by Vikas Reddy

Created on: November 19, 2008

The world is a rough place to live for students. Tons of text has to be memorized for exams that keep getting more complex every year. The rate of knowledge scientists are gaining is nearly exponential in the 21st century. Ironically, the young have to suffer such knowledge with countless all-nighters.

Take medical school for example. It's filled with anatomy and physiological terminology that some people are sure doesn't even exist. Thankfully, mankind invented psychology and the concept of using mnemonic devices.

What is a mnemonic device and why does it sound so far-fetched?

Another moment of irony. Why is a mnemonic device so strange to pronounce? Perhaps its strangeness makes it easier to remember?

Case in point.

Mnemonic devices are special cues or words that help people remember. It can be used as an art form to relate things to events or people a person already knows - in order to remember the entire concept altogether. It is a topic much discussed in advanced placement psychology.

There are two ways the typical person thinks when given something to remember; Rote Rehearsal and Elaborative Rehearsal. Rote rehearsal is good for short term memory. It is when you repeat the word in your head over and over till it's imprinted there for later use.

But psychologists note that rote rehearsal is not
recommended for remembering things for the long run. If you are given the phone number to someone important and spend the next ten seconds repeating it in your head, how are you going to recall it in a week?

Elaborative rehearsal is where the magic begins. It is the process of relating something you just learned to something you already know. For example, if you happened to be in a paintball match where it was just you and two others against a whole armada, you have to be careful what you choose to say. Relate this feeling to the movie 300, in which King Leonidas and his best fight millions of the Persian army. It's actually not the best thing to say to your teammates in those circumstances, if you think about it.

But the idea of relating that memory to Leonidas' last stand significantly improves your ability to recall it years later. Who doesn't want to tell their friends about the time they all got massacared by paintball pellets and grenades after their buddy gave them an inspirational speech about 300? Definitely a fun time it will become, especially if alcohol is involved. Good luck to them remembering what happened that night (which would include what they remembered

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