Improve Your Memory By Using MNEMONICS To Remember Information

Mnemonics are memory devices that help learners recall larger pieces of information, especially in the form of lists. Back in 1967, a study by Gerald R. Miller showed that students who regularly used mnemonic devices increased their test scores by up to 77%!

Many types of mnemonics exist and which type works best is limited only by the imagination of each individual learner. The 9 basic types of mnemonics presented in this handout include Music, Name, Expression/Word, Ode/Rhyme, Model, Note Organization, Image, Connection, and Spelling Mnemonics.

1. Music Mnemonics

The same method you used to recall song lyrics can work just as well in academics. You can use music to recall important details to main ideas, and many learners have made songs out of information when they needed to learn a list of items.

Example: The ABC song, The first 20 elements of the periodic table song

2. Name Mnemonics

Here, the 1st letter of each word in a list of items is used to make a name of a person or thing. Sometimes, the items can be rearranged to form a more recollectable name mnemonic. 

Example: ROGBIV = colours of the light spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.)

3. Expression or Word Mnemonics

This is by far the most popularly used mnemonic. To make an Expression or Word mnemonic, the first letter of each item in a list is arranged to form a phrase or word.

Example: My Very Eyes May Just See Until Nine, in remembering the order of the planets from the sun outward. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

4. Ode or Rhyme Mnemonics

An Ode or Rhyme Mnemonic puts information in the form of a poem. 

Example: A commonly used rhyme mnemonic for the number of days in each month is:

30 days hath September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have 31
Except February alone
Which has but 28 days
And 29 in each leap year.

These are just some of the examples we will take in this article. In a subsequent one, we shall see how the other forms may be used to your advantage. Until then, use these examples to form personal mnemonics in remembering important information.