I was keeping a strict schedule, but I also needed to learn to allow for more
movement. My solution was to remove the sections of the story that specifically
dealt with "down time" or rather, the times that were more ambiguously used than
others. For example, instead of describing what I do during lunch, I just write
, "eats leftovers for lunch."
I also ran into a few cases of deja vu that were a bit unsettling. It didn't act
ually throw anything off balance, but it did cause my brain to take a second to
recalibrate to the present tense. In a way this is helpful because you've alread
y worked out a few ways to get through a situation, but it is a bit jarring.
Some Thoughts on Why Turning Your To-Do's into a Story Works
For me, the end result is a drastic improvement from where I was before. I am ab
le to better schedule my day because I visualize it clearly instead of looking a
t a set of due-dates and mentally trying to figure out how much time it takes me
to do something. I anticipate challenges because I force myself through a rehea
rsal of my day and don't just check items off a to-do list.
The biggest benefit came after about two weeks when I wandered into the grocery
store and grabbed every item on my list without ever pulling the list out. Witho
ut noticing it, I went from having to track everything on a calendar, schedule o
ut different times for tasks, and keep several to-do lists, to going through my
day naturally without ever worrying about times, items, or tasks. How and why wa
s this working? Here are a few ideas based on how we understand language and mem
ory.
You Inadvertently Create a Memory Palace and Tie Your To-Do's to Your Spatial Me
mory
How Turning My To-Dos Into a Story Boosted My Memory and Motivation
In U.S. record holding memory champ Joshua Foer's book Moonwalking with Einstein
(excerpted here at the New York Times), he talks about an ancient trick for imp
roving your memory called a Memory Palace. The basic premise is that we better r
emember things by placing them in a specific location inside a room we're famili
ar with.
In my case, I was inadvertently tying my to-do list with a specific location and
mapping out the process of how I got there. For things like shopping lists, I w
as doing the same thing. I mentally walk through the entire daily experience twi
ce (once while writing and again while editing) before I do it for real. Each st
ep on my schedule gets tied to a place and action and it sticks better in my mem
ory because of it.
Working out a to-do list or schedule through a story means you have to use your
spatial memory to make the story make sense. You can't walk out of the grocery s
tore and into the bathroom like my to-list is structured. The steps in-between a
re just as important. Photo by Kevin.
Your Brain Responds to Fiction the Same Way it Does to Experiencing Real Events
New research suggests that the brain doesn't make a big distinction between read
ing about something and experiencing it. In an article in the New York Times it'
s suggested that stories have a large impact on how we understand the world. One
theory even suggests that reading changes the way we comprehend the world:
Keith Oatley,
y of Toronto (and
vid simulation of
imulations run on

an emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the Universit

a published novelist), has proposed that reading produces a vi
reality, one that "runs on minds of readers just as computer s
computers."

In the case of your own story, it means that when you write it down and read it
back, your brain runs through a simulation as if it's happening. In turn, when y
ou actually perform those actions the next day you are prepared for them as they
come up.
It's Kind of Like Mental Time Travel
How Turning My To-Dos Into a Story Boosted My Memory and Motivation
While it doesn't involve a crazy machine or a flying blue phone box, we can trav
el through time in a mental capacity. Doing so helps resolve our definition of t
he past, present, and future. It also helps us parse through a series of hypothe
ticals so we can judge what we need to do now to make tomorrow work. Research pu
blished in the European Journal of Social Psychology explains a theory behind th
is:
Judgments about future events and actions are an important aspect of everyda
y functioning (e.g., predictions). Indeed, hypothetical thought about counterfac
tual events that might never come to pass may change the perception and evaluati
on of present reality.
The difference between a traditional to-do list and this story method is that yo
u have to think about the how in combination with the why and when. You predict
and adjust your day, in detail, as it's going to happen before it happens. By th
e logic above, this means you change your perception of the present from "How am
I going to get all this done?" to "This is how I'm getting this done." Photo by
David Blackwell.
It's worth noting that this isn't a replacement to your long term calendars. It
can't help you remember Mother's Day or your second-cousin's bar mitzvah, but it
does help shape and make sense of your tomorrow.
Of course, it's important to live in the present tense and take the time to pay
close attention to what's happening around you. However, those insignificant mom
ents the scheduling, the grocery lists, the to-dos can be offloaded into a story whe
re they'll sit in your memory longer and influence you in ways you might not not
ice. For myself, I'm going to continue using this method to see where it takes m
e. Next, I'll see what happens when I write out a whole week. How about you, wil
ling to give it a shot?
_
mail exchange with PWNtheSAT (link is external) while on phone with very nice su
pervisor of credit report website.
Attempting to get charges reversed:
Me (to PWN): Is this the proper use of specious (link is external)?
PWNtheSAT (link is external): I wouldn't say specious for that...specious is
really more about arguments.
Uh Oh. Whoops. Hopefully she didn't notice.
Me: What about spurious (link is external)?
PWNtheSAT (link is external): :) yeah that works
Spurious (link is external) charges now reversed, I can return to the reason for
this blog post:
What's the Best Way to Learn Vocabulary for the SAT?

