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Memory strategies for arbitrary info? | ||
Tags: Memory | Learning Technique/Method | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| oldearth Groupie United States Joined 4830 days ago 72 posts - 173 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto | Message 1 of 5 18 September 2011 at 3:45am | IP Logged |
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Hello, everyone. I know this is a language forum, but I'm hoping this
question is still permissible since it deals with learning strategy. I've been using Anki to help me memorize vocabulary for quite a while now. I read or watch whatever target language material I'm interested in at the time and add important unknown words or phrases to my vocabulary deck with the following principles in mind: 1) minimize information on each card, especially the "front" 2) only memorize 'important words' that I see more than once 3) mark a card as 'failed' unless recall is immediate This method is sufficient, when coupled with lots of exposure in context, for me to learn vocabulary fairly effectively. I don't do many sentence cards, cloze deletions, etc because I find myself memorizing the shape or appearance of a sentence more than the meaning of words. Anyway, lately I've been trying to apply the same techniques to the memorization of scientific information that I find myself looking up that I would prefer instead to know automatically. Many of these facts would be considered part of basic scientific literacy in my field and seem familiar when I encounter them, but I still have trouble remembering them. If I had them all in my head I think it would free up a lot of mental "compute cycles" to think about the papers I read on a more sophisticated level. Examples of facts I'd like committed to memory: --The half-life of 238-U is 4.468 billion years --The half-life of 235-U is ~700 million years --The Ordovician Period refers to time from around 488 to 444 million years ago. --The lower mantle runs from about 650 km to 2890 km depth. --Albite has chemical formula NaAlSi3O8 Ordered lists are no problem to memorize (e.g. the order of the periods or epochs in the geologic time table), but numerical and chemical information doesn't stick well at all even after seeing cards dozens of times. I think the problem compared to language learning is that I don't get the same reinforcement in context, even when I have reference to a particular word or object. For instance, a reference to the mineral Albite in text could be referring to any of its numerous describable properties and associations, and the reference may not require me to recall the chemical formula to understand the sentence. If anyone has advice for fixing this sort of numerical information in my mind more efficiently, I would greatly appreciate it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5534 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 2 of 5 18 September 2011 at 4:17am | IP Logged |
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I am terrible with numbers. But if I wanted to know many, I would use a memorization method, which links numbers to phonetically formed words which I find easier to remember.
Meteor tail pink is easier for my long term memory than 3.1415927. Your Ordovician Period for example could be SuRViVe RaReR. Or more plastic with the Uranium hoRRoR aCHieVe ;-) Edited by Cabaire on 18 September 2011 at 4:44am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| jean-luc Senior Member France Joined 4895 days ago 100 posts - 150 votes Speaks: French* Studies: German | Message 3 of 5 18 September 2011 at 11:02am | IP Logged |
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There is several memory techniques for remembering numbers. by example the major system Edited by jean-luc on 18 September 2011 at 11:03am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Enki Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5768 days ago 54 posts - 133 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written), English*, French, Korean Studies: Japanese | Message 4 of 5 18 September 2011 at 2:27pm | IP Logged |
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All memory strategies involve linking unfamiliar/arbitrary information with familiar information you already have. "You remember what you think about the most", basically. You can to use things like mnemonics or number pegs (where you associate each number with an image- either by rhyme or some kind of numerology), but adding a little bit of analytic questioning not only helps you remember information, it also builds a model for the subject which will make it much easier to remember new facts in the future.
To take one of your examples: -The Ordovician Period refers to time from around 488 to 444 million years ago. Not knowing much about science, that sentence doesn't make much sense to me. I'd use a little mnemonic like Ordovician sounds like Hors d'oeuvres fish, and 444 is the Korean/Japanese number for death, so it seems like a suitable time to end an age! BUT if I were studying science more in-depth, I'd learn about the etymology of the word Ordovician (wikipedia says it's the name of a celtic tribe), ask myself why it was named as such, what happened to begin and end that period, what differentiates this time from the time before and after it?, I'd try to imagine what 44 million years would feel like, and what else was happening around those times, ect. So you get a wealth of connections from just one sentence. Or another example: --Albite has chemical formula NaAlSi3O8 I'd have fun with this one ;) Albite sounds like the Korean 아르바이트 (part time job) I'd imagine that in a grocery store, salt shakers (NA, sodium) holding Aluminum foils (Al, aluminum), with 3 fake breasts (Si, Silicon) and oxygen tanks (O, oxygen). But I'd also try and think about what it means to have those specific chemical properties: if one property were changed, what would it become? Chemically speaking, what would be the oppposite of Albite? What would be most similar? ect. It may seem daunting to try and squeeze so much from one sentence, but it shows that information is rarely arbitrary, and that forming logical links in the long run is much more efficient than just remembering unconnected facts. It sounds very counter intutive, but some memory studies suggest that people remember things better with MORE elaboration and information, not less. By writing this post, I feel like I've learned something science-y :-) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| oldearth Groupie United States Joined 4830 days ago 72 posts - 173 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto | Message 5 of 5 18 September 2011 at 6:17pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks everyone for the tips so far. I've never heard of the major system, so that's
very helpful to me. I'll give this a try with the straight-up numbers I need to memorize. Enki, your mnemonic examples are great -- 3 fake breasts is an unforgettable image! I haven't done much with mnemonics, but the chemical formulas might be well suited to them as you've demonstrated. The main difficulty I see with that is the potential for large amount of interference between similar numbers or objects. Many, many different minerals are made up of similar combinations of elements. For instance, there are a few dozen minerals that contain different ratios of Si's and O's that would be useful for me to know. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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