Improving Your Memory

Our memory is the storehouse for everything we know. For this student café assignment, students are to target a specific aspect of your memory that you would like to improve and then apply one or more memory principles from the text to make the improvement and the results of applying these techniques. For example, you may want to strive to enhance your performance on exams, to recall important birthdates and anniversaries, to remember people's names following introductions, or to reduce absentminded actions, such as misplacing keys or a wallet.

Questions:

 

In your assignment describe:

1. The aspect of memory targeted for improvement (and why)
2. The memory principles or strategies used (including the rationale behind them), and
3. Any results (positive or negative) from applying these techniques.
4. In your responses to other student assignments share your successful experiences with them.

1) The aspect of memory targeted for improvement (and why)?

I want to improve my long term memory specifically the ability to memorize the terminologies that I study to get a higher score on exams.

2) The memory principles or strategies used (including the rationale behind them), and

Meaningful Organization Principle such as Mnemonics. 

Mnemonics is a combination of words and imagery to easily memorize the terms or easily enumerate things in order. Levin (1994) stated that mnemonic strategies equip students with the skills to acquire straightforward factual information. Mnemonics strategy is often used in the field of cognitive psychology and other areas to easily remember the new information encoded to his/her memory. One specific technique of Mnemonics is the use of acronyms. For example, use "GIJ" to remember the Axis powers during World War II which are Germany, Italy, and Japan. Another way is using phrases, for example, "Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit" to remember the notes on the lines of the treble clef in music class. 

Another memory principle to improve is through Recitation. When you study, stating the concepts in your own words and saying it aloud is a powerful technique of transferring information from short-­?term to long-­?term memory. For example, if you want to remember, "The goal of Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is to change patterns of thinking that are behind people's behavioral problems.", you can say "Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to help people find new ways to behave by changing their thought patterns."

3) Any results (positive or negative) from applying these techniques.

Memory strategies promote learning. Applying these techniques can help me in moving information from short-term memory to long term memory. In this way, I can easily recall the terminologies that I have studied and can improve my performance during examination. A possible negative result is, if I rely too much on mnemonics, there's a tendency for me to forget even the acronyms and phrases. If this happens, I will be blank-minded in answering the questions. To avoid this, I should make sure I understand the content of what I have been studying. Meaningful Organization and Recitation techniques work better together. 

4)In your responses to other student assignments share your successful experiences with them.

?I have been using these principles/strategies in studying. These worked effectively so far. I easily remember the terms and concepts for enumeration. I also made sure that I have enough sleep and not have an empty stomach and I try to be optimistic to avoid pressure and stress because in that way, I can think better. Also, according to studies, dark chocolate improves your memory and reduces stress so I often eat dark chocolate while studying.