Mnemonic games

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Mnemonic and eidetic memory games

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The memory system

Each digit is mapped onto a number of consonants. Vowels and the consonants w,h, and y are ignored and can be used as `fillers` to make up sensible words from the resulting consonant sequences. The mapping, and hooks for remembering it, is:

s, z, soft c

first letter of zero

d, t, th

d, t have one downstroke

n has two downstrokes

three downstrokes

last letter of four

L is the Roman Numeral for 50

j, sh, soft ch, dg, zh, soft g

a script j has a lower loop / j is almost a mirror image of 6

k, hard c, hard ch, hard g, ng, q, qu

capital K contains two sevens

f, v

script f has two loops much like 8

b, p

b and p each have one loop, like 9

The mapping is phonetic, so it is the consonant sounds that matter, not the spelling. Often the mapping is compact. Hindquarters, for example, translates unambiguously to 2174140, which amounts to 7 digits encoded by 12 letters, and can be easily visualized to boot!

Each digit maps to a set of similar sounds with similar mouth and tongue positions. Therefore a word like action would encode the number 762, not 712; and ghost would be 701, while, because the gh in enough is pronounced like an f, the word enough encodes the number 28. Double letters are disregarded. The word missile is mapped to 305, not 3005. To encode 3005 use something like mossy sail.

Example: to remember the year in which the National Portrait Gallery in London was opened ( 1856), we first perform the mapping:

 1 -> d,t,th
 8 -> f,v
 5 -> l
 6 -> j,sh,soft ch,dg,zh,soft g

So we can make up daffy lodge, and to get a link between them, we visualize the Portrait Gallery as a lodge in which Daffy Duck is relaxing. The more silly the image, the easier it is to recall. Going the other way, we can easily reverse the mapping to get the year.

The system works also very well with phone numbers. One would then typically come up with multiple words, preferably a sentence, or an ordered sequence of images.

The Major System can be conveniently combined with a peg system for remembering lists, and is sometimes used also as a method of generating the pegs. And, of course, it can be combined with other memory techniques such as rhyming, substitute words, or the method of loci. Repetition and concentration using the ordinary memory is still required.

An advantage of this system over some systems in mnemonics in which the number of letters in a word (in a phrase) gives the corresponding digit is that the former is more compact--a single word usually gives several numbers, and no counting is required. Moreover, the counting letter scheme fails if the number contains zeros. Another advantage of the major system is that it is possible to use a computer to translate the number that is to be remembered into a sequence of words automatically. One may then pick the best one of the several offered alternatives, which may not have occurred to one using ordinary memory.

Memory Techniques - Introduction

The tools in this section help you to improve your memory. They help you both to remember facts accurately and to remember the structure of information. The tools are split into two sections. Firstly you`ll learn the memory techniques themselves. Secondly we`ll look at how you can use them in practice to remember peoples names, languages, exam information, and so on. As with other mind tools, the more practice you give yourself with these techniques, the more effectively you will use them. This section contains many of the memory techniques used by stage memory performers. With enough practice and effort, you may be able to have a memory as good. Even if you do not have the time needed to develop this quality of memory, many of the techniques here are useful in everyday life.

Mnemonics

`Mnemonic` is another word for memory tool. Mnemonics are techniques for remembering information that is otherwise quite difficult to recall: A very simple example is the `30 days hath September` rhyme for remembering the number of days in each calendar month.

The idea behind using mnemonics is to encode difficult-to-remember information in a way that is much easier to remember.

Our brains evolved to code and interpret complex stimuli such as images, colors, structures, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, positions, emotions and language. We use these to make sophisticated models of the world we live in. Our memories store all of these very effectively.

Unfortunately, a lot of the information we have to remember in modern life is presented differently - as words printed on a page. While writing is a rich and sophisticated medium for conveying complex arguments, our brains do not easily encode written information, making it difficult to remember.

This section of Mind Tools shows you how to use all the memory resources available to you to remember information in a highly efficient way.

Using Your Whole Mind To Remember

The key idea is that by coding information using vivid mental images, you can reliably code both information and the structure of information. And because the images are vivid, they are easy to recall when you need them.

The techniques explained later on in this section show you how to code information vividly, using stories, strong mental images, familiar journeys, and so on.

Excel in Your Career,

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