Research: Memory Techniques (2)
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For example, in a study by O’Brien & Wolford (1982) cited in Matlin (1989), the authors found that,
recall was immediate, there was not superior recall for bizarre images.
However, when recall was delayed, there was superior recall for bizarre images.
The topics of bizarreness and inter-action in regards to visual mnemonics
are fruitful areas for research. However, you need not wait for science to sort out all
of the variables and relationships involved.
As Buzan emphasized, and as the research supports, mnemonics are an extremely valuable tool to be used during encoding and rehearsal
of material.
In addition, the research has shown that, if you imagine objects interacting, you will be more likely to remember them than
non-interacting objects.
Another interesting study compared the effects of self-created images, presented by the experimenters and no images on
learning.
Bull & Wittrock (1973) cited in Matlin (1989) asked fifth-grade students to learn words such as brain, magazine, trouble,
and truth. The children in Group 1 read the word and its definition, wrote them, and then created their own images of the word and the
definition. The children in Group 2 performed the identical task as those in Group 1, with the exception that they traced a given picture
rather than creating their own. The children in Group 3 wrote the word and its definition over and over. When the children were tested for
recall a week later, the children in Group 1, who created their own images, had the best performance, while the children in Group 3, who did
no drawing, had the worst performance.
In this area, Buzan repeatedly stresses the importance of creating your own images, either by copying and
embellishing, or creating from scratch. The above study strongly supports Buzan’s emphasis. Recall was best when the children created
their own images.
Another mnemonic strategy used is that of chunking. While our short-term memory store appears to be limited to approximately seven chunks of information, there is a wide variety of ways we can chunk this information.
For example, a 7-digit phone number may take up all of the capacity of short-term memory. However, if the phone number is chunked in some meaningful way, much more information can be simultaneously stored.
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