In a line: Make abundant use of the words in your everyday life.

And if your brain refuses to remember a word? Ask the smartest person you know
to use this word in a personalized sentence for you, with real life context. The
n free associate.
Below are a few of my free association words that I couldn't remember for the li
fe of me, until I employed this "Smart Friend Real Life Context" strategy:
Phlegmatic (link is external)-- Alfred Hitchcock
Temporize (link is external) -- Administrator
Supine (link is external) -- Yoga
Chary (link is external)-- Wary
Avuncular (link is external)-- Uncle
Salvo (link is external) -- Boy
Truculent (link is external) -- Truck Driver
Portent (link is external) -- Falling Stars
Now? Seared, forever. <3
_
Below are some books related to memory that I ve read so far, in no particular ord
er (except for the first three which are good places to start). My favorites are
in bold. This page is regularly updated as I find new books.
Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
Quantum Memory Power by Dominic O Brien
You Can Have an Amazing Memory: Learn Life-Changing Techniques and Tips from
the Memory Maestro by Dominic O Brien
How to Pass Exams by Dominic O Brien
How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week by Dominic O Brien
The Amazing Memory Kit by Dominic O Brien
Learn to Remember by Dominic O Brien
The Art of Memory by Frances Yates
The Mind Sport of Memory 2008 Yearbook by Chambers and Day
Remember, Remember by Ed Cooke (2 more chapters to go)
Maximize Your Memory by Ramn Campayo
Memory Pack by Andi Bell
Use Your Perfect Memory by Tony Buzan
The Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan
Improve Your Memory by Robert Allen
Maximize Your Memory by Johnathan Hancock
The Mind of a Mnemonist by A. R. Luria
Mind Performance Hacks by Ron Hale-Evans
Rhetorica ad Herennium (only the section on memory)
Your Brain, the Missing Manual by Matthew Mac Donald (1/4 to go)
How to Be Clever by Ben Pridmore
On Memory and Reminiscence by Aristotle
By Heart: 101 Poems to Remember by Ted Hughes
Mindhacker: 60 Tips, Tricks, and Games to Take Your Mind to the Next Level b
y Ron Hale Evans and Marty Hale Evans
Books I own but haven t read yet:

