58
Applying Memory Techniques
Succeeding in Exams
USING MEMORY AIDS
There are different ways of approaching
your studying to increase your recall of the
information. Thirty percent of people are auditory
learners—they prefer to use their hearing rather
than reading ability. If you prefer to learn by
listening, record some information on a tape or
a minidisc. Play it back to yourself at different
times of day—perhaps on a car journey or in
bed, just before you go to sleep. Another
technique is to use flash cards. Write questions
on one side and answers on the other. You can
give your cards to someone else to help
you study, and you can use them to
change the order in which you learn
information; this will help your
recall in an exam, when questions
can be asked in any order.
●
Make studying for
exams fun by using your
own images instead of dry,
hard-to-learn information.
FOCUS POINT
M
emory plays an important role in
academic performance. An improved
memory not only enhances your chances of
doing well in exams, it gets your brain into
good habits—the more effectively you learn,
the more efficiently your memory works.
Recalls
information
quickly and
accurately
Studying for an exam
Vary the techniques you use for studying.
That way you keep up your interest—and
go into the exam confident of full recall.
✓ Do get used to the techniques by using
a small amount of information at first.
✓ Do share the techniques with others
studying the same subject as you.
✓ Do see how a technique can be used in
a slightly different way for each subject.
✗ Avoid forcing your learning. If it feels
like a serious chore, take a break.
✗ Avoid using just one type of learning
tool—use them all.
✗ Avoid learning something of no interest
to you, or you will have no motivation.
Things to Do Things to Avoid
Succeeding in Exams
59
MEMORIZING LARGE
AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION
The key to learning copious quantities of
information is to reduce it down to manageable
amounts. Mind Mapping does
this by using key words. It also
provides a way of organizing
the information in a logical and
comprehensive manner so that
links and related information
are apparent. You need to recall
only the key words of your
Mind Map—they will then
automatically lead your
mind on to relevant areas.
MEMORIZING SETS OF FACTS
For a set of facts, such as a series of historical
events, or the structure of a flower in biology, you
can use the Journey Technique. If you were to use
it to learn the nine planets in the solar system, for
example, you would start by creating an image for
each planet. So Mercury might be a thermometer,
Earth might be an earth digger, and so on. Create
a nine-stage journey, one stage for each planet.
The location for your journey should be related
to the subject matter, and should preferably be
somewhere familiar—although, in this case, it
might be aboard an imaginary spaceship. The
next stage is to insert the images into the journey.
You can then add any further information you
want to learn at each stage, perhaps about the
atmosphere, surface, or temperature of each planet.
In many cases, when you are
assimilating a large amount
of information, you need to
memorize only one word out
of ten original words—your
brain will be able to piece the
rest together. Using Mind
Mapping enables you to reduce
a mass of information by up to
90 percent and yet maintain an
excellent understanding
of the subject matter.
Fact File
“
Learning without
thought is labor lost;
thought without
learning is perilous.
”
Confucius
Making information manageable
Mind Mapping is the best way to cope with large amounts of
information. You might draw your Mind Map like a tree, writing
key points on the main branches and then adding information
of secondary importance on smaller branches, and so on.
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