Memory: organizational principles and frameworks

¶ … Albert Einstein is credited as having responded to a question about his ability to remember great amounts of information by saying he kept only the information that was useful, and discarded that information that was not useful.

What we know from reading chapter 3, is that Einstein was a man who must have frequently exercised his memory in order to have a recall that served him well in developing formulas like the famous E=mc2.

Today, we have a good understanding of memory and recall processes that has helped science and medicine to develop techniques for improving memory recall.

Perhaps not to the extent of Albert Einstein, but certainly in a way that might improve and maintain an individual's quality of life longer throughout the process of aging.

II the brain as a storage unit for information - POINT ONE

Every sense your body experiences - sound, sight, sensation, scent - is recorded in the brain's memory.

The brain stores like information in the same section of the brain.

Scent to Skunk

Visual image to Mental image, all information regarding a skunk is information that is similar, and is stored in memory so that when recall is triggered, all of the pieces of information of about the skunk comes to mind.

Information of strong impact - like the unpleasant encounter with the odor of a skunk - is more easily recall than information that does not impact us strongly or in a way that is consistent with our daily uses.

Even though we might not encounter SKUNK daily, its impact on us is such that it is stored where it is readily accessible to us. Much the way that the danger of touching a hot stove or fire is imprinted in our memory.

Other things stored in memory are less memorable -but nonetheless there.

Things not often used in memory are difficult to recall

Recall exercises help to retrieve things stored in memory

Recall exercises can help turn a poor memory into a good memory

Recall exercises can help improve a person's daily life, and even stave off the effects of aging on memory

All of the information that has come to you, is stored in your brain

You have a wealth of information, but the information must be accessed regularly to be readily accessible to recall.

By using memory recall techniques, you only have to learn information one time.

You have to become a participant in your learning

Notice how you store and recall information

Notice the techniques that you use to recover hard to remember information

Use a combination of memory recall techniques to ensure easier and faster recall.

III Begin With a Positive Attitude POINT TWO

Feel secure in the knowledge that information received by you, is still with you

Instead of saying, "I can't remember," be positive, say, "It will come to me shortly." positive attitude and confidence in what you have learned will help you draw on the information faster, more reliably

When you adopt the attitude that you never forget, you help build confidence in your own ability to recall.

Replace terms like, "I can't remember," with positive reinforcement statements like, "I never forget." Or "I remember everything."

Develop the strategy that "My memory serves me well."

Anything you learn, you will recall the way you learned it.

IV Combined Recall Techniques Point Three

Use recall techniques in combination if necessary

Recall is made easier with use of the material being recalled; so use it, don't lose it.

If you write it down, you are more likely to recall it. If you write it down, and associate the subject or information with a mental picture, it might become even easier to recall.

If you have trouble remembering names, create a rhyme that uses the name and something distinctive about the person. Such as My great aunt's name is Kate, and she's known for always arriving late (even if she's not!).

Incorporate a series of checks and balances into your memory processing system, and your memory becomes more responsive. The checks and balances are the combination of techniques that work best for you when you remember things.

Paying attention to your best and easiest memory recall practices is the way to begin combining techniques. People have different memory triggers, but a combination of techniques serves as the check and balance to proactive memory recall.

The combination of techniques that you use will work best for you because it is encoded in your neural network scheme. That means that if you pay attention to your best processes in recalling information from memory, you are essentially mapping your neural network for your own use.

If you have trouble remembering formulas in algebra, you break the formulas down into a step one, step two, step three process. Using the combination of techniques, you can associate each step with something to trigger the memory, put the formula together, and improve your test scores.

It works the same for geography and other subjects that you might have trouble learning.

It all begins with paying attention to your own learning processes, identifying what works best for you, and using a combination of processes. You can create and recreate the techniques and order of them that works best for you.

Get Your Whole Body Into the Process - POINT FOUR a. Just as with SKUNK all of your senses and experiences contribute to your ability to recall something. The more important it is, the greater the impact it had on your life, the easier it probably is to recall. That is because it impacted you in a way that your brain stores to be readily accessed, because it is a sense or sense response in you that triggers the recall. The sense or sense response is accessed more frequently, keeping that neural pathway open and at the forefront of recall ability.

b. If you can, put yourself into the picture or image that you create around the information that you need to recall. How do your senses react to the information? Turn the information into a SKUNK.

c. But then you must use the information so that you do not lose it. With less access by you of the information stored in memory, the neural pathways become closed to recall.

d. This is active learning, when you put your body into the learning process.

e. Relax, allow your body to absorb the information.

f. Your physical learning should incorporate your senses and your emotions. When you learn information, try to make it a pleasant emotional experience or association. The body will reject that which it finds repulsive or offensive or unpleasant. Create pictures that are pleasant - for instance, think of the painting by Edvard Munch called the Scream. Imagine the algebraic formula that you had trouble remembering streaming out of the screamer's mouth at you, as you stand in the distance, out of the picture.

g. The amygdale is that area associated with emotions. If a subject is particularly difficult to recall, insert yourself into the painting the Scream, as the screaming, screaming out the information that you must remember to be successful on your test.

h. Relating the information to a goal, and one that is emotional, like passing a college course, is an emotional experience, and can be recalled the same way it was learned - emotionally. If you like to sing, put yourself into the image of a rock-n-roller, singing the scenario of the events that you have to remember for history. Use dates to trigger event recall; where were you on a particular date at a particular time. Make the learning event of date and time importance.