The Medieval Craft of Memory by Carruthers and Ziolkowski

Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Frances Yates
On the Composition of Images, Signs and Ideas by Giordano Bruno
Memory, a Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Foster
Brain Boot Camp by Tony Buzan
Use Both Sides of Your Brain by Tony Buzan
Super Memory, Super Student by Harry Lorayne
How to Develop a Perfect Memory by Dominic O Brien
The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture by Mary Carruthers
How to Remember Anything: The Proven Total Memory Retention System by Dean V
aughn
Brighter by Dr. Gunther Karsten
Memory Power: You Can Develop a Great Memory by Scott Hagwood
The Memory Palace: Learn Anything and Everything by Lewis Smile
How to Improve Your Memory in Just 30 Days by Ron White
Remember Everything You Want and Manage the Rest: Improve your Memory and Le
arning, Organize Your Brain, and Effectively Manage Your Knowledge by Helmut Sac
hs
Improve Your Memory: How to Use Memory Techniques in Your Daily Life by Erik
van Mechelen and Johnny Briones
Giordano Bruno mnemonic
Giordano Bruno mnemonic
Books that I ve seen online that I m looking at next:
The Phoenix by Peter of Ravenna
Mind and Memory Training by Ernest E. Wood
The Brilliant Memory Tool Kit: Tips, Tricks and Techniques to Boost Your Mem
ory Power by Dominic O Brien
The Craft of Thought: Meditation, Rhetoric, and the Making of Images, 400-12
00 by Mary Carruthers
De Umbris Idearum by Giordano Bruno.
De Oratore by Cicero
The Student Survival Guide By Chambers & Colliar
Wax Tablets of the Mind: Cognitive Studies of Memory and Literacy in Classic
al Antiquity by Jocelyn Penny Small
The Gallery of Memory: Literary and Iconographic Models in the Age of the Pr
inting Press by Lina Bolzoni
The Web of Images: Vernacular Preaching from Its Origins to Saint Bernardino
Da Siena by Lina Bolzoni
Logic and the Art of Memory: The Quest for a Universal Language by Paolo Ros
si
The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan Spence
In the Palaces of Memory: How We Build the Worlds Inside Our Heads by George
Johnson
Memory from A to Z: Keywords, Concepts, and Beyond by Yadin Dudai
Eros and Magic in the Renaissance by Ioan Culianu
Metaphors of Memory: A History of Ideas about the Mind by Douwe Draaisma
Theories of Memory: A Reader by Rossington and Whitehead
A Sheep Falls From the Tree by Christiane Stenger
How to Remember Anything: The Proven Total Memory Retention System by Dean V
aughn
How to Master the Art of Remembering Names by Dean Vaughn
Remember Every Name Every Time by Benjamin Levy
The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas
Cartographies of Time By Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton
Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It by Kenneth Higbee

Memory in Oral Traditions: The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Co

unting-out Rhymes by David C. Rubin
Medical Terminology 350: Learning Guide by Dean Vaughn
Basic Human Anatomy by Dean Vaughn
Medieval Music and the Art of Memory by Anna Maria Busse Berger
Memory Power For Exams by William G. Browning
Yellow Elephant by Tansel Ali
Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies: Orality, Memory, and the Trans
mission of Culture by Lynne Kelly
The following books are about speed-reading, mental speed math and other related
topics. I don t have them yet, but they re on my reading list because I ve read revie
ws of them or someone has recommended them to me:
The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics
How to Calculate Quickly: Full Course in Speed Arithmetic by Henry Sticker
Breakthrough Rapid Reading by Peter Kump
The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
Books on music and the brain on my to-read list:
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel Levi
tin
Music, Language, and the Brain by Aniruddh Patel
Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination by Robert
Jourdain
The Tao of Music: Sound Psychology by John Ortiz
Music and the Mind by Anthony Storr
Are there any other good books on memory that I haven t listed above? Leave a comm
ent below
_
he best-selling author and 2006 US Memory Champion picks five unforgettable book
s about the art of remembering
Your theme is memory, but not the sort of memory that automatically embeds itsel
f in our minds, like a first kiss.
The original Latin memory treatises talk about a distinction between natural mem
ory and artificial memory. Natural memory is like the basic cable package. It s ou
r brain s biological capacity for recall. Artificial memory is what you are able t
o do with your natural capacity through training, practice and using mnemonic te
chniques.
You wrote that memorising is a primal capacity from which too many of us have bec
ome estranged . Please explain.
One of the things that I was surprised by in my research was that although the i
dea of a disciplined, trained memory feels novel to us today, it was commonplace
in ancient history. Once upon a time, people treated their memories with more s
anctity. They cultivated their memories. Today we don t think of furnishing our mi
nds, and few schools emphasise memorisation.
So how did we become estranged from this primal capacity?
Our culture changed. Technology allowed us to outsource our memories. I m referrin
g to technology in the broadest possible sense, encapsulating everything from th
e alphabet to the Blackberry. These technologies remember for us. Once you had p
rinted books, it was no longer important to keep thoughts in your mind because y

ou could reference them externally. We no longer needed to exercise our memories

to the limits of their capacity. To some extent, we ve forgotten how to remember.
Image of The Art of Memory
The Art of Memory
By Frances A Yates
Buy
Let s turn to those artificial repositories of thoughts and facts
with The Art of Memory by Frances Yates.

