Improving Your Memory

1. Repetition or Rehearsal: Best when trying to recall phone numbers (for a brief instant to make a phone call or to memorize over time) or to recall a person's name whom you've just met.

• Repeat the information aloud
• Mouth the words
• Repeat to yourself, silently

2. Description: Best when attempting to remember specific people, places, objects and events. Use accurate, functional, detailed descriptions to convey your intended message. Try to describe its shape, size, where it's found, how it's used, etc.

3. Visualization: Painting a picture in your mind and trying to map out an area, picture the name of a street, lake, city, scenes of a story.

4. Categorization: Grouping items into similar categories.
Example: Trying to recall 10 or 15 items to be purchased in the grocery store, group into dairy products, frozen food, meats.

5. Association” To make comparisons between items that are alike in some ways.
Examples: Person has the same name as a neighbor, movie star or can use a word that rhymes with another (HAM-SAM).

6. Chunking: Breaking down information into smaller units.
Example: We remember phone numbers by breaking it up into units of two (606-0006) and not one, long unit (6060006)

7. Alphabetizing: When trying to recall objects, places, people, try to think of the first letter it starts with. Some people find it helpful to carry a small alphabet board with them, while others are able to go through the alphabet in their mind or write it down.

8. Mnemonic Devices: Memory tricks used by pairing new words or phrases to existing information.
Example: The letters of a musical scale are - E G B D F. Remember it by saying - "Every Good Boy Does Fine."