Throughout history, people have sought to improve their memory. A variety of mental techniques have been passed down over the centuries as key skills for memory training. Unfortunately, the old memory training techniques are just about all you get from conventional books and courses. Because the memory improvement profession has emphasized mental techniques, most memory experts incorporated little or nothing of the new memory training methods of modern science. In the last two decades, psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians, and other specialists have sought to develop a new approach to memory training and improvement because the ancient methods have been found insufficient if used without the aid of modern memory training techniques. For example, any mental technique will work poorly if a person is in poor physical and/or emotional condition. Also, without awareness of the factors of good social memory skills, a person may fail to notice and remember information occurring during their interactions with others. Additionally, without knowledge of the strategies for good use of the objects and devices around you (also referred to as external memory aids), remembering may be less than desired.
Summary
Memory performance is based on a broad array of knowledge and skills that pertain not only to memory but also to other psychological systems. Thus, the new approach to memory training endorses new methods of training, aiding, and enhancing memory. The Practical Memory Institute teaches both traditional and multimodal methods of memory training and also goes beyond these methods to review a wide variety of methods not covered before. PMI brings to the public the first comprehensive account of how a person’s overall psychology can affect memory. In future programs, techniques for social interaction will be presented that give your memory a better chance at success. Also, PMI will present information on various devices that enhance memory or even perform memory tasks for you. Finally, instead of offering people a few general procedures to help memory, PMI will present a wide variety of information about ways to cope with literally hundreds of individual everyday memory tasks.
History
Until recently, the new scientific approach to memory improvement has mainly been practiced in a small number of universities and colleges, where it was developed. Virtually every book and commercial course available outside of these centers still relies primarily, if not exclusively, on the method of loci and related methods that originated over 2000 years ago. So, for over 2000 years, students of all varieties and ages have sought to reduce the chore of studying. Having good memory skills would seem to help with studying. Consequently, various people have represented themselves as capable of improving almost anyone’s memory performance. In 477 B.C., the poet Simonides astounded his contemporaries with his memory skills. One day, the roof of the banquet hall where he was a guest fell, killing many. In order to notify next of kin, positive identification was necessary but not possible for most of the victims. Simonides resolved this problem by recalling the name of every person by seat at various banquet tables. He claimed to remember so easily because during the banquet he had concentrated in his mind the images of each person at each table. Simonides’ method came to be called the “method of loci” and was regarded in ancient Greece as the “correct” way to learn something. If you lived back then and asked a memory scholar for help with your memory skills, you would have been told the following: to learn some pieces of information, put each piece in a different location of a spatial image you have in your mind (such as a banquet table, the rooms of a house, etc.). Later, when you want to remember the items, recall your image and it will lead you to them. Over the years, other methods were derived from the loci procedure. For example, instead of memorizing items by putting them in a mental image of a physical place, you might place the items on mental “pegs” organized on an imaginary wall. Or, one might memorize a rhymed list like “one is a bun, two is a shoe, three is a tree.” This rhyme would then be used to learn some information, such as three things to get at a store (milk, eggs, bread). One would imagine the milk sitting on a bun, some eggs in a shoe, and a loaf of bread hanging from a tree. When the rhyme is later recited, the images should help recall the original items.
In the first century B.C., Cicero taught people how to remember a speech by using the method of loci to retain each point. As a student delivered a speech, he would mentally stroll through the loci of his house and recall the points encountered in each room. In the Renaissance, the courts of kings and queens employed memory specialists to help in remembering important facts. In the 1500s, memory specialists developed complicated peg schemes for members of a court to remember what they needed to know. The more locations in a person’s mental loci, the more ideas they could recall. In the 1600s and 1700s, memory specialists ignored the method of loci. Instead, they emphasized the learning of ideas and the associations among them. In 1885 Herman Ebbinghaus did the first experiments on memory. His research showed that people can learn short lists easily but had great difficulty learning long lists. He also showed that people forget very quickly after studying information. Ebbinghaus’ methods influenced many generations of memory researchers.
Freud also influenced many students of human memory. He showed that people forget information that is charged with negative emotions. People were thought to forget because they “repressed” memories that were upsetting. Research done during the past three decades has shown that the ancient methods do not produce permanent memory abilities. A growing body of knowledge about the different factors affecting memory has led scientists and health-care professionals to look beyond the ancient methods. For example, it has been shown that memory can also be improved by a variety of methods that do not involve mental loci, pegs, and other related procedures. Techniques to facilitate a person’s attitude, physical condition, mental state, conversational skills, and use of physical memory aids have been found to reduce memory failures. Ulric Neisser emphasized the study of memory in natural surroundings. He argued in the 1960s and 1970s that laboratory experiments on memory did not reveal how a person’s memory worked in everyday life. Because of his analyses of memory, many memory researchers quit laboratory research and began to study memory in real world settings. Gradually, people began to try to develop methods to improve memory in everyday life in these real world settings. Once you understand that you can improve your memory, it’s just a matter of taking the right steps. Recent scientific research has developed many more ways to improve everyday memory ability than existed just a few years ago. The Practical Memory Institute is founded on modern science-based principles to assist you in improving your memory. Programs like PMI’s can acquaint you with the different ways to optimize your memory skills and provide opportunities to evaluate your own memory performance. You can learn how to prepare yourself for memory tasks by improving your attitude, condition, and social interactions. You can also learn environmental and social ways to enhance memory processes.
NOTICE
The limited information provided on this site is provided as a courtesy only. It is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her personal physician.
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