If only I could remember…
Your memory will make or break your finals week.
With just seven more days and counting, students are trying to get ready to take finals. During no-test week, the university tries to provide resources to help students remember the important information they’ll study.
“During the week before finals, we get really busy,” said Carol Rosenthal, assistant director of the Academic Resource Center. “We have a multitude of ways to help students remember the information they need for their classes.”
The Academic Resource Center has prepared numerous tips and suggestions to help in the remembering process.
In addition, thousands of books and other literature has been written and developed to help individuals remember important information.
Memory presents a serious dilemma for many who have trouble in school and in life.
“There are so many methods to remember certain bits of information, but the biggest step is to put the time into it,” Rosenthal said. “We see a lot of students who try and cram everything in at one time and the results are often poor.”
The methods for fixings problems like these range from simple memory games and thinking exercises to drugs and vitamins.
Mnemonic Devices –
“Mnemonic devices are used for remembering information that is to be memorized but not necessarily understood,” states the mnemonic devices worksheet from the ARC.
There are several different methods when using this form of memorization and one of the simplest forms is the use of acronyms.
An acronym is a set of ideas that are remembered by using letters to remember the order of something, such as:
MVEMJSUNP (My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas) represents the order of the planets and their names: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
Each one of the letters stands for a certain bit of information that can be accessed by remembering what they mean.
Another method involves grouping. This is accomplished by finding a commonality between items and placing them in an order or group to which they belong.
Flowers are an excellent example, where the groupings can be perennials or annuals and perhaps even color.
The Roman Room System
Another method suggested by mindtools.com involves using a room to find associations.
“Associate images representing the information you want to remember with the objects in the room.
To recall information, simply take a tour around the room in your mind, visualizing the known objects and their associated images,” states the Web site.
Mind Games
Several studies have been conducted in regard to the use of memory games, such as Soduko and crossword puzzles, which show that playing such games produces a stronger ability to remember.
The process involves using different parts of the brain and stimulating thought.
“Brain Training For Adults,” which is a package of cerebral workouts aimed at adults over 45 by Nintendo, is said to improve mental agility and even slow the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to their Web site at ronnibennett.com.
With mind games, some people either love or hate the amount of time spent pursuing the challenge.
“It takes people out of the real world and into the puzzle. For me, after a bad day, Sudoku can take me out of whatever’s going on and into the grid, where it’s just me and the numbers, where everything’s so much simpler,” wrote Sarah Keith, a youth correspondent for fredericksburg.com.
Drugs
Considered to be one of the more effective methods, drugs have been prescribed for centuries to increase the ability to remember and retain memories.
In a recent study performed by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., author of “Total Health for Longevity,” the effects of tests using nutrients are described.
“In only a few weeks, he saw dramatic results and felt restored to his previous vigor and mental acuity. At the core of this transformation were [five main nutrients]
Ginkgo biloba, once thought to have been extinct, was cultivated by monks in China and Japan for its many beneficial qualities.”
Dr. Khalsa described the effectiveness of his products.
“Ginkgold is the only Ginkgo biloba product proven through research to stimulate activity in all areas of the brain,” he stated.
The downside to drugs comes from side effects and the cost, as well as the potential that the nutrients might actually be a placebo.
Whether a person is young or old, the ability to remember has been the key to life.
Regardless of the method with which people learn to expand their memory, the importance of doing so is even greater.
“We try to get all of the people who come to us to work at really learning what they need to.
“There really isn’t much benefit from cramming for a test. That works rarely. We encourage people to start early and learn it at the beginning,” Rosenthal said.
-nebutler@cc.usu.edu