Text 1. Improving memory through imagery

1. Read the text and try to use the described technique for retelling it

One of the good things about studying psychology of memory, is that it gives you something you actually put into practice to help you in your revision!

When you are revising, there are times when you will be able to use the following information for better learning. You can use some of the ideas which have come from the work on imagery in memory to develop tactics for remembering things. One helpful way is to use a combination of the "method of loci"* and the "key word" technique.

Your first step is to develop a "key" for each of the words that you have to remember. Suppose, for instance, that you are trying to memorise a set of biological terms. Look for some everyday word which sounds like part of the word you are trying to learn: for example, you might think that the word "agglutinogen" sounds like "a glue tin." Make sure that the thing that you think of is easy to visualise in your mind.

When you have done that, imagine a walk or journey which you take often, such as the journey to your school or university, or the route you usually take when you go shopping. Taking each of your items to be remembered in turn, imagine each one at a different place on that rout, making sure that you form a vivid mental picture of the "key" item in that particular place. When you have been all through the list forming a mental picture and location for each item, test yourself by mentally running through the list again. You'll be surprised at how easily you remember it!

Remember, though that it must be your own images. Trying to learn ones which have been developed by other people only gives you even more to learn and you've got enough as it is!

* Method of loci means that an individual uses a well-known place, or regular walk as a memory aid. When trying to remember a list, such as a shopping list or a list of things for an exam, they form a mental image which links each thing on the list with a particular location on the walk in sequence. In this way, they are able to use the walk and the mental image associated with it, to give themselves cues for the things that they are trying to remember.

2. Imagine that you are a scientist studying memory. Give advice how to improve memory.

Text 2. Studying for examinations

1. Read the text and use the received information while preparing for the exams.

We have all found, at one time or another, that it is easy to remember things that we understand. So one way to remember things is by making sure, that you really do understand everything that you have to remember.

Another way is to develop mnemonics that will help you to recall, like the "keyword" system. The reason for this is that by converting the information into different form we are processing it more thoroughly - so again we are more likely to remember it Even developing diagrams and flow-charts of the main ideas in your work involves a higher level of processing than just reading it through, and so you are much more likely to remember it

And finally, if it should happen to be too far from your examinations for it to seem hardly worthwhile revising, remember what Ebbinghaus found about re-learning savings! Having learned material once, he found that even though he thought he had completely forgotten it, it was easier to re-learn it than it would have been I he'd never seen it before. So this means that time you spend learning things is never wasted -even if you seem to forget it it will still save time for you when you start your serious revision later.

2. Speak about your method of studying for examinations.

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