Everyone has the ability to learn faster and more effectively. It’s simply about mastering the right studying skills. Utilizing the best techniques for memorization is extremely important for success in school, especially in a more competitive learning environment.
I discovered the best methods for studying while in medical school. With my back up against the wall, I became a successful student by completely revamping my study habits.
I designed a memory system to take advantage of all my old, unused memories.
We Have a Ton of Underutilized Memories
Take a moment to imagine the home you grew up in. Most likely, you can still remember every detail of the space, inside and out. If you’re anything like me, memories of meals, movie nights, and marathon Monopoly games rush back in an instant. I can still recall the best climbing trees in my old backyard with ease.
It’s not just my childhood home I remember—I can recall the homes of every neighbor, friend, ex-girlfriend, aunt, uncle, and grandma as well. I have a stark recollection of every school, camp, and church I’ve attended. Without even trying, I can picture an abundance of parks, hikes, museums, and stadiums that I’ve visited. For that matter, I can also picture the interior of Bag End, the Millennium Falcon, and Hogwarts!
Episodic Memories Are Strongest
This type of memory is known as episodic memory. Episodic memories are from personal experiences, and they naturally stick into our brains. They include our recollection of people, places, and things. Without effort, our brains remember familiar locations and past experiences and their associated emotions. Although I may not remember the subject matter that was taught in fifth grade, I can still remember the outlay of the room and where the girl I had a crush on sat.
Semantic Memories Are Weakest
Semantic memories, on the other hand, are much more difficult to retain. They are comprised of the facts and figures that we learn in school. Semantic memories often contain no personal connection and easily slip out of mind.
Our brains naturally triage the route to the supermarket as more important than the muscles making up the rotator cuff. We may take the route to the supermarket once a week, but we take very few tests on the muscle group of the shoulder joint.
If only there were a way to capitalize on those mighty episodic memories...
The Ancient Greeks Developed an Exceptional Memory System Based On This Premise
As it turns out, a technique does exist, and it’s over two millennia old. The ancient Greeks and Romans perfected a method that intertwines our semantic (school-based) learning with the power of our episodic (experience-based) knowledge.
This game-changing method relies on turning information into pictures and then dropping the pictures into familiar loci or locations. For more insight on turning information into pictures, check out 3 Tips For Improving Memory From Over 2000 Years Ago.
Memory Palaces
Memory storage locations are traditionally composed of any physical place: houses, buildings, parks, driving routes. The different locations act as mental filing cabinets and are classically referred to as memory palaces.
Memory Files
I’ve extended the system far beyond houses and buildings, however, and I refer to the locations as Memory Files. My Memory Files broaden the old system to include both real-life and virtual locations, taking advantage of movies, TV shows, and video games.
How to Create a Memory File
Think of the Memory File as the binder where you store important information in your brain. Each separate building or location is a different File. The File breaks down into different Dividers, or rooms. Then, each room breaks down into different items or areas: a dusty desk, a cracked window, a comfy couch, a wonky door frame. These are called Anchors. The Anchor is the place where we attach pictures of what we need to memorize.
Step 1- Choose a Location to Store Your Material
The example below is a room (Divider) inside a fictional Hobbit home (File), and it has three possible Anchor points: the desk, the chair, and the window. Using these simple Anchors, we can remember all the muscles of the rotator cuff.
Step 2: Transform the Study Material Into Picture Reminders
The four muscles that make up the rotator cuff include the teres minor, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, and subscapularis. Transform this information into pictures and place these reminders inside our chosen room. Plop a massive sphere (rotator) onto an oversized shirt cuff to remind us that we’re storing the muscles of the rotator cuff.
Step 3: Intertwine the Anchors and Picture Reminders
Throughout the room, intertwine the Anchors with the picture reminders. We can begin by dropping our rotator cuff picture atop the desk.
Underneath the desk, imagine a T-rex (teres) eating a miner (minor), for teres minor.
Next, picture a spine (spinatus) sitting in the chair, wearing infrared goggles (infraspinatus) and a superhero cape (supraspinatus).
Finally, imagine a submarine (sub) crashing through the window with a huge scalpel (scapularis) sticking out, for subscapularis.
Step 4: Rehearse the Same Metal Journey Each Time
Now, we can name all four muscles of the rotator cuff with ease, by simply going on a mental journey around the room.
Old Memories of Physical and Virtual Locations are Useful
The information can be placed inside any familiar location, real or virtual. You can use your great granny’s house, or Bilbo Baggins Hobbit hole from Lord of the Rings.
Think up as many physical and virtual environments as you can, and for each one, create an all-inclusive mental journey that visits each Anchor, in order. For houses, journey from room to room. In video games, journey from level to level. Take the same mental pathway each time to keep information orderly and organized.
These Techniques Helped Me Survive Medical School and Residency
Storing material in this manner helps any learner memorize material more effectively. I was amazed when I switched my study habits in medical school. By creating pictures and storing them within familiar locations, I could reliably hunt down answers around test time. I stored information inside old schools, houses, and parks. Additionally, I stored information inside the Batcave, the Fortress of Solitude, and the X-Mansion. My Memory Files helped propel me through every exam from medical school through residency.
Start Studying More Efficiently
Scrap the old, antiquated methods of rereading and rewriting. The most efficient way to learn and retain new material is to create an organized mental journey. I owe much to the ancient memory gurus who figured out the loci or memory palace method. But I also owe much to Link, Mario, Neo, Gandalf, Obi Wan, and Khaleesi for providing me with an abundance of storage space to house the entirety of my medical education!
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