books. Starting

It s the book that started the whole field of academic research into the art of me
mory. For anyone interested in the subject, it s the first thing to read. Yates st
arts with the ancient Greeks and tells the story of how the art of memory began,
then went through a number of transformations. In the Middle Ages it became ass
ociated with religious remembering. During the Renaissance it got wrapped up wit
h a whole bunch of Kabbalistic and hermetic ideas that were in the air at the ti
me. Yates s story ends with the Renaissance, but the story of mnemonics continues
and subsequent scholars have brought the story up to date.
Yates writes about a mental device for memory retrieval called a
at is this?

memory palace . Wh

A memory palace is an imagined edifice in your mind s eye that you use to structur
e and store information. In the case of Cicero, that information was a speech. I
n the case of mental athletes, it might be the order of a shuffled deck of cards
. The memory palace is a device that was invented, at least according to legend,
in the fifth century BC. Simonides, the famous Greek poet, had an old-fashioned
epiphany after a traumatic event. Moments after he exited a banquet the roof co
llapsed, killing all inside and mangling the bodies beyond recognition. Accordin
g to legend, although it s almost certainly apocryphal, Simonides used the power o
f his memory to identify the bodies because he could see in his mind s eye where e
ach of the guests had sat. What Simonides realised, after the event, was that ou
r visual and spatial memories are powerful. This is the birth story of the memory
palace . We seem to be innately good at remembering things visually. Figuring out
how to remember things is what many of these ancient memory techniques are abou
t. If you can engage the visual part of your brain in remembering, it makes stuf
f stickier.
So how do you construct a memory palace?
The idea is to take a building that you are intimately familiar with and deposit
imagery in that building which is so vivid that you can t forget it. By placing t
he memories within this edifice you are tying them together and keeping them in
order. Mnemonists say their skills are as much about creativity as memory.
Please explain the role of creativity in the art of memory?
Many memory techniques involve creating unforgettable imagery, in your mind s eye.
That s an act of imagination. Creating really weird imagery really quickly was th
e most fun part of my training to compete in the US Memory Competition.
Yates writes that the earliest known book with memory tips dates to 90BC. As one
of the earliest skills of essence, is mnemonics one of the first sources of sel
f-help literature?
Rhetorica Ad Herennium, the book you re talking about, is actually a guide for ora
tors. Embedded in this long book about rhetoric is a section on how to remember
the stuff you re going to be talking about. It s one of the only descriptions of anc
ient memory techniques that survived into the Middle Ages. There clearly were ma

ny others. When Cicero wrote about memory techniques, he basically said that the
y were so well known that he wouldn t review them in detail. His assumption was th
at everybody knew this stuff.
Image of The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture (Cambridge St
udies in Medieval Literature)
The Book of Memory
By Mary Carruthers
Buy
Let s move on to Medievalist Mary Carruthers s The Book of Memory.
This is the best study of the role that memory plays in medieval culture. We res
erve the term genius for people who are creative, who are innovators, who think
in ways that are entirely new. In the middle ages, the term genius was reserved
for people with the best memories. That is telling.
How did medieval mnemonics both borrow from and add to ancient systems of memory
?
Mnemonic techniques got weirder and weirder and weirder. Once you get to Renaiss
ance thinkers like Giordano Bruno, a leading figure in the story of the developm
ent of the art of memory, these mnemonic techniques become incredibly esoteric a
nd almost impenetrable.
Tell us about the illustrations in this book and what we can learn about memory
from medieval illuminations.
During the Middle Ages they understood that words accompanied by imagery are muc
h more memorable. By making the margins of a book colorful and beautiful, illumi
nations help make the text unforgettable. It s unfortunate that we ve lost the art o
f illumination. The fact that books today are mostly a string of words makes it
easier to forget the text. With the impact of the iPad and the future of the boo
k being up for re-imagination, I wonder whether we ll rediscover the importance of
making texts richer visually.
Image of Memory in Oral Traditions: The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, a
nd Counting-out Rhymes
Memory in Oral Traditions
By David C Rubin
Buy
What can we learn about memory from psychologist David Rubin s treatise on oral tr
aditions?
This is such a good book. He applies learning from cognitive science to help us
understand oral traditions, stories passed down by word of mouth including The I
liad and The Odyssey. He takes a cross-disciplinary approach. One of the things
he writes about is that the ancients understood things about cognition that have
only been rediscovered recently.
One of those things is that rhyme and rhythmic speech are not merely for euphony
but for memory too. Right?
Right. The use of visual imagery to imprint memories is not the only mnemonic de
vice. Rhyme and rhythm are also mnemonic. One of the best ways to make something
memorable is by using rhyme and meter and rhythm and song. That seems to be how
The Odyssey and The Iliad were transmitted.
How does psychology confirm and challenge the art of memory?

