Description of the Alphabet Peg System

The Alphabet Peg System is based on associating a peg word with each of the letters A to Z. It takes more time to learn than the simple number pegs and its application is more limited because most people do not know the numeric position of the letters (e.g., F = 6).

A ace

B bee

C cat

D diesel

E eagle

F feather

G genie coming out of a magic lamp

H h-bomb

I ice a very cold ice berg

J jail

K kite

L log a large wooden log

M mail

N net to catch a fish

O owl

P pig

Q quilt for on the bed

R rain

S sun

T tipi

U unicorn

V villa

W wig

X Xmas

Y yacht

Z zoo

If you find that these images do not attract you or stick in your mind, then change them for something more meaningful. When you are creating images for the letters of the alphabet, create images phonetically, so that the sound of the first syllable of the word is the name of the letter. For example, you might represent the letter `k` with the word `cake`.

Once you have firmly visualised these images and have linked them to their root letters, you can associate them with information to be remembered.

Continuing our mnemonic example of the names of philosophers, we will use the example of remembering a list of modern thinkers:

A - Ace - Freud - a crisp ACE being pulled out of a FRying pan (FRiED)

B - Bee - Chomsky - a BEE stinging a CHiMp and flying off into the SKY

C - Cat - Genette - a GENerator being lifted in a NET by a fisherman CAT

D - Diesel - Derrida - a DaRing RIDer surfing on top of a DIESEL train

E - Eagle - Foucault - Bruce Lee fighting off an attacking EAGLE with kung FU

F - Feather- Joyce - environmentalists JOYfully finding an endangered pelican FEATHER

G - Genie - Nietzche - a genie with green and blue striped pants cut above the kNEe

H - H-Bomb - Kafka - a grey civil service CAFe being blown up by an H- Bomb

The Alphabet Technique links the items to be remembered with images of the letters A - Z. This allows you to remember a medium length list in the correct order. By pegging the items to be remembered to letters of the alphabet you know if you have forgotten items, and know the cues to use to trigger their recall.

Peg Lists

A rhyming example

• 1-gun Visualize the first item being fired from a gun
• 2-shoe Visualize an association between the second thing and shoes
• 3-tree Visualize the third item growing from a tree
• 4-door Visualize the 4th item associated with a door
• 5-hive Visualize the fifth item associated with a hive or with bees
• 6-bricks Visualize the sixth item associated with bricks
• 7-heaven Visualize the seventh item associated with heaven
• 8-plate Visualize the 8th item on a plate as if it is food
• 9-line Visualize yourself fishing with the 9th item on your line
• 10-hen Visualize the 10th item associated with a chicken.

For example to remember the following grocery list of 10 items:

• Milk: Picture a stream of milk being fired from a gun
• Eggs: Picture an egg wearing shoes
• Butter: Picture sticks of butter growing from a tree
• Bread: Picture a door made from bread
• Catsup: Picture bees flying from a catsup bottle
• Beer: Picture a brick house with beer cans where the bricks should be
• Toilet paper: Imagine A roll of TP with angel wings and a halo
• Soap: Picture a bar of soap on a plate- yum
• Razor blades: Picture yourself reeling in a razor blade as if it`s a fish
• Batteries: Picture a mechanical hen that runs on batteries

If this sounds obscure, close your eyes and try to remember the grocery list you just read. You may be surprised.

A peg list derived from the Mnemonic major system

Here is a list that is derived from the Mnemonic major system To understand the connection between the pegs and the numbers they represent, it is necessary to first learn that system. Without doing so, this list may be difficult to memorize:

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

-

saw

tie

knee

ham

hair

hill

jaw

key

waif

pie

10

toes

toad

teen

dime

tire

tile

ditch

tack

TV

tape

20

nose

nut

nun

enema

nair

nail

hinge

neck

knife

knob

30

mouse

moat

man

mime

mayor

mail

match

mic

movie

mop

40

rice

rat

rhino

ram

error

roll

roach

rake

roof

rope

50

lasso

lid

lion

lamb

liar

lily

leech

lock

leaf

leap

60

cheese

cheetah

chain

jam

jar

jewel

judge

jock

chief

jeep

70

case

cat

cone

comb

car

coal

couch

cake

coffee

cap

80

face

foot

fan

foam

afro

file

fish

fig

fife

VP

90

peas

bat

bone

bomb

beer

ball

peach

pig

beehive

pipe

Project index

• Color therapy online game
• Color therapy online game
• Find picture online game
• Hieroglyph memory game
• How to develop visualize and face memory
• Making memory
• The memory system
• Memory types
• Mentalrobics
• Mind and adapting to the world. Changing behaviour patterns
• Mind References
• Use Peg Words
• Words pegs
• Description of the Alphabet Peg System
• Peg Lists mnemonic system