9TypesofMnemonicsforBetterMemory

ByDennisCongos,UniversityofCentralFlorida
Mnemonicsarememorydevicesthathelplearnersrecalllargerpiecesofinformation,especiallyinthe
formoflistslikecharacteristics,steps,stages,parts,phases,etc.Weknewbackin1967fromastudyby
GeraldR.Millerthatmnemonicsincreasedrecall.Hefoundthatstudentswhoregularlyusedmnemonic
devicesincreasedtestscoresupto77%!
Manytypesofmnemonicsexistandwhichtypeworksbestislimitedonlybytheimaginationofeach
individuallearner.The9basictypesofmnemonicspresentedinthishandoutincludeMusic,Name,
Expression/Word,Model,Ode/Rhyme,NoteOrganization,Image,Connection,andSpelling
Mnemonics.
1. MusicMnemonics
Howmanylyricstosongsdoyouremember?Howdidyoucometorememberthem?Thesame
methodyouusedtorecallsonglyricsalsocanworkjustaswellinacademics.Musiccanusedto
helpstudentsrecallimportantdetailstomainideasandmanylearnershavemadesongsoutof
informationwhenalistofitemsmustbelearned.AdvertisingonradioandTVusesmusictohelp
potentialcustomersremembertheirproductswhenshopping.Withsufficientrepetitionof
commercials,advertisershavediscoveredthatwhenshoppersseetheirproductinthestoresthat
oftentheshopperwillstartrecitingaoftrepeatedphrasesfromthecommercialorstartsingingthe
lyricstothepromotionmelody.Theresultshasbeenincreasedsalesoftheproduct.
Youcanmakeasongorjingleusinganytypeofmusicyouchooseforanylistofitems.Music
Mnemonicsworkbestwithlonglists.Forexample,somechildrenlearntheABC'sbysingingthe
"ABC"song.Otherchildrenlearnallthestatesinalphabeticalorderusingthe"50NiftyUnited
States"song.
2. NameMnemonics
InaNameMnemonic,the1stletterofeachwordinalistofitemsisusedtomakeanameofa
personorthing.Sometimes,theitemscanberearrangedtoformamorerecollectablename
mnemonic.Examples:
ROYG.BIV=colorsofthespectrum(Red,Orange,Yellow,Green,Blue,Indigo,Violet.)
Pvt.TimHall=Essentialaminoacids(Phenylanine,Valine,Threonine,Tryptophan,Isolucine,
Histidine,Arginine,Leucine,Lysine.

3. ExpressionorWordMnemonic
Thisisbyfarthemostpopularlyusedmnemonic.TomakeanExpressionorWordmnemonic,
thefirstletterofeachiteminalistisarrangedtoformaphraseorword.Examples:
Forphysicallawsdealingwithgasses,trythese:
Charles'Law:Foraconstantvolume,pressureisdirectlyproportionaltotemperature.
ThesimplewaytorememberChuckisifthetank'stoohot,you'reblownintomuck.
Henry'sLaw:Thesolubilityofagasincreaseswithpressure.
ToremembergoodoldHank,rememberthebubblesintheshakenCokeyoudrank.
Boyles'Law:Atconstanttemperature,pressureisinverselyproportionaltovolume.
Boyle'slawisbestofallbecauseitpressesgassesawfullysmall.
InEnglish,the7coordinatingconjunctionsareFor,And,Nor,But,Or,Yet,So=FANBOYS.
TheorderofoperationsformathisParentheses,Exponents,Multiply,Divide,Add,andSubtract=
PleaseExcuseMyDearAuntSally.
ThecategoriesintheclassificationoflifeareKingdom,Phylum,Class,Order,Family,Genus,
Species,Variety=KingsPlayCardsOnFairlyGoodSoftVelvet.

