Lecture #10: How to Memorize Anything - EFFICIENTLY

Summary

The transcript discusses two effective memory techniques: mnemonic cues and spaced repetition. Mnemonic cues involve creating associations or stories to remember information, as demonstrated by the speaker's experience with learning Korean words. Spaced repetition involves reviewing information at increasing intervals to enhance retention. The speaker emphasizes the underutilization of these methods in academic settings and concludes with a quiz to illustrate the effectiveness of mnemonic cues.

Takeaways

• 📜 Mnemonic cues and spaced repetition are two scientifically proven methods for memorization.
• 🧠 Mnemonic cues work by associating a symbol with a story or image, aiding recall through recognition and narrative.
• 🏫 The speaker used mnemonic cues to remember Korean words during a study at the University of Cambridge, by associating symbols with familiar objects like an umbrella.
• 🔍 To effectively use mnemonic cues, look for visual elements within symbols that can be connected to known objects or concepts.
• 🎬 Creating a mental movie or story during the learning process enhances memory encoding and recall.
• 📈 Spaced repetition involves prioritizing the review of information based on familiarity, with known information reviewed less frequently and unknown information reviewed more often.
• 🃏 Using index cards is a simple and effective way to practice spaced repetition, by sorting cards based on how well the information is remembered.
• 🔄 In spaced repetition, correctly remembered information is placed at the back of the stack for less frequent review, while unknown information is placed in the middle for more frequent review.
• 📱 There are various apps and methods for implementing spaced repetition, but the basic principle remains the same across different techniques.
• 🎓 The speaker emphasizes the surprising underutilization of these memorization techniques in academic settings despite their effectiveness.
• 📝 The next lecture in the series will focus on note-taking strategies.

Q & A

What are the two ways to memorize things mentioned in the transcript?

The two ways to memorize things mentioned are mnemonic cues and spaced repetition.

What is a mnemonic cue and how does it work?

A mnemonic cue is an association, like a story or an image, that helps you recall information. It works by creating a connection between the symbol or word you're trying to remember and a story or mental image that helps you retrieve the associated information.

Can you provide an example of how the speaker used a mnemonic cue to remember a Korean word?

The speaker used a mnemonic cue to remember the Korean word for 'umbrella'. They noticed a part of the word that looked like a roof or an umbrella and imagined a little stick as the handle with a curve at the bottom, creating a mental image of an umbrella opening and closing.

What is spaced repetition and how does it enhance memory?

Spaced repetition is a technique where you review information at increasing intervals over time. It enhances memory by efficiently presenting the information you struggle to remember more frequently, while deferring the information you know well until later, thus optimizing the learning process.

How did the speaker implement spaced repetition with index cards?

The speaker would test themselves on an index card by looking at the prompt and trying to recall the information on the back. If they knew the answer, they would place the card at the back of the pile to review it later. If they didn't know the answer, they would place it in the middle to review it more frequently.

What are the benefits of using mnemonic cues and spaced repetition according to the transcript?

The benefits include improved memory retention and the ability to remember a wide range of information, from words and definitions to complex data like GDPs of countries or labels for bones in the human body.

How did the speaker apply mnemonic cues in a real-life scenario with students' names?

The speaker would create little stories or associations with the students' names, focusing on unique physical features or sounds, and imagine these associations as animations or mental movies to remember the names better.

What is the significance of the pop quiz at the end of the transcript?

The pop quiz serves to demonstrate the effectiveness of mnemonic cues. The speaker bets that the audience can identify the Korean word for 'umbrella' because they were walked through a mnemonic cue earlier, showing that the method works and helps with memory retention.

Why does the speaker find it surprising that people don't use these memorization techniques more often?

The speaker finds it surprising because both mnemonic cues and spaced repetition have been highly effective throughout their academic career, and yet, they are not commonly utilized by people looking to memorize information.

What is the next lecture in the series about?

