If you’ve just met someone and want to remember their name, repeat it to yourself every five or ten seconds while talking to them. When studying, don’t go over the same flashcards over and over again. Let a few hours or even a day go by, then go through them again. You can stop studying the ones that are easy to remember. Focus on repeated the ones that are difficult, but always allowing some time to elapse in between sessions.
When reading, stop every so often – perhaps after every chapter or section, or more often it’s very difficult reading. Put down the reading and ask yourself, “Can I summarize what I have just read in one or two sentences?” If you’re going to be tested on the information, ask yourself questions in the style they’ll appear on the test. For instance, define the meaning of vocabulary words if the test will have fill in the blank questions. After a lecture, class, or important meeting, jot down the main take-away points in your own words. Don’t look back at your notes: see what you can remember.
Spend two minutes explaining a concept to your roommate. Then, swap roles, and let your roommate explain a concept to you for two minutes. Grab a whiteboard and teach a five-minute lesson to a friend. Then, ask your friend to explain what you’ve just taught them. Pay attention to what confused them: the areas that you explain least clearly are probably the things you understand least well. Write a letter to a parent or other relative. Explain the concept in clear, simple terms.
For example, if you have to memorize geographical borders, think about how those borders were formed. Notice that in many places, borders follow natural features such as rivers and mountain ranges. By observing a general rule like this you save yourself from having to memorize each individual border; instead, you can remember which borders follow this rule.
This is sometimes call the Baker/baker paradox. Shown a picture of a woman, people are much more likely to remember that she is a baker than that her name is Baker. This is because the idea of being a baker has more associations. It conjures up thoughts of bread and might suggest links with the image: perhaps her face looks doughy, for example. [7] X Research source
Many people feel or have been told that they are more of a “visual learner,” an “auditory learner,” and so on. There’s no evidence to suggest, though, that learning mainly in your preferred mode is advantageous. [10] X Research source Instead, it’s helpful to learn in as many different modes as possible.
If you’re studying a foreign language, learn a familiar children’s song in that language to solidify vocabulary. For example, “Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” will help you memorize that language’s words for major body parts. You probably learned to count partly through nursery rhymes such as “Five Green and Speckled Frogs. ”[12] X Research source Make up similar silly songs about concepts in trigonometry or calculus – it still works! Share your song with your study group. Singing in a group has profound benefits for your brain. [13] X Research source
Memorize the difference between the mathematical concepts of “zero slope” and “no slope” by picturing a skier. When the skier gets to a vertical cliff, she will scream, “No slope!”
Concept maps can be very helpful in representing and remembering hierarchical relationships. However, they can also foster creativity, because it’s possible to visualize relationships in many dimensions instead of along one single line. The flow chart is one kind of concept map. [15] X Research source It represents a procedure or decision-making process, representing steps in symbols and connecting those steps using arrows.
For example, the order of the planets can be remembered using the phrase “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos” (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). The fates of King Henry VIII’s six wives is often remembered through a simple, mostly-accurate poem: “Divorced, Beheaded, Died; Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. ”
