Memory Champion

Lyndsi Wilgenbusch

When I was first asked to break down my study habits I was a little worried to say the least. I did not really know how/ when I was going to find the time to “change” up my study habits while still succeeding. With that being said I took the route of Memory Champion for my first go round. With my experience memory champion was a fun way to display my memory process using the memory techniques of memory champion. Memory champion test your memory ability at the beginning of the semester using different techniques and analyzes how well the different techniques have worked for you.

The Memory Champion gives 4 different techniques for effective memorizing. These four techniques include: Mnemonic Devices, Retrieval Practice, Dual Coding, and Rote Learning. While trying out all of these techniques I tried to memorize the face to a name of the top 50 best Volleyball Players in the world.

Within this article it will focus and go in detail as to what these 6 techniques are and how effective they were for me connected with scholarly peer reviewed articles as to how these techniques have been used and how effective they truly are.

The first technique of memory champion was Mnemonic devices. Mnemonic devices helps the brain better encode and recall information, associates the information with an image, sentence, or word. The peer review article I found for this one was called An Empirical Test of Mnemonic Devices to Improve Learning in Elementary Accounting. Within this article they looked at enhancing learning in first year accounting students at a University. Overall the result of this study showed that it is consistent with prior research on this subject and that a mnemonic device would most likely accelerate the rate at which new information is acquired. While I took part in this section I tried to just start with the first name and in order to remember the name to the face I tried to pair it with something that went went together in my mind. For example, if their name started with the same letter as the team they played for I paired them together to help me remember the name faster. Out of the first 20 mnemonic devices i was able to remember 10 within about 2–3 weeks.

The second technique I did was retrieval practice. Retrieval practice is being able to recall information without looking at anything. The peer reviewed article I found about retrieval practice was called Retrieval practice facilitates learning by strengthening processing in both the anterior and posterior hippocampus. Within this article they tested the learning effects following retrieval practice. According to Wiklund et al they concluded, “taken together, these findings indicate that retrieval practice strengthens subsequent retention via “dual action” in the anterior and posterior hippocampus, possibly reflecting coding of individual experiences as well as integration and generalization across multiple experiences” (Wiklund et al). Therefore, they expressed that retrieval practice was a positive and effective way of learning. When I used this technique for my experiment I treated it as if it was a test. I had my roommate hold up the flashcards of the players (face up) and I had to put a name to a face without looking. I will express that this method did not work for me individually as well as the others, but on the other hand I am not so confident in test taking either.

The third technique of memory champion is Dual coding. Dual coding is combining verbal material with visual material. Dual coding worked for me the best, in my opinion. When I participated in dual coding I not only put pictures of them paired with their name but I also brought up pictures of each athlete playing and their teams and that helped me differ between them a lot more than I thought it would. This method is the method I used most prior to this class without even knowing it, which makes sense as to why it worked best for me. I used flashcards for about two weeks and learned around 10 players. I only really had time to go through 50 flashcards about 1–2 times a day, therefore 10 I thought was a decent number to accomplish. An article called The Effects of Computer-Assisted Learning Based on Dual Coding Theory states that this method makes it more interesting for individuals to learn. “In this way, they were more interested in vocabulary learning and became more confident regarding English study, which had a positive and deep influence on English vocabulary learning” (Xianghu et al.). This statements shows that this method (at least within this peer review article) helps people learn in a more enjoyable way.

Lastly, I would like to talk about Rote Learning. Rote learning is repetition of words. It is easier to recall the meaning of the material the more it is repeated. Some examples I can think of are just saying things to yourself over and over again until you think you have it, writing things down multiple times, and doing flashcards over and over. This method works for different people in different ways. Some individuals might have to repeat something more than the person next to them in order for them to remember it, and that is okay. Just because you can remember something faster than the individual sitting next to you does not mean you are any smarter. On the other hand, knowing your strengths and weaknesses will. If you have learned that rote learning takes you way longer than others maybe shoot for dual coding instead. Another example of rote learning is as a child when you are first learning what different words are you are repetitively listening to people say the same name over and over where eventually it sticks with you. For me, this method works for some task but not for others. I specifically use this method when I am exhausted from doing everything else but still want to keep studying. In order to learn the 50 volleyball players I did this method towards the end for about 1 week. This method took me longer to do with little progress. I would look at the face of the player and repeat the name 10 times. By the end of the week I only mastered about 5 more players. According to this article by Ali et al. rote learning has an effective role in the improvement of speaking skills and the study of English. Which if you think about it makes sense especially as a child growing up listening to your parents, teachers, and everyone else around you. Within the same study it showed better results for those who participated in rote learning compared to those who did not. Rote learning, from past experiences is good for short term memory but not as useful for long term. As I stated above, I believe rote learning is a great tool for learning specific material such as English, but not so helpful with other subjects.

In conclusion, all four of these different technique were helpful to an extent. Some were more useful than others for me, but it is all a personal opinion as to which one works best for you. While participating in this project I learned that connecting visual and verbal material, which is dual coding, is the most successful way for me to memorize information. I have already been studying this way majority of the time but knowing for sure this is the way I need to be learning was a good reassurance.

References

Ali, D., & Zahoor-ul-Haq. (2017). Development of Speaking Skill in English Language through Rote Learning. Putaj Humanities & Social Sciences, 24(2), 129–138.

Laing, G. (2010). An Empirical Test of Mnemonic Devices to Improve Learning in Elementary Accounting. Journal of Education for Business, 85(6), 349–358. https://doi-org.ezproxy.loras.edu/10.1080/08832321003604946

Liu, X., Liu, C.-H., & Li, Y. (2020). The Effects of Computer-Assisted Learning Based on Dual Coding Theory. Symmetry (20738994), 12(5), 701. https://doi-org.ezproxy.loras.edu/10.3390/sym12050701

Wiklund, H. C., Stillesjö, S., Andersson, M., Jonsson, B., & Nyberg, L. (2021). Retrieval practice facilitates learning by strengthening processing in both the anterior and posterior hippocampus. Brain & Behavior, 11(1), 1–9. https://doi-org.ezproxy.loras.edu/10.1002/brb3.1909