best way to improve memory?

[CoolStuff]

I dont really care about short term memory, if somethings important then I'll remember it. But I'm more interested in improving memory for school, so I can spend my time more efficiently.

I am planning on picking up The Memory Book Steve mentioned.

[Paul C]

For studying it's said that shorter studying sessions help with memory retention. Instead of studying for hours on end you would instead have a study of session of about 30 minutes then take a break for about 5-10 minutes, then you would go back to it as many times you have energy for.

Take notes a lot? Only the important points- overall concepts even. Not sure what else I could suggest at this time.

Good luck.

[jtrikster]

On the left side of this post there is a link the Lumosity.com. I found it interesting so I clicked it.
It's a website that hosts games to help with memory, cognition, reaction, etc. Its awesome! and fun! you get a free 14-day trial with no credit card numbers required (thank god because I hate those kind of 'free' trials.).

Well I think it's really fun and it keeps you busy. I've noticed that I pay more attention and look at the bigger picture now; when it comes to learning information.

Btw, I bought The Memory Book Steve suggested and I can't seem to find it effective. The methods are good, but I haven't found a way to incorporate them into the classes I'm taking right now.
I was motivated to buy the book because I'm taking Human Anatomy this semester and let's just say it is one of the most intense courses you can take. The book's methods are good for history and the social sciences in general.

I haven't finished it yet so maybe I'll be able to figure out a way to incorporate it into the information I'm learning. One thing I'm experimenting with is linking one idea to a picture and then linking those pictures, indirectly linking ideas. We'll see if that works at the end of the semester.

Well good luck!

[Ilya]

CoolStuff, what do you mean by "remembering for school"? As a graduate I can tell you that school is rarely about memorizing something. During my studies I was more then once tempted to use some mnemonic tricks to prepare for exams. On closer inspection, every time I've found that it's is more efficient to understand the underlying principle that connects and organizes the facts I need to remember. It may be harder to go for that understanding, but that's what study is. Memorization without understanding is just, well, quick fix, the other type of short term memorization you don't care about. If you give me examples of what you need to memorize, I might help you brainstorm, what you could pay attention to.
Still, if you absolutely need to memorize something, there is no difference between mnemonic techniques. If done correctly, they allow you to memorize information for as long as you need it. Visual linking, different pegging systems should help.

[jtrikster]

So you're saying it's more efficient to understand the 'big picture?'
It is really hard to come to that understanding. What methods do you use?

[Jim11]

He just means it's more important to understand concepts as opposed to cramming your brain without actually thinking about it.

A simple example:
If you are taking economics and you read "when supply goes down, price goes up" you can highlight it, memorize it, and never bother thinking about it.

But if you decide to take 2 minutes to think about it you will be much more likely to remember it, simply because it makes sense. Where cramming fails is when you run into hard tests where they mix things up and make you apply your knowledge to completely different concepts.

Also, practicing LEARNING and not cramming will give you valuable skills that you can apply to all learning. Analysis, being able to spot important material very quickly, etc

If you start learning things by memorizing you will eventually forget a lot more than if you had decided to understand it. This will become very clear if you go deep into post secondary.

[jtrikster]

Some big picture concepts aren't as simple. Yes you can find concepts that simple within subjects, in order to get a deeper understanding, you need to also understand the big concepts that are a little more specific.
Take for example anatomy:
We have muscles all around our bodies that allow us to move. (big picture)
The muscles on your anterior arm flex your forearm. (more specific)

It sometimes is not that simple to find the more specific pictures. That's what I was refering to in my post before.

[MartialDev]

The use of a pencil has improved my memory dramatically.

[180]

memory is a habit

I suggest harry lorayne's books on memory. Old old book, but the best.

But if you want an overall brief summary, anything can be remembered if you attach something wildly out of the ordinary. Special Mneomic techniques. In the book they even include ways to peg numbers.

So for example: I want to remember to send my cable bill tomorrow

So right now I'm going to make a mental imagine of me waking up at 4:00 am right after watching a thigh master infomercial. picking up a huge pink spotted mailbox and wading it up into a straw, spitting it over to arizona smashing into my cable company and killing the CEO of the company right in the head.

The image is so wildly ridiculous that it is easily recalled. So when I wake up tmr, I'd be like ah sh1t, wahts that thing I needed to do. Well I know it had something to do cable...? Oh the mailbox I shot over to Arizona and killing the CEO of that cable company.

[Truely Self Development]

So there is a way? I also find that my memory getting poorer lately!

[Ilya]

Originally Posted by Jim11

He just means it's more important to understand concepts as opposed to cramming your brain without actually thinking about it.

Great points Jim11, thanks for clarifying me and giving great examples.

[Ilya]

Originally Posted by jtrikster

Some big picture concepts aren't as simple. Yes you can find concepts that simple within subjects, in order to get a deeper understanding, you need to also understand the big concepts that are a little more specific.
Take for example anatomy:
We have muscles all around our bodies that allow us to move. (big picture)
The muscles on your anterior arm flex your forearm. (more specific)

It sometimes is not that simple to find the more specific pictures. That's what I was refering to in my post before.

Jtrikster, I'm not sure I've made myself clear enough. I'm not talking about big or specific picture. I'm talking more about finding the natural connections or associations in data.
Mnemonics are all about creating a link between two unrelated things. The classic example is the shopping list to fill the fridge for the week. So you do something like imagine each item on the list and place it mentally on the crossroads on your way to the mall. Then by remembering the familiar crossroads you will be able to recall the list.

Now, even with shopping list there are some internal associations actually. For example if you have a meal plan and you know what will you cook throughout the week, you can remember the dishes rather then products. Then at the shop, you can recall the ingredients of each of your favorite dishes. This may or may not be a more efficient approach, depending on how variable meals are there and do you know what food is made of But it illustrates the concept.

If we take your anatomy example, I'm not talking about either of your interpretations. I didn't do anatomy, so my example may be unrealistic, but hopefully it will clarify something.
As far as I know in anatomy the students have to remember the name of all muscles, the function of each muscle, the points where each muscle connects to the bones or whatever and probably something else.
Now the names of the muscles are in Latin. Ouch. However a quick look on the net lets me believe that the latin used is not arbitrary. It says something about the muscle. Sometimes it gives hints about the location, sometimes about the function, sometimes about the size or the structure of the muscle.
Not all of the meanings are clear straight away, but that's why med students study latin. Assuming the latin is fine, you can eliminate a lot of memorization by understanding that the name of the muscle may be connected to it's function, location and composition. So before recalling the string of latin letters it is worthwhile to imagine the body and where this muscle is located and what does it do there. It actually is pretty obvious in many cases. With this understanding the correct name may just jump at you. Otherwise you'll have to do the long chain of mnemonic conversions to remember the information that is already there.
Some other helpful concept is that the muscles come in pairs some bend and others straighten the joint. By the way, knowing how each joint moves can give you the good understanding of what kinds of muscles are needed to provide this movement. The longer you think about the more pieces of the puzzle come into place. That is what understanding is about. For that you may have to read the explanation on each of the muscles and what they do and what are they connected to. Memorizing the list is no good really.
You may argue that finding out all these connections is long and tedious. But that is what learning is about - to find out the underlying system, not to remember the collection of disjointed facts.