Short Term Memory Techniques

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Short Term Memory Techniques

• Learning Assistance Center
• 120 University Pavilion
• 513-556-3244

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What is Memory?

• On a basic level, memory is a mental activity
  for recalling information that has been learned
  or experienced. This involves receiving,
  retaining, and retrieving data and resembles the
  processes of computers. Since humans are not
  computers and do not assemble information in the
  same way, we must use different ways of
  remembering information. One might think of the
  process as the 3 Rs of memory
• Registration
• Retention
• Retrieval

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Registration

• The brain registers messages from the world
  through our eyes, ears, and touch sensors. This
  stimuli is held for a fraction of a second in
  the part of the brain that processes sensory
  memory. Unless you pay attention to the
  image/data for approximately eight uninterrupted
  seconds to encode it in short-term memory, it
  will be lost. The slightest interference at this
  stage will remove the newly accessed information
  from our consciousness. This might be the reason
  your teachers are always telling you Pay
  Attention!

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Retention

• Short-Term Memory (STM) is the brains ability
  to remember information this is actively In
  Use. It is similar to the working memory on a
  computer. STM allows you to perform activities
  such
• as calling a phone number youve just looked up.
  However, like computers STM doesnt reliably
  hold on to information, and there is no mental
  save button to push while working. Like a
  computer, you
• have a limited capacity for storing information
  in STM approximately seven items for about two
  minutes. If STM tries to acquire more items it
  can handle, the middle items will often be
  displaced. This is why
• post it notes, or writing pads are useful in
  writing down short lists, i.e. shopping lists or
  to do lists.

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• Once items are Registered and Retained in STM
  they move into Long-Term Memory like putting
  information onto a hard drive on you computer.
  Long-Term Memory (LTM) has a limitless capacity
  to retain information for an extended amount of
  time. This is why you can remember information
  from a previous class easily if youve learned it
  and stored the information in LTM.

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Retrieval

• Finding information becomes the issue. Is the
  memory you seek in an accessible folder in your
  brains hard drive or randomly scattered all over
  your mental desktop? This occurs when you
  think of something that you know.its on the tip
  of your tongue, but you just cant remember it.
  This is a retrieval issue. It means you paid
  attention you
• Registered it, Retained it, you put it somewhere
  in your brain, but you cant get it out.
  Retrieval difficulty can be frustrating.
  Remember! You have a database full of
  information, and your brain may have to search
• through many decades of storage to find the
  relevant information.

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Does memory naturally decline with age? If so,
why?

• Some forms of memory do decline with age. As we
  grow older, there is a decrease of blood-flow to
  the brain, and less efficient oxygen and protein
  metabolism.

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Why does this result in memory issues?

• One theory is that older adults fail to encode
  environmental cues as easily as younger adults
  their brains have a difficult time of placing
  information in the appropriate files. While
  tasks might be more difficult to perform the
  memory of how to do them is intact.

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How do thoughts and emotions affect memory?

• Wearing your heart on your sleeve may actually
  help with your memory. A study published in the
  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
  found
• participants who consciously suppressed their
  emotions had a more difficult time recalling
  information than those who allowed themselves to
  react to emotionally stimulating films. However,
  those who were neutral in their emotions (not too
  happy or too sad) could also remember material
  easily.
• Hiding your emotions requires continuous
  self-monitoring, tapping your mental resources
  critical in forming memories. But, defusing
  emotions at the outset appears to help you pay
  closer attention, allowing your STM to be
  effective in retaining data for future retrieval.
  
• A positive outlook also strengthens your
  capacity for memory retrieval.
• Telling yourself you have a bad memory
• Produces distracting emotions
• Lowers your expectations for success
• Decreases you motivation to use methods in
  helping you build better
• memory skills.
• When you tell yourself, Ill never remember
  this, you are sending your brain feelings of
  worthlessness and fear, hampering your ability to
  remember. By the same token, positive mental
  feedback sets up an expectation of success!

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What are the ways I can improve my memory?

• Memory makes use of triggers known as mnemonics.
  
• These include
• Images Tastes
• Colors Touch
• Structures Positions
• Sounds Emotions
• Smells Language

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To make mnemonics valuable

• Use positive, pleasant images as the brain
  usually blocks unpleasant images.
• Use vivid, colorful, sense-laden images these
  are easier to remember than drab ones.
• Use all your senses to code information.
  Remember mnemonic triggers contain smells,
  sounds, tastes, movements, feelings, and
  pictures.
• Give your image three dimensions, movement and
  space to make it more vivid. You can use
  movement to either maintain the flow of
  association, or to help you remember actions.

• 5. Exaggerate the size of importance parts of
  the image.
• 6. Use humor! Make up jokes using facts and
  figures you need to recall.
• 7. Make up rhymes to remember data.
• 8. Symbols can code complex messages quickly and
  effectively. (red traffic lights, pointing
  fingers, road signs, etc.)

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Once youve mastered mnemonics, the following can
help you improve your memory at any age

• d) Organize Make notes, and remember that seven
  items is the max. for STM.
• e) Visualize Your brain thinks with words and
  pictures, so give it both.
• f) Talk to Yourself Reciting as you read and
  reviewing notes OUT LOUD increases attention and
  motivation, and creates a stronger neural trace
  of
• memory by utilizing more senses.
• g) ASAP review Go over notes/data right after
  the class. This only needs to
• take about five minutes.

