Study Skills Science: Investigating Memory Mnemonics
IntroductionHave you ever needed to remember a long list of words, such as a shopping list or the state capitals? Even if a list can be full of interesting facts, it can still be hard to remember. But there are some memory techniques that can help a person to remember a list better. In this science activity, you’ll try out a technique called mnemonics and investigate whether using mnemonics can help you and your friends, or family members, remember lists of words.
This activity is not appropriate for use as a science fair project. Good science fair projects have a stronger focus on controlling variables, taking accurate measurements, and analyzing data. To find a science fair project that is just right for you, browse our library of over 1,200 Science Fair Project Ideas or use the Topic Selection Wizard to get a personalized project recommendation.
BackgroundSometimes it can be difficult to remember long lists of words, which is where memory techniques can help. Any memory technique that can help somebody remember information is called a mnemonic. Mnemonics can use systems of rhymes, acronyms, diagrams or other techniques to help a person remember names, dates, facts, figures and more. An example of a mnemonic is the rhyme “i before e except after c, or when sounding ‘a’ as in ‘neighbor’ or ‘weigh.’” This mnemonic was designed to help a person remember the order of the letters “i” and “e” in different words. As was mentioned, mnemonics can also use acronyms, which are words where each letter of the word stands for something. For example, a mnemonic for remembering the names of the Great Lakes uses the acronym HOMES, where each letter stands for one of the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. People also use mnemonics by mentally turning a list of words into a memorable sentence or a mental image that incorporates all of the words. Materials
Preparation
Procedure
Extra: Try increasing the wait time from 45 minutes to one hour, five hours, one day and/or longer. How long does the mnemonic help a person remember the list of words? Extra: Instead of testing two random groups of volunteers, try testing two groups of volunteers who are relatively young and two groups of volunteers who are relatively old. Does using the mnemonic technique help older people recall the list better than younger people? Extra: There are many different types of techniques that people use as mnemonics to memorize something. For some examples, see the Background section, above. Try this activity again but this time use a different type of mnemonic, such as an acronym, a funny sentence that uses all of the words on a list and/or words that make a rhyme. Do some types of mnemonics seem to be more effective for memorizing a list of words than others? Observations and ResultsDid the people who were given the mnemonic (along with the list of words) more effectively recall the list of words than the people who weren’t give the mnemonic? Overall, in this activity you should have seen that people who were given a mnemonic generally recalled the list of words better than the people who weren’t given the mnemonic. Specifically, the people who were given the mnemonic should have remembered more of the words on the list, and with greater accuracy (they made fewer mistakes in recalling what the exact words were), than people who weren’t give the mnemonic (and didn’t make one up on their own). The people with the mnemonic should have also recalled the entire list of words more quickly. However, with the small sample size of volunteers used in this activity the results may not have been as pronounced as they would be in a much larger study. Additionally, some mnemonic techniques can be more effective than others (and certain types work better for some people than others), so that could also affect the outcome of this activity. More to Explore
CreditsTeisha Rowland, PhD, Science Buddies
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Key Concepts
Memory, learning
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