Saturday, May 12, 2012

Struggling to remember stuff? Read on

The way to remember things is to have an engagement with the subject matter that you are learning. This means either it interests you, excites you or its just a crazy thing your doing. Its known in psychology as 'Elaborative Encoding' here's how. Try reading this story but make sure there are no distractions: You are going to image you are a red blood cell. Read this list then  close your eyes and imaging each of the points, take time to really image the idea.in your 'minds eye'.
In your minds see your refection in a mirror

  • You are a red blood cell
  • The smooth disc shape
  • Those lovely double biconcave surfaces.
  • On each surface you can see some writing, look closely it says 'High SA:VOL "
  • See a zipper on your disc surface, pull down the zipper and peer inside, now you see many many Haemoglobin  molecules (Hb)
  • Each Hb molecule is holding and oxygen molecule tightly to itself, the oxygen cannot get away.
When you try to create memory, link the thing you are learning to as an extreme an image in the mind as possible. The more extreme the better the memory. Finish each revision session with one of these exercises and review them regularly. Remember don't be boring, creates extreme,crazy ideas.

You may like to watch this video about a guy who uses this technique to extreme. Its easy to watch and understand.

http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_of_memory_anyone_can_do.html