The next lecture in the series is about how to take effective notes.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Mnemonic Cues and Spaced Repetition

This paragraph discusses two effective methods for memorization: mnemonic cues and spaced repetition. Mnemonic cues involve creating associations or stories to help recall information, as demonstrated by the speaker's experience with learning Korean words during a study at Cambridge University. Spaced repetition involves reviewing information at increasing intervals based on familiarity, using index cards as a practical example. The speaker emphasizes the efficiency and effectiveness of these methods for long-term memorization.

05:02

📚 Implementing Spaced Repetition with Index Cards

The speaker elaborates on the spaced repetition technique using index cards as a tool. By testing oneself on the information presented on the cards and placing them in different positions based on recall success, one can optimize the memorization process. The speaker explains the importance of合理安排卡片 to ensure frequent review of less familiar information and less frequent review of more familiar information. The paragraph also mentions various methods and apps for spaced repetition, but suggests that simple index cards are the most straightforward and effective approach.

Keywords

💡Mnemonic cues

Mnemonic cues are techniques that individuals use to aid memory and facilitate learning. They often involve creating associations, such as stories or visual images, to connect new information with something already known. In the video, the speaker uses the example of associating a Korean character for 'umbrella' with the shape of an umbrella to remember the word.

💡Spaced repetition

Spaced repetition is a learning method that involves reviewing information at increasing intervals over time. The idea is to optimize the retention of information by focusing more on the material that is less familiar and reviewing it more frequently, while material that is well-known can be reviewed less often. In the context of the video, the speaker describes using index cards and a system of placing them in different positions to ensure effective review.

💡Memory

Memory refers to the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experiences, information, and learning. The video discusses memory in the context of memorization techniques, emphasizing how the human mind encodes and remembers information based on stories and connections.

💡Association

Association is the process of linking one idea or concept with another. In the context of the video, the speaker uses association to create a mental story or image that connects a symbol or word with its meaning, thereby aiding in memory retention.

💡Graduate school

Graduate school refers to an institution or program that awards academic degrees, such as a Master's or Ph.D., to students who have completed undergraduate education. In the video, the speaker recounts their experience in graduate school at the University of Cambridge, where they participated in a memory study.

💡Dissertation

A dissertation is a scholarly work or research submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification, such as a Ph.D. In the video, the speaker's friend was writing her dissertation on human memory and invited the speaker to participate in her study.

💡Korean language

The Korean language is the official language of South Korea and one of the two official languages of North Korea. In the video, the speaker discusses their experience of learning Korean words as part of a memory study, despite not having prior knowledge of the language.

💡University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a prestigious public research university in Cambridge, England, and is one of the world's leading academic institutions. In the video, the speaker mentions their time at the University of Cambridge in graduate school, where they learned about mnemonic cues and participated in a memory study.

💡Index cards

Index cards are small, typically 3x5 inches, pieces of cardstock used for note-taking, organizing information, or as a study aid. In the video, the speaker uses index cards as a tool for implementing the spaced repetition technique to improve memory retention.

💡Lightner method

The Lightner method is a mnemonic technique used for learning and retaining information. It involves a system of reviewing flashcards at varying intervals to optimize memory retention. The method is named after someone, possibly a researcher or educator, although the speaker does not provide a full name in the video.

💡Academic career

An academic career typically refers to a professional path within the field of education, research, or scholarship. It can involve roles such as teaching, research, or administration at educational institutions. In the video, the speaker reflects on their academic career, from being an undergraduate student to becoming a faculty member at a university, and the consistent use of mnemonic techniques throughout.

Highlights

Science has discovered two primary ways to memorize things: mnemonic cues and spaced repetition.

Mnemonic cues involve creating associations or stories to aid recall.

Spaced repetition involves learning and reviewing information at increasing intervals to enhance long-term memory.

The speaker's friend conducted a study on human memory at the University of Cambridge.

Participants in the study were shown Korean words with English definitions for a short period and then tested on their recall.

