Do you have a good memory?
 Write down one thing that you are having difficulty
remembering.
 Keep this note and refer to it during this presentation.
 Think about how you can use the ideas we will discuss
to help you remember this item.
TOOL 1: Pay attention
 Before you can remember anything, you need to pay
attention to it in the first place.
 You see and hear many things all the time.
 You must focus on the things you want to remember.
 Sensory memory--lasts a few seconds.
How well do you pay attention?
 Which penny is the correct one?
References:
Nickerson, R.S., and Adams, J.J. (1979). Long-term memory for a common object. Cognitive Psychology, 11, 287-307.
Weiten, Wayne (1995). Psychology: Themes and variations. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Short Term Memory Facts
 Once you pay attention to something, think about it.
 STM decides which information to throw away and
which to send to long term memory.
 Usually holds 7 pieces of information at a time.
 Lasts three to twenty seconds.
TOOL 2: Reflect
 Reflect on new information within 24 hours.
 Connecting new information to old is one way of
reflecting that improves how much you will
remember.
Long Term Memory Facts
How teachers use these facts
It is possible to keep retention at 80% with the
following review intervals:
0 minutes
20 minutes
60 minutes
9 hours
24 hours
48 hours
6 days
31 days
3 months
Material presented
Exercise on material
Review questions at the end of the class
Homework assignment
Homework review
Scaffolding
Quiz
Mid-term
Final exam
TOOL 3: Recode
 The brain likes organization.
 Organize the things you want to remember for better
storage.
Example
 Look at the following words for twenty seconds.
 Try to memorize as many as you can.
apple
hammer
train
orange
lily
daisy
zebra
car
pear
rose
wrench
squirrel
airplane
lion
cherry
pliers
camel
boat
tulip
saw
Write down as many words as
you can remember.
Organizing the words would help
 Fruit
 Tools
 Transportation
 Flowers
 Animals
apple, orange cherry, pear
hammer, saw, wrench, pliers
train, car, airplane, boat
lily, daisy, tulip, rose,
zebra, squirrel, lion, camel
Try it with the following list of
words.
nine
school
two
bank
park
ten
store
red
restaurant
table
chair
green
desk
pink
bed
blue
three
yellow
couch
twenty
Grouping or chunking items to aid
memorization has been used very
effectively with dates and phone
numbers.
 Which is easier to remember:
9093793281
or
(909) 379-3281
19532048
or
1953-2048
TOOL 4: Create a story
If you had to try to remember as many of the items shown
below as possible or a long list of vocabulary, you could be
much more successful if you created a story that used the
items.
TOOL 5: Acronyms, Acrostics
 Colors of the rainbow: Roy G. Biv
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
 Planets:
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us
Nectarines
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
TOOL 6: Visualize
 To memorize the 5 causes of the
Civil War, visualize a baseball
field with each plate and the
pitcher’s mound representing a cause.
Home plate
1st base
2nd base
3rd base
Pitcher’s mound
= railroad system
= more money
= navy
= industry
= more soldiers
TOOL 7: Catchy Phrases, Songs
 Tongue twisters
 Jazz Chants
 Schoolhouse Rock tunes
 Popular songs that illustrate a variety of grammar rules
and idiosyncrasies, like “Bang, Bang” by Cher to review
common irregular past tense verbs
 Student- or teacher-created raps or songs, especially
when set to the tune of well-known children’s songs or
pop songs
OTHER TOOLS:
 Paraphrase
 Summarize
 Explain it to someone else
 Fill in graphic organizers
 Draw pictures
 Write it over and over
 Make flash cards
 Take practice tests
distance &
dimension
atmosphere
moon
gravity
exploration
OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
 Keep a positive attitude.
 Take plenty of breaks while studying.
Neurons fatigue after 4 to 8 minutes.
 Your focus time equals your age. (18 years old = 18
minutes of quality focus time before you need a
break.)
 Exercise and eat healthy food.
 Get plenty of sleep and reduce stress in your life
whenever you can.
