Enhancing memory

Quality of encoding Better encoding means better retrieval

Elaboration and organisation Elaboration enables effective encoding. The more associations that are made between new information and that already in memory the more likely the information will be retrieved. Making it meaningful makes it easier to remember

Context and State dependent cues Retrieval can be enhanced if the condition under which the information was originally learned is recreated.

Context dependant cues Retrieval can be enhanced if the condition under which the information was originally learned is recreated. Studies have showed that students who are examined in the same rooms that they have learnt information remember more, leading to higher results. It is helpful when studying for exams that you do so sitting at a desk, in silence and without distractions. In other words, creating a situation (context) that is as alike to your exam condition as possible will help you remember in the exam

State dependant cues State-dependent cues refer to the internal environment – the internal physiological and/or psychological state that the person was in at the time of learning. e.g. a person’s mood (happy or sad) level of anxiety drunk or sober can all be linked to material being learned and therefore act as state-dependent cues. Think about it! - When we are happy, we are more likely to remember happy events, but if we are sad, we tend to have unhappy memories!

Mnemonic devices Any strategies or techniques used to enhance memory can be referred to as mnemonic devices. Most techniques are ancient in origin because human memory was once one of the few ways of storing information.

Narrative Chaining Linking items in a list or key concepts you need to remember through the development of a story or narrative. E.g. The lobes of the brain were going for a walk. The frontal lobe was at the front of the group, controlling the voluntary movements. The parietal lobe walked just behind the frontal lobe, holding the somatosensory cortex. Just below the parietal lobe was the temporal lobe, listening to what everyone else was saying, and at the back was the occipital lobe, keeping an eye on everyone. Create a narrative paragraph, using terminology from the memory unit.

The method of loci How familiar are you with your house? Your room? If I was to ask you to map out the layout of your house in your head, would you be able to do it without any hesitation? The method of loci involves attaching things you need to remember with objects in familiar locations.

The method of loci Try and remember this list of words: Banana Jeans Soap Peas Runners Bus Purple Laptop Kettle Grass How many did you remember? Now try it with the Loci method

Acronyms Words that are formed using the first letter in a group of words. ANZAC Australian and New Zealand Army Corps FPOT Frontal, Parietal, Occipital and Temporal Make up an acrostic of your own!

Acrostics Sentences or lines using the first letter of a set of words. Never Eat Soggy Weetbix North, East, South, West Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit Musical scale Make up an acrostic for the theories of forgetting

Important to note! While this has gone through a number of mnemonic devices, for the exam, you need to focus on the method of loci and narrative chaining