Memory ED1161 Session 3

Aims for Today. To explore some concepts and ideas concerning memory. To outline some ideas for improving memory skills.

“ The ability to retain and recall information”. A Simple Definition: “ The ability to retain and recall information”. (Reece & Walker 1997)

Simple Model of Memory. Perception of Senses Short Term Memory Touch Taste Smell Hearing Sight Perception of Senses Short Term Memory Long Term Memory Selection of Relevant Information Selection of Information Storage

Common ways to remember: Verbal Association. Visual Association. Repetition. Self Test. Rhyme Rule. First Letter. Spelling Association. Grouping/Chunking.

Experiment 1. On the next slide you will see 10 numbers. You will have 30 seconds to look at them. Don’t write anything down but try and remember as many of the numbers as you can.

9 5 11 3 28 2 6 17 14 12

Write down as many of the numbers as you can remember. Don’t confer with anybody else we need to know how many YOU have remembered.

Experiment 2. On the next slide you will see 10 numbers arranged differently to those in experiment 1. You will have 30 seconds to look at them. Don’t write anything down but try and remember as many of the numbers as you can.

18 5 3 11 21 9 27 17 1 26

Write down as many of the numbers as you can remember. Don’t confer with anybody else we need to know how many YOU have remembered.

Experiment 3. On the next slide you will see 10 numbers arranged differently to those in experiments 1 & 2. You will have 30 seconds to look at them. Don’t write anything down but try and remember as many of the numbers as you can.

2 6 13 18 22 29 30 33 35 40

Activity. In groups of 4 discuss individual results from the three experiments. What are the implications of the results for teaching and learning

Memory Techniques (Mnemonics). Visualisation - Form a picture in your minds eye of the things you want to remember. Acronyms - Make a word out of the first letter of each item to be recalled. Acrostics - Make the first letter of each item stand for a word or phrase.

More Mnemonics. Story or link method - link together items to be remembered in an unusual story. Chunking - chunk similar items together. This is particularly useful for numbers. Rhyme or Rhythm - for shock: If the face is red raise the head, if its pale raise the tail. Recalling dates - Associate the date to be recalled with a date you already remember.

Activity 2. Get out a pen and a piece of paper. We are going to do some short term memory exercises. The results are for your own personal interest only.

Memory Test. http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~mas009/neurogym/shterm.htm

The End.