All of us desire to possess an excellent memory system that is robust and dependable. Who, after all, likes to face situations of memory failures that lead to so much of anxiety and embarrassment? After learning about various memory related processes, you certainly would like to know how your memory can be improved. There are a number of strategies for improving memory called mnemonics (pronounced ni-mo-nicks) to help you improve your memory. Some of these mnemonics involve use of images whereas others emphasise self-induced organisation of learned information. You will now read about mnemonics and some suggestions given for memory improvement.

Mnemonics using images require that you create vivid and interacting images of and around the material you wish to remember. The two prominent mnemonic devices, which make interesting use of images, are the keyword method and the method of loci. (a) The Keyword Method: Suppose you want to learn words of any foreign language. In keyword method, an English word (the assumption here is that you know English language) that sounds similar to the word of a foreign language is identified. This English word will function as the keyword. For example, if you want to remember the Spanish word for duck which is ‘Pato’, you may choose ‘pot’ as the keyword and then evoke images of keyword and the target word (the Spanish word you want to remember) and imagine them as interacting. You might, in this case, imagine a duck in a pot full of water. This method of learning words of a foreign language is much superior compared to any kind of rote memorisation. (b) The Method of Loci: In order to use the method of loci, items you want to remember are placed as objects arranged in a physical space in the form of visual images. This method is particularly helpful in remembering items in a serial order. It requires that you first visualise objects/places that you know well in a specific sequence, imagine the objects you want to remember and associate them one by one to the physical locations.

(a) Chunking: While describing the features of short-term memory, we noted how chunking can increase the capacity of short-term memory. In chunking, several smaller units are combined to form large chunks. For creating chunks, it is important to discover some organisation principles, which can link smaller units. Therefore, apart from being a control mechanism to increase the capacity of short-term memory, chunking can be used to improve memory as well. (b) Minimise Interference: Interference, as we have read, is a major cause of forgetting and therefore you should try to avoid it as much as possible. You know that maximum interference is caused when very similar materials are learned in a sequence. Avoid this. Arrange your study in such a way that you do not learn similar subjects one after the other. Instead, pick up some other subject unrelated to the previous one.

(a) Engage in Deep Level Processing: If you want to memorise any information well, engage in deep level processing. Craik and Lockhart have demonstrated that processing information in terms of meaning that they convey leads to better memory as compared to attending to their surface features. Deep processing would involve asking as many questions related to the information as possible, considering its meaning and examining its relationships to the facts you already know. In this way, the new information will become a part of your existing knowledge framework and the chances that it will be remembered are increased.

(c) Give Yourself enough Retrieval Cues: While you learn something, think of retrieval cues inherent in your study material. Identify them and link parts of the study material to these cues. Cues will be easier to remember compared to the entire content and the links you have created between cues and the content will facilitate the retrieval process.

Thomas and Robinson have developed another strategy to help students in remembering more which they called the methods of PQRST. This acronym stands for Preview, Question, Read, Self-recitation, and Test. Preview refers to giving a cursory look at the chapter and familiarising oneself with its contents. Question means raising questions and seeking answers from the lesson. Now start reading and look for answers of questions you had raised. After reading try to rewrite what you have read and at the end test how much you have been able to understand.