Forthosewhohavetoremembertheorderofcolorcodingonelectronicresistors:Black,Blue,
Red,Orange,Yellow,Green,Brown,Violet,Gray,White,Silver,Gold.
BadBoysRileOurYoungGirls,ButVioletGivesWelts(to)SillyGuys
or
BadBeerRotsOurYoungGutsButVodkaGoesWell(in)SilverGoblets.
Almosteveryanatomyclasshastoremembertheeightsmallbonesinthewrist:Navicular,
Lunate,Triquetrum,Pisiform,Multongular(Greater),Multongular(Lesser),Capitate,
Hamate.
NeverLickTilly'sPopsicle,MotherMightComeHome.
CreateanExpressionMnemonicforrememberingtheorderoftheplanetsfromthesunoutward:
Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,andPluto.
4. ModelMnemonics
InaModelMnemonic,sometypeofrepresentationisconstructedtohelpwithunderstandingand
recallingimportantinformation.
Examplesincludeacircularsequencemodel,apyramidmodelofstages,apiechart,anda5box
sequence.Modelsshouldbeusedinadditiontowordsandlistsbecausetheymakerecallattest
timemucheasier.WithalargemodelsuchastheKrebsCycle,itiseasiertolearnandrememberif
itisdividedintoquartersandlearnedonequarteratatimehence,thecrosshairs.
5. OdeorRhymeMnemonics
AnOdeorRhymeMnemonicputsinformationintheformofapoem.Examplesinclude:
AcommonlyusedRhymeMnemonicforthenumberofdaysineachmonthis:
30dayshathSeptember,April,June,andNovember.
Alltheresthave31
ExceptFebruarymydearson.
Ithas28andthatisfine
ButinLeapYearithas29.
You'dprobablypreferyourdoctortoknowthedifferencebetweencyanateandcyanide:Cyanate
"Iate"andCyanide"Idied."Cyanideisalittlefatal.
Rememberthisone?In1492,Columbussailedtheoceanblue.
Howisyourspelling?
Ibeforeeexceptafterc
orwhensoundinglikea
inneighborandweigh
Hereisaneasywaytorememberthenerves:olfactory,optic,oculomotor,trochlear,trigeminal,
abducens,facial,acoustic,glassopharyngeal,vagus,spinalaccessoryandhypoglossal.
OnOldOlympus'ToweringTops,AFinnAndGermanViewedSomeHops

6. NoteOrganizationMnemonics
Thewaytextbookandlecturenotesareorganizedcaninhibitlearningandrecallorpromoteit.In
thesensethattheorganizationofnotescanpromoterecall,itisamemorydevice.Threeexamples
oforganizingnoteformatsthatpromoterecallareasfollows:
Notecards
Notecardsareaneasywaytoorganizemainideasandrelevantdetailstoberecalled.Ifmainideas
areformattedintopossibletestquestions,notecardscangivelearnerspracticeinseeingquestions
andrecallinganswersastheymustdoonexams.
Outlines

Outlinesclearlyseparatemainideasfromdetails.Thishelpsorganizetheinformationinthemind
makingiteasiertoremember.
I.PIAGET'STHEORY
A.FourStages
1.Sensorimotor
2.Preoperational
3.ConcreteOperations
4.FormalOperations
B.Definitionofeachstage
1.Sensorimotormeans........etc.
CornellSystem
TheCornellSystemisanotherwaytouseaNoteOrganizationMnemonictopromoterecall.A
verticallineisdrawn3inchesfromtheleftmarginofnotebookpaper.Mainideasorquestions
fromthemareplacedtotheleftofthelineanddetailsoranswersplacedtotheright.
ThetopicusedhereisfromHowToStudyInCollege(3rdedition)byWalterPauk,pages292
300.
7. ImageMnemonics
TheinformationinanImageMnemonicisconstructedintheformofapicturethatpromotes
recallofinformationwhenyouneedit.ThesilliertheImageMnemonicis,theeasieritistorecall
therelatedinformation.Theseimagesmaybementalorsketchedintotextandlecturenotes.Don't
worryaboutyourartisticability.Aslongasyouknowwhatyoursketchmeans,Image
Mnemonicswillhelpyoulearnandremember.Examples:
YoucanuseanImageMnemonictorememberBAT(thedepressantdrugsmentionedabove
Barbiturates,Alcohol,andTranquilizers).Visualizeorsketchinyournotesalimp,depressedbat
thattookBarbiturates,Alcohol,andTranquilizers.
PicturemeetingsomeonenewatapartynamedJohnHorsley.UseanImageMnemonictohelp
yourememberhisname.Visualizeahorsesittingonajohn:notprettybuteffectiveinrecall.No
exampleprovidedonthisone.
Whatisanumismatist?Visualizeanewmistrollingontoabeachfromtheoceanandbeachis
madeofcoins.Silly?Ofcourse,butsillyographymakesitiseasiertorememberthatanumismatist
isacoincollector.
Howaboutusingabadjoketohelpyouremember?Picturetwonumismatistshavingadrinkfor
"olddime'ssake."Corny?Yes,butcornographyoftenmakesthingseasiertoremember.

8. ConnectionMnemonics
Inthistypeofmnemonic,theinformationtoberememberedisconnectedtosomethingalready
known.Examplesinclude:
Rememberingthedirectionoflongitudeandlatitudeiseasiertodowhenyourealizethatlinesona
globethatrunNorthandSoutharelongandthatcoincideswithLONGitude.AnotherConnection
MnemonicpointsoutthatthereisanNinLONGitudeandanNinNorth.Latitudelinesmustrun
easttowest,thenbecausethereisnoNinlatitude.
AnotherConnectionMnemonicisrelatedtosound.The1stpartofthewordlatitudesoundslike
flatandflatrunshorizontalorEastandWest.