Scientists have tested mnemonic techniques, and proved that they work. Studies s
how that you can easily teach elderly people to use memory techniques, but that
once they leave laboratory conditions they forget to apply the techniques. Cogni
tive science has taught us that learning to retain information is easy, but that
remembering to remember is hard. It s intuitive, but important to keep in mind, t
hat if you don t try to make things memorable you ll forget them.
Image of Metaphors of Memory: A History of Ideas about the Mind
Metaphors of Memory
By Douwe Draaisma
Buy
Onto another book rooted in mind science. Tell us about Metaphors of Memory by D
ouwe Draaisma?
This is a book that should be more widely known. Draaisma is a Dutch historian o
f psychology and ideas who has written a couple of books about the mind that are
filled with wonderfully weird anecdotes and terrific insights. Metaphors of Mem
ory is a history of how we ve talked about memory over time. Today we talk about p
hotographic memory or digital memory; we analogise our memories to the technolog
ies of our era. That s always been true. The Greeks talked of memory as though it
were a wax tablet. In the middle of the last century thinkers saw memory as a ho
logram. Draaisma writes about how these metaphors shape what we think about memo
ry.
Draaisma points out that to Socrates, memory was an aviary. For St Augustine it
was a treasure house. Freud called memory a mystic writing pad. What is the most
resonant metaphor for memory that you ve come across or devised?
Memory is a playground. It s not my own metaphor, that s what I was once told by the
man who trained me to become a mental athlete. The act of making something memo
rable involves finding what is meaningful, significant and colourful in a piece
of information or experience. The more fun you have with this, the stickier your
memories will be.
Is metaphor a mnemonic tool too?
Yes. Let s go back to that story about Simonides. Although it s probably apocryphal,
it s never been forgotten because it s a useful way of understanding mnemonic princ
iples. I mention this again to make the point that comprehension and retention a
re made easier through association with stories or mere metaphors. So yes, the a
nalogised imagery in metaphors makes ideas and information easier to recollect.
Image of The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory
The Mind of a Mnemonist
By Aleksandr R Luria
Buy
Finally, let s turn to The Mind of a Mnemonist, a monograph by a renowned Russian
neuropsychologist, Alexander Luria. He subtitles it a little book about a vast me
mory . Tell us about Luria s subject.
This book created the entire genre of humanistic clinical histories. Without Lur
ia, there could be no Oliver Sacks, the British neurologist who wrote Awakenings
. For 30 years, Luria studied a journalist called Solomon Shereshevsky or simply
S . Supposedly, S had a vacuum cleaner memory. He could remember anything.
Luria is a terrific writer, but he didn t document S s skills with the kind of detai
l that is required to compare S with people who live today. Luria is so concerne

d with telling a good story that he doesn t rigorously describe S s abilities. We do

n t have any other records of S, this seemingly singular character in the history
of psychology. As a result it s hard to draw too many conclusions from this book.
What does Luria s study of S teach us about the human condition?
S seemed to remember too well. He was ineffectual as a journalist and ultimately
couldn t make a living as anything other than a stage performer
a memory freak. I
think that points to something profound. Forgetting is an important part of lea
rning, it teaches us to abstract. Because S remembered too much, he couldn t proce
ss what he witnessed, and as a result he couldn t make his way in the world.
What is the first thing you can remember memorising?
When I was four or five, my overzealous older brother sat me down with a map of
the United States and the mission of memorising the capitals of every state. Tha
t was my earliest feat of memorisation.
Do you remember how you got it fixed in your mind?
I don t remember anything from that period. Except the state capitals.
In the course of writing your book, you won the title of US Memory Champion in 2
006. What stuck in your mind about that experience?
What stuck in my mind most about the whole experience is not the contest, the tr
aining or even winning the trophy. It s a guy I met who had no memory whatsoever.
His brain was attacked by a virus that cored it like an apple
it wiped out his a
bility to remember anything that happened since about 1950, as well as his abili
ty to form new memories. He was an incredible window into how our memories make
us who we are. Even though he couldn t remember me for more than five minutes, I ll
never forget him.