The speaker used a mnemonic cue by associating a Korean symbol with an umbrella due to its shape.

The human mind encodes and remembers things based on stories and connections, not just simple associations.

Mnemonic cues can be applied to various types of information, such as GDPs of countries, labels for bones, or names of students.

The speaker shares a personal technique of creating visual stories to remember students' names in a classroom.

Spaced repetition can be implemented using index cards, testing oneself, and sorting cards based on familiarity.

Familiar cards are placed at the back of the stack for less frequent review, while unfamiliar ones are placed in the middle for more frequent review.

The process of spaced repetition involves continuous self-testing and reordering of cards to optimize memorization.

There are various methods and software available for implementing spaced repetition, but the speaker prefers the simplicity of index cards.

The speaker emphasizes the effectiveness of these memorization techniques throughout their academic career.

The speaker conducted a pop quiz to demonstrate the effectiveness of mnemonic cues.

The mnemonic cue for 'umbrella' involved looking for a symbol with a pointy roof-like shape.

The Korean word for 'mango' was混淆 with the mnemonic cue for 'umbrella', showing the power of visual association.

The lecture series will continue with a focus on how to take effective notes.

Transcripts

science has discovered two exactly two

ways to memorize things mnemonic cues

and spaced repetition

when i say mnemonic q i mean an

association like a story

when you do this properly what happens

is that you see the symbol

and then that causes you to recall the

story that you told yourself or whatever

and the story causes you to recall the

other piece of information that you were

trying to attach to that symbol

let me give you an example when i was in

graduate school at the university of

cambridge in the united kingdom i had a

friend who was writing her dissertation

on

human memory she had this study and she

asked us a group of her friends to come

in and participate in the study the only

condition for participating in this

study was that we didn't already know

korean i didn't know korean so i go into

this laboratory room and there's a

screen and on the screen they show me

some korean words and then the the

english definitions

this was about 12 years ago and at the

time i didn't know korean quite

obviously i still don't know korean so i

apologize if i've written these symbols

incorrectly but what happened was they

would show me these symbols for like

five seconds

along with the english definitions like

this is the symbol for umbrella and this

is the the word in korean the symbol for

mango the fruit they would show it to me

for five seconds and i had to learn it

and they would do this for a dozen

symbols and then at the end they gave

they gave me a quiz to see how much i

could retain how much i could memorize

now it just so happened that right

before

i participated in this study

i had learned about mnemonic cues for

example when i was shown this word in

korean i noticed right here that this

part of the of the word it sort of looks

like a roof you know it's like a pointy

thing it looks like a roof or sort of

like an umbrella here i'll write it in a

different color

during my five seconds i i noticed that

part i i picked up on it and then i

imagined that there was you know a

little stick going here you know the

handle of the umbrella with a little

curve at the bottom and i imagine this

opening and closing like an umbrella it

opened up looked just like an umbrella i

just i just imagined this i i i made a

little movie in my head during those

five seconds when i was trying to learn

that this was the korean word for

umbrella and then the five seconds were

over and that symbol disappeared

when you first think about it this whole

imagining thing shouldn't work like you

start off with two things you start off

with the korean word and you've got the

english

synonym the word that means the same

thing in english you've got these two

things

and according to this method

apparently

the way to make it easier to learn you

know and memorize these two things is to

add a third thing which is the story you

would think that adding something else

an additional thing that you need to

remember that would make it harder but

it doesn't that's just not how the human

mind works the human mind

remembers things it encodes things based

on stories and points of connection and

so actually it turns out that if you do

this sort of thing you can remember

things and not just you know the

definitions of words you can do this for

all sorts of things if you have to

memorize the gdps of a whole bunch of

countries on a map or the labels for all

the different bones in the human body or

or the names of a whole bunch of

students in a classroom like i do at the

beginning of most semesters you just

make up little stories little

associations with those things right so

when i learn all of the names of you

know 50 students in a lecture classroom

i look at the student i ask them their

name they're in the classroom in front

of everyone else they say what their

name is

and then i take their name maybe their