9. SpellingMnemonics
Hereisanexampleofaspellingmnemonic:Aprincipalataschoolisyourpal,andaprinciple
youbelieveorfollowisarule.

AnothercommonlyusedSpellingMnemoniciscombinedwithanOde/RhymeMnemonic.
Ibeforeeexceptafterc
orwhensoundinglikea
inneighborandweigh
Athirdexampledealswiththeproblemssomelearnershaverememberingthatthereisan"a"in
themiddleofseparateandnotan"e."ASpellingMnemoniccombinedwithanImageMnemonic
maybeusedtospellthewordseprateusinganexaggerated"a."
TospellMississippi,manylearnerscombineaRhythmMnemonicwithaSpellingmnemonic:
Mississippi.
Herearesomemoreexamplesofspellingmnemonics:
Geography:GeorgeEdwards'sOldGrandmaRodeAPigHomeYesterday.
Arithmetic:ARatInTheHouseMayEatTheIceCream.
Saskatchewan:AskAtChewAnwithanSinfrontofit.
Takethe1stletterofeachtypeofmnemoniclistedaboveandprintthembelowonthelineto
helpyourememberthe9types.

HaveaMnemonicsParty
Wanna'Practice?Youbecomebetteratthatwhichyoupractice.Ifyoupracticenotmaking
mnemonics
Getsomeclassmatesorfriendstogetherandpracticemakingmnemonicsusingthelistsprovidedbelow.
Ninetimesoutof10everyonegetsasideachefromlaughingsohardbeforetheexercisebelowis
finished.
Usingtheitemsbelow,deviseamnemonicforrememberingeachpieceofinformation.Useanyofthe9
typesofmnemonicsasaguideorcombineanyofthetypes.Trymakingamnemonicwithoutchanging
theorderandthenafewwhereyoureorganizetheitemstofityourmnemonic.
1. 9characteristicsthatfacilitatelearningOpenmindedness,selfawareness,tolerance,alert
mind,energy,abilitytosetgoals,willingnesstotakerisks,selfdiscipline,andthecapacityto
value,accept,andundergochange.
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2. OrderoftheplanetsfromthesunoutMercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,
NeptunePluto
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3. GoingshoppingEggs,milk,onions,butter,cucumbers,lettuce,Tide
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4. Blooms7levelsofthinkingabilityrecall,translation,interpretation,application,analysis,
synthesis,evaluation
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5. TheroyalhousesonEnglandNorman,Plantagenet,Lancaster,York,Tudor,Stuart,
Hanover,Windsor
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6. Body'sexcretoryorgansLiver,kidneys,skin,lungs,intestines
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7. ReasonswhyrecitingnotesaloudincreasesmemoryGetsyouinvolved,providesfeedbackon

whatyouknow,suppliesmotivation,usesmanysensesinlearning,andpromotes
concentration.
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8. 6typesofmachineslever,inclinedplane,axleandwheel,jackscrew,pulley,&gear.
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9. 6waystopurifywatersettling,filtration,coagulation,chlorination,aeration,boiling.
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10. Factorsthataffectwaterevaporationtemperature,areaexposed,wind,andhumidity.
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11. Howsoilfertilityisrestoredrotatingcrops,addingfertilizer,restingthesoil,sweeteningthe
soil,drainingandirrigating,undoingdamagedorpollutedsoil.
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12. Majorfeaturesofsoleproprietorshipeasytostart,canmakedecisionsquickly,nobosses,
profitsarenotshared,lossesarenotshared,andborrowingislimited.
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13. Fourtypesofchemicalreactionssynthesis,decomposition,singlereplacement,anddouble
replacement.
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14. Basicstepsinthescientificmethodstatetheproblem,gatherinformationontheproblem,
formhypothesis,experimenttotesthypothesis,recorddata,analyzedate,anddraw
conclusions.
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15. Generalpropertiesofmattermass,weight,volume,anddensity.
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16. Fivepartsofadeciduousforestupperstratum,lowertreestratum,shrublayer,groundlayer,
soillayer.
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17. FourOceanzonesintertidal,nearshore,edgeofcontinentalshelf,perpetualdarkness
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Youareonlylimitedbytherestrictionsthatyouplaceonyourowncreativity.

Questionsorcomments?Contacttheauthoratdcongos@mail.ucf.edu.