| Memory Retention - Mine sucks/help! - Click HERE for Original Thread |
| little_one_der |
So I just challenged an apprentice exam today, and even though I studied, when I got the to test, I felt very unprepared.
I am wondering if anyone has done any brain exercises to help themselves remember more of what they read and hear?
I'm looking for something that has multiple levels of hardness to start out easy and progress as I get better.
Any ideas? And eating fish won't work, I'm allergic. |
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| POX |
| DS or WII "Brain Age" game :dunno: |
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| ozzmodan |
There are tons of study techniques out there, google would probably help. Some I can specifically remember are:
- Take a melodic song & make lyrics about the stuff you're supposed to remember.
- When lists are involved you can take the first letter of each of the keywords & come up with a completely absurd statement or word. EG. All pilots know Tune, Identify, Test, Set, or TITS
- If it's objects you need in order to remember you can imagine yourself walking or driving a familiar route and seeing those objects along that route.
Those are the ones that tended to work when I needed to remember something.
Kyle |
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| onestepback |
quote:
Originally posted by ozzmodan
There are tons of study techniques out there, google would probably help. Some I can specifically remember are:
- Take a melodic song & make lyrics about the stuff you're supposed to remember.
- When lists are involved you can take the first letter of each of the keywords & come up with a completely absurd statement or word. EG. All pilots know Tune, Identify, Test, Set, or TITS
- If it's objects you need in order to remember you can imagine yourself walking or driving a familiar route and seeing those objects along that route.
Those are the ones that tended to work when I needed to remember something.
Kyle
Associative learning. One of the best ways. Take one thing and associate it with another. :) |
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| little_one_der |
| But how do you do that with a years worth of information? |
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| ozzmodan |
Other ideas:
-You can also get recipe cards put a question on one side & put the answers on the other. This usually works best if you do it from the beginning of your studies, because it takes a long time to make a lot of cue cards.
-If you have anyone in the same boat you can get a study group together & get each other to ask questions, this associated the answer to a person rather than just straight memory work. If you want you can have a small wager per question to add a little bit of fun.
-You can get someone to read the material to you in the form of a question, then take note of what you don't know so that you don't waste your time studying things you already know.
Kyle |
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| ae1969 |
quote:
Originally posted by little_one_der
But how do you do that with a years worth of information?
Uhmmm where to start.
Think of it this way. First of all it helps if you understand what you are reading. Otherwise it gets a little difficult but it still works nonetheless.
Lets say I have 1 chapter.... each chapter breaksdown to 30 key concepts.
Each concept may have 5-10 terms associated with it.
All you need to remember are approximately 30 words an you will remember 90% of what you have read.
Understanding and applying what you have read has other methods.
But here is a simple one I used years ago....
Chapter on Cancer treatment options:
First Acronym........ ABC LMNOP (sounds silly but it follows the alphabet)
SO that stood for Advanced Cancer, Bladder, Colon, Lung, Melanoma, Non-hodgkins, Ovarian, Prostate
Within each term then I had other acronyms that went with treatments/protocols etc...
A book the size of the bible condensed into approximately 10 pages.
Takes a little practice but once you figure it out. You will be able to remember things that will surprise you. Your brain gets conditioned to remember details....
Start using peoples names, places. Anything you have already committed to memory and you will be associate anything and everything. |
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| little_one_der |
^^^ That's a cool way to look at it.
I just might have to try that. :thumbup: |
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| chukirps13 |
| They make herbal supplements that supposedly help with memory retention, but the last time I looked at the ingredients label they had some stuff pretty close to amphetamines in there. |
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| Tech2 |
Here's a basic that no one said yet: distributed practice. Study just a little bit many times. You also should tailor your study style to yourself as well as the type of test you are taking. The 2 main differences are recall and recognition. Recognition study works well with reading and rereading stuff. Sort of like, you'll remember it when you see a cue on a test because you've seen it tons of times before.
Recall usually involves more directed study. If your test is rote info like lists and shit, some of the methods above (like acronyms) work well. If they are testing your ability to produce thoughts or plans, then it's a good idea to rewrite and re-speak chunks of related information in your own words.
There's other more specific strategies on memory and studying. In fact, I wrote a great paper on memory and study skills for a psych brain and memory class. I'd tell you more info but I forgot most of it and can't remember where I put my book. ;)
Don't focus so much on brain exercises (these are great, but not so good if you're on a time frame for a test) or supplements (that can be entertaining, but can take some time to get used to as well as giving issues with state specific learning). Just cut back on alcohol and ganja. Mostly the alcohol. |
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| Flex |
| I always found I had a hard time concentrating and retaining info when I was studying. I tried taking Ginkgo Biloba when I was in school the last time and when taking my steam exams. I did find it helped and I was concentrating on what I was studying harder. So did it work...I think so...it seemed to help. |
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| dtjohnst |
All you need to do is beat the memory curve. It doesn't matter if you use mnemonics, chunking, wordplay, whatever. All they do is allow to bypass the curve by associating with something you know already. If you understand the concept of the curve, you'll be that much better equipped to ace things. And all the mnemonics, chunking, wordplay and association will be all that much more effective.
http://www.smart-kit.com/s572/learn...improve-memory/ |
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| ae1969 |
quote:
Originally posted by dtjohnst
All you need to do is beat the memory curve. It doesn't matter if you use mnemonics, chunking, wordplay, whatever. All they do is allow to bypass the curve by associating with something you know already. If you understand the concept of the curve, you'll be that much better equipped to ace things. And all the mnemonics, chunking, wordplay and association will be all that much more effective.
http://www.smart-kit.com/s572/learn...improve-memory/
THat is definitely the basis.
The key is you want to remember the smallest amount of material that encompasses the whole. One of the reason I love using a set of words to describe an entire chapter......and a pages for a whole book.
It helps if you understand the topic at hand before you begin any type of associations.
The funny thing is that I have found is that by associating my analytical skills have increased. YOu are able to see patterns, issues and solutions much quicker.....
It is an interesting topic nonetheless.... |
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| ozzmodan |
quote:
Originally posted by dtjohnst
All you need to do is beat the memory curve. It doesn't matter if you use mnemonics, chunking, wordplay, whatever. All they do is allow to bypass the curve by associating with something you know already. If you understand the concept of the curve, you'll be that much better equipped to ace things. And all the mnemonics, chunking, wordplay and association will be all that much more effective.
http://www.smart-kit.com/s572/learn...improve-memory/
Chunking, obviously someone has worked for Nav Can.
Kyle |
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| Tech2 |
| That curve stuff is exactly why you want distributed practice. |
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| dtjohnst |
quote:
Originally posted by ozzmodan
Chunking, obviously someone has worked for Nav Can.
Kyle
Most of the jobs I've had have involved large scale memorization by rote. As an MP, laws and regulations need to be known word for word, because one word can make all the difference. In Comp Sci the syntax had to be precise because computer can't guess. Flight training was the same way, you can't be "close enough" in your emergency procedures or speed limitations. |
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