Mnemonics

The Art of Remembering

Barbara Awbrey, M.A. Ed.

Goode-Pasfield Center for Learning and
Teaching
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Mnemonics
A

weird word that means

memory tool. Mnemonics are

methods for remembering
information that is otherwise
difficult to recall. Mnemonics use
as many of the best functions of
your brain as possible to store
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Memories
Colors
Smells
Tastes
Touch
Feelings
Shapes

While written
language is one of
the ways we
communicate, it is
only one of the
skills and resources
available to our
minds.

Elephant
OR
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Researchers say:
W

e reme
m
ber 20
hear;
% of w
hat we
W
e reme
mber 5
read;
0% of w
hat we
W
e reme
m
ber 75
we see
80% of
and do
what
.
By using all your senses, but especially your ability
to create visual images, you can increase your
power to memorize.
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Be Careful
Your

Brain Can Read This:

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd
waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of
the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht
oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny
iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses
and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs
is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
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What tricks do you

use?

before e, except after c

HOMES
S-U-C-C-E-S-S
30 days hath
September.
Tying a string around your

Now you can start

making up your
own mnemonic
devices

Recommended: Breakthrough Learning (1995) by

Scott Bornstein

Use positive pleasant

images
Use vivid colorful silly
images
Use three-dimensional
images
Exaggerate the size of
the images
Use humor
Use symbols (traffic
lights, pointing finger)

Some Mnemonic
Devices

1.The Similar Traits

Technique
2. Peg Systems
3.Forming Sentences from
the 1st letters of the
words
4.The Link & Story Method
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I. The Similar Traits Technique:

Two words you would like to remember and link in your mind:
RICHMOND - VIRGINIA
Find things they have in common (e.g., second letter i;
eight letters)
Find smaller words within the words:
RICH MAN - VIRGINIA
Make up a sentence or short visual/story:
The rich man drinks gin and lives in Virginia

Now try this one:

BUSCAR - TO LOOK FOR

**The similar traits technique is a good way to study for

matching tests.
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II. Peg Systems

Uses something you know (and wont forget) to hang new
information on;
Pairs old information with new information in a visual format;
Good for remembering items in order;
Common pegs: the alphabet; numbers; furniture in your
house

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A. The Number-Rhyme Peg System

You need to remember:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Bun (one is a bun)

Shoe
(two is a shoe)
Tree (three is a tree)
Door
etc.
9.
Hive
10.

6. Bricks
7. Heaven
8. Gate
Line
Hen

Form a picture in your mind of each item. Make the

picture vivid, detailed, and colorful.

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Now, write down a list of things to remember, such as a shopping list

(used here). It could be a list of body parts for Anatomy class, a list of
scientists, or a list of the chemicals in the periodic table of the elements
(any list).
1. Coke
2. Laundry Detergent
3. Tomatoes
4. Chicken
5. Hamburger
6. Paper Towels
7. Kleenex
8. Cookies
9. Bread
10. Lean Cuisine

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Next create a picture in your mind containing the first item on

your shopping list (coke) with the word bun (which goes with
#1). In this case, you imagine a picture of a bun with Coke. The
image must be detailed. For example, what kind of bun is it?
Hamburger, hot dog? With seeds on top, without? What color is
it? Perhaps you have imagined a hot dog bun with a small bottle
of coke lying in it instead of a hot dog. Next, create a picture of
laundry detergent and a shoe (two is a shoe). Decide what kind
and color of shoe (high top, tennis, womens, mens, red, white),
What does the detergent look like? Is it in a box? A bottle?
Perhaps you are picturing a mens high-top, red basketball shoe,
with detergent bubbles coming out of the top, Etc.

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B. Alphabet Peg System

The Alphabet Peg
System
A Ace of spades
NEntrance
B Bee
O - Oboe
C Sea
P - Pea
D Diesel engine
Q - Queue
E Eel
R Ark
F Effluent
S Eskimo
G Jeans
T Tea Pot
H Harley
U - Unicycle
I Eye
V - Vehicle
J Jade
W - WC
K Cake
X X-ray
L Elephant
Y - Wire
M - Empty
Z Zebra
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C. Items in a Room
1.Blackboard
2.Light switch
3.Floor
4.Ceiling
5.Book
6.Telephone
7.Door
8.Window
9.Chair
10.Water cooler

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II. Forming Sentences

with First Letters
In this technique, which most students have learned in
school, the first letters of a list of words that need to be
remembered are taken out to form a silly sentence or another
word that is easy to remember.
For example, if one is trying to remember the planets of the
solar system:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune, Pluto
Take the letters M, V, E, M, J, S, U, N and P and form a
sentence:
My very extravagant mother just sent us nine pizzas

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The Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Eerie,

Superior
=H O M E S

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Strategies we use to solve

problems:
Trial and error; algorithms; heuristics; insight
T, A, H, I

Teachers always have insight

Famous psychologists:
Bandura, Maccoby, Loftus, Sperry, Rodin
B, M, L,S, R

Be more like a special rat

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III. The Link & Story Method

Works by making associations between items in a list, linking
them in a story, or a flowing image.
The counties of England: Avon, Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall,
Devon, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Surrey:
An AVON (Avon) lady knocking on a heavy oak DOoR
(Dorset)
The DOoR opening to show a beautiful SuMmER landscape
with a SETting sun (Somerset)
The setting sun shines down onto a field of CORN
(Cornwall)
The WILTing stalks slowly droop onto the tail of the sleeping
DEVil (Devon)
On the DEVils horn a woman has impaled a GLOSsy
(Gloucestershire) HAM (Hampshire) when she hit him over
the head with it
Now the Devil feels soRRY (Surrey) he bothered her.
Note that there need not be any reason or underlying plot to

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Alternatively you could code this information by imaging the

following story vividly:
An AVON lady is walking up a path towards a strange house. She
is hot and sweating slightly in the heat of high SUMMER
(Somerset). Beside the path someone has planted giant CORN
in a WALL (Cornwall), but its beginning to WILT (Wiltshire) in the
heat. She knocks on the DOoR (Dorset), which is opened by the
DEVil (Devon). In the background she can see the kitchen in
which the servant is smearing honey on a HAM (Hampshire),
making it GLOSsy (Gloucestershire) and gleam in the bright
sunlight streaming through the window. Panicked by seeing the
Devil, the Avon lady screams SoRRY (Surrey), and dashes back
down the path.

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Summary:
Mnemonics

means memory tool;

Using visual images paired with items
to remember is a powerful tool;
Some mnemonics techniques include:
1.

Similar traits

2.

Peg systems

3.

Forming sentences and words

4.

Link & story method

.Make

visual images funny, colorful, 3D, cartoonish

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