• a) Attention and Intention Pay attention to
  what youve learned, and decide to remember it.
  We learn best when we have a strong motivation
  for committing
• the material to memory.
• Relate to what you know How does the new
  information relate to concepts with which youre
  familiar? Decide to emphasize memory devices,
  visualization, or reciting. Possibly read data
  aloud, esp. if they are grouped rhythmically.
• Become the teacher Grasp the basic idea and
  explain it to someone else in your own words.

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Memory through Association

• Picture a microphone to remember the name Mike
  or a cross for Chris. You can also try
  associating the information with a smell. After
  you develop the habit, it will be a snap and fun
  to remember information this way.

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Memory through Peg words

• This works well for everything from playing
  cards to memorizing countries and capitals. You
  peg a certain word or image to the material you
  want to recall, and the image itself becomes your
  mnemonic.

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Memory through Acronyms

• This is a well-loved way to memorizing lists.
  Were all familiar with Roy G. Biv for the colors
  in a rainbow. The same technique will work for
  any list you need to remember. Be creative! You
  form acronyms by using each first letter from a
  group of words to form a new word. This is
  particularly useful when remembering words in a
  specified order. Some examples
• - NBA (National Basketball Association)
• - LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated
  Emission of Radiation)

NBA
NFL
ATP
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Memory through Rhymes Songs

• Rhythm, repetition, melody, and rhyme call
  all aid memory. How did you remember the
  alphabet? Through a song. Make up a tune for
  the information, or sing the words you need to
  remember to music you know and love. If it
  rhymes, so much the better. You could even learn
  material to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
  Whatever works, use it! Making rhymes or songs
  to remember information can be fun, particularly
  for people who like to create. Rhymes and songs
  draw on your auditory memory and may be
  particularly useful for those who can learn
  tunes, songs, or poems easily. Like other
  techniques in this section, however, they
  emphasize rote memory, not understanding. Dont
  spend too much time creating songs and rhymes to
  remember data. Dont let them interfere with
  your studying if it doesnt work for you,
  thats OK, there might be another method listed
  in this workbook that will be of assistance to
  you.

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Memory through Sentences/Acrostics

• Like acronyms, you use the first letter of each
  word you are trying to remember. Instead of
  making a new word, though, you use the letters to
  make a sentence. Here are some examples
• 1) Polly Eventually Makes Dad A Sandwich
  (mathematical order of operations Parenthesis,
  Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract)
• 2) Kings Phil Came Over for the Genes Special
  (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus, Species)
• Can you think of other examples?
• Like acronyms, acrostics can be very simple to
  remember and are particularly helpful when you
  need to remember a list in a specific order.

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Memory through Chunking

• This technique is generally used when
  remembering numbers, although the idea can be
  used for remembering other things as well. It is
  based on the idea that short-term memory is
  limited in the number of things that can be
  contained. A common rule is that a person can
  remember approx. seven items in short-term
  memory. In other words, people can remember
  between five to nine things at one time. Notice
  Phone numbers are seven digits for a reason.
• When using chunking remember to decrease the
  number of items you are holding in memory by
  increasing the size of each item. For example,
  in remembering the number string 64831996, you
  could try to remember each number individually,
  or you could try thinking about the string as 64
  83 19 96 (creating chunks of numbers.) Instead
  of remembering eight numbers, you are remembering
  four chunks of numbers.

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Practice Makes Perfect

• Once you are able to remember five items on your
  list without looking, add a 6th, repeat the whole
  list from the start, add a 7th, and so on. Break
  up large lists, passages, equations into small
  bits that you can learn, one step at a time, and
  you may be surprised at how easy it can be.

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How diet affects your memory

• What you eat makes a definite difference in your
  ability to process and recall information.
  Antioxidants, for example, touted for their
  overall immune-boosting properties, are also key
  brain boosters, because they improve the flow of
  oxygen throughout the body by fighting free
  radicals. Eating foods that are rich in fiber
  and nutrients also helps you resist and combat
  disease that affect your memory.

• Some of the best Vitamin C-rich, memory-enhancing
  fruits and vegetables include
• Cantaloupe
• Sweet Potatoes
• Black currants
• Asparagus
• Blueberries
• kale

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• Key red foods include
• Watermelon
• Tomatoes
• Strawberries
• Red cabbage
• Cherries
• Radishes

• Include red foods to your diet, which not only
  contain beta-carotene (a precursor of Vitamin A)
  but also stimulate, strengthen, and increase body
  temperature and circulation, which increases
  energy. Red foods affect your muscles, adrenal
  glands, bladder, lower limbs, and spine, making
  them idea for combating fatigue, fever, colds,
  etc. Psychologically, red foods ease depression,
  promoting a positive attitude, which aids memory.

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• By using the above mentioned techniques to
  assist in your memory can increase your learning
  potential. These techniques not only help you
  become more efficient learners, but will help in
  all aspects of your life regarding memory.

REMEMBER
REMEMBER