name sounds like something i don't tell

them all this out loud also they look

weird they're some weird looking student

everybody looks weird if you look at

them and think about it everybody has

some weird thing about them you focus on

that weird thing you think about their

name you imagine their name dripping

over their their head with one of the

letters dripping around over their big

ear or whatever it is you you do some

little thing you tell some little story

you make some little animation in your

mind um you imagine some sound coming

out of their head even though that sound

isn't coming out of there right you do

something like this

that's a mnemonic cue and it just works

let's move on to spaced repetition the

idea here is that you have to memorize a

whole bunch of things some of them you

already know better than the other ones

or they're just coming more easily right

the ones that you know really well you

you

defer them to later but the ones that

you don't know you repeat them

within a shorter space the old-fashioned

way to do this is with index cards

here's a stack of index cards that i

brought as a prop here's how you would

use the index cards to implement some

kind of spaced repetition technique you

need to learn some words or some labels

or something or some facts there's the

prompt on one side that is the thing

that you're gonna see and then there's

on the back there's whatever you want to

show up in your brain

as soon as you see the thing on the

front okay here's what you do you test

yourself right you look at one side of

the card and you you see if you know

what what's going to be on the back if

you know it you put it at the back of

the pile what that means of course if it

goes in the back is that you're not

going to see it for a while because

you've got to go through this whole

stack before you ever see that one again

that's why you put at the back the ones

that you already know you test yourself

on a card and you don't know it if you

don't know it you slide it into the

middle

that way you're going to get it more

frequently at a shorter space a shorter

distance and you keep doing this over

and over again and you can do it you

know as a matter of degree right if you

don't know one

but you feel like oh you're kind of

getting closer to knowing it then you

put it in the middle if you don't know

it and you had no clue or whatever you

could put it really close to the front

here see so you'll get it really quickly

really soon again you do this over and

over again and you'll memorize stuff it

just works there are different fancy

methods for doing this one of the famous

ones is the lightner method named after

some guy named lightner maybe i'll find

his full name his photo on google or

something like that anyway it's some

method named after some guy it doesn't

matter they're all basically variations

on this very simple thing and you can

find software you know apps for your

phones or whatever

that'll that'll refresh the cards in

whatever order they think is the best

order but i think the simplest best way

is to use index cards the way that you

use the index cards matter right if you

just put every card at the back of the

pile then there's

it's not efficient it's not going to be

an efficient way to memorize because if

you take the cards that you really need

to learn because you don't know them yet

and you put them in the back you're not

going to get to them for a long time and

if you take the and if and if they come

just as frequently as the cards that you

already know you're just seeing these

symbols that you already know over and

over again you're not it's just not

efficient so spaced repetition is the

efficient way

to

get a whole bunch of stuff in front of

you and to get it to stick in your

memory it's amazing how well

both of these methods work and

continually throughout my academic

career since i was an undergraduate all

the way through college and then a

master's degree and then a phd and now

i'm a faculty member at a university and

have been for several years like it's

amazing

how infrequently people use these when

they want to memorize things when they

want to sink them into their brains okay

time for a pop quiz back when i was

telling you about mnemonic cues i put up

the korean words for mango and umbrella

here's your quiz

which symbol means mango and which

symbol means umbrella

i bet you can find the one that means

umbrella right here it is

it's this one but the one that means

mango one of these is the korean word

for mango and and that symbol was up on

this board with the definition for just

as long as

as the word umbrella was with the

definition of umbrella the difference is

that

i walked you through a mnemonic cue

with this word umbrella right i bet that

when you were looking for the word

umbrella you looked for this thingy

remember this you looked for that

you told yourself that little story or

if you didn't even need to tell yourself

the story because of the story you knew

to look for this little pointy thing

right because it looks like an umbrella

the answer by the way is this one this

is the korean word for mango

the point is

this stuff works the next lecture in

this series is about how to take notes

you