1. Read the text and name the five simple techniques to improve your memory. Which of them have you used in your life experience?
FIVE SIMPLE TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY
Chunking. Perhaps Chunking is the oldest method used in memorization. In this method, the items to be memorized are divided into small and easily memorizable groups. This method works best when the order of the items is not important.
Rhyming. This is also one of the popular and oldest methods in memorization. This technique makes use of the fact that we have a natural tendency to remember rhymes and rhythms. The following is a very popular example of application of this technique which almost all school students are familiar with.
“Thirty days have September April, June and November All the rest have thirty-one
February has twenty-eight alone Except in leap year, then the time When Febs days are twenty-nine.”
Bridging. In this method, a bridge is built in between the items given to be memorized. This technique is best suited for learning material involving word pairs or material that can be reduced to word pairs. An example often cited by memory experts is the learning of the capital of Poland. The capital of Poland is Warsaw. World War II started with Germany's attack on Poland. Thus it may be arranged as Poland SAW War first.
Bed-time Recital. In this technique, you do your recital just before going to bed. The mind in the process of sleeping would then arrange the information in a systematic and effective way when you are sleeping. Psychologists have also found that if you sleep after thinking about your problems there is a better chance that you arrive at a solution the next day.
Trying by Not Trying. All of us apply this method knowingly or unknowingly. Sometimes when you try to recall you may not be able to recall it at that time even if you are sure that you know it very well. You experience a blocking that prevents you from recalling it. Normally you tend to try again and again but in vain. To handle this situation you just keep away from trying to recollect it and do something else; to your pleasant surprise that information automatically pops up into your mind after some time. This is because even if you stopped trying, the mind is searching for that information and brings it to awareness when it is found. Sometimes the information was blocked when you wanted, and mind brings it forward when the blocking is removed. This is where stress plays its role in hindering recall.
2. Discuss in groups of three the advantages and disadvantages of the memory techniques described in Task 1?
3. How do you understand the meaning of the following citations?
1. “As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape.” John Lancaster
2. “Memory is the library of the mind.” Francis Fauvel-Gourand
3. “The richness of life lies in the memories we have forgotten.” Cesare Pavese
4. “The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.” Friedrich Nietzsche.
5. “Computers have lots of memory but no imagination.” Anonymous quote.