YOUNG MINDS 01
Curious Thing, Memory!
Have you ever
had an uncontrollable urge to start cleaning up your room or your cupboard when
you have an especially mind-numbing homework assignment to complete? You are
not alone! Many a mother finds to her amusement (and relief) that messy cupboards
right themselves with perfection equalling magical proportions at a periodic
interval that corresponds to the exam times! One good thing that comes out of
this exercise is that when one wants a pair of socks from the cupboard, one could
find just that and not a smelly old handkerchief hidden beneath all sorts of
debris!
The memory system that we all possess can be understood to function in
just this way. When we store material we learn in class in an orderly fashion,
following some kind of structure or rule, we find it easy to recollect any bit
of information. When we store a whole bunch of information in no particular order
than the ones in which we are taught one period after the other, recalling what
we need becomes difficult and we are left standing in class, scratching our
heads as the teacher looks smugly on.
Although these
memory techniques may not make head scratching in class go away completely, they
will help us remember things more effectively. Let’s look at a few tricks now:
- Acronyms-
This is a technique that is very helpful in learning bits of information
that is seemingly large. For example, if you wanted to memorise Albus
Dumbledore’s full name, which is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,
you could form an acronym using the first letters of his name such as AP
(for Andhra Pradesh) and WB (Warner Brothers) and you are set to rock any
Harry Potter trivia quiz!
- Mnemonics/Verbal Associations- This technique is used when you have a large amount of information that is seemingly meaningless or unrelated. For example, if you were told to remember the following words: Chair, Laptop, Jump, Poke, inducing meaning into this random series makes memory effective. An association such as this may work: She was sitting on a CHAIR as her LAPTOP beeped, making her JUMP as if it had given her a POKE!
- The
VAKT Way- Many people learn information in many different ways. Some learn
well from Visual aids such as diagrams and flow-charts; some benefit from
Auditory techniques such as audio books or a friend giving an answer in
points before entering the exam hall; Kinesthetic learners are those who learn
things by doing and experimenting; and Tactile learners are those who
learn about things through touch and manipulation. Think about which of
these methods help you best!
- Clustering-
This technique works well when you have to remember a long string of numbers,
like a phone number or an abnormally lengthy library number. For example,
some people cluster phone numbers into the first 4 numbers, followed by
the next three numbers and then the last three numbers lending it a
certain rhythm or tune!
- Practice-
There is no escape from this! Repeated practice of verbal and numerical
information, dance and music strengthens neural connections in your brain
making the memory stay longer. So take out that maths book and get
cracking, I say!
SANGEETHA MADHU & JYOTHI RAVICHANDRAN,
THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS- SCHOOL EDITION
