By Saikiran Chandha

(Cover photo by cottonbro studio from Pexels)

Saikiran Chandha, CEO and Founder of Typeset, the world’s largest research writing and collaboration platform. A serial entrepreneur, an angel investor, and the recipient of Times of India 40 under 40 Award. He holds extensive experience in research, development, and applications. Forbes, Fortune, and NASDAQ recently captured his entrepreneurial journey.

Mnemonics are powerful learning tools to inculcate the art of empirical learning. They play a predominant role in capitalizing on humans' naturally endeavoring memory process and exemplify impactful strategies when it comes to learning and education (1). However, though the myriad techniques of mnemonics and their effectiveness have been acknowledged widely, the impacts are still being questioned in their association with long-term learning and retention (2).

On the contrary, many research studies have been conducted to project its importance in storing information, and mnemonics have proven beneficial as an aid to retrieval learning and increasing thinking ability. So, this article provides insights into mnemonic learning, its awareness, techniques, and role in academics and education. Most importantly, it enunciates the three main types of mnemonic techniques, i.e., keyword method, Method of Loci (MoL), and Semantic processing that helped students improve study habits. So, let's get on the Mnemonic learning slider!

Introducing Mnemonics — Heading from the prime corner!

Mnemonics are intelligent learning techniques that aid in nurturing your memory and retaining the information using various methods, and thus it helps you ace academics. It has come to us passively from the ancient Greeks (1). Leveraging memory and enhancing retention rate can be less stressful if the mnemonic techniques are implemented right based on the circumstances. In simpler words, mnemonics are the self-made or instructed cues of remembering your tasks. I want to share the best-known examples we use in our day-to-day lives. 

Example 1: The Knuckle technique to identify or recall the number of months that have 31 days and 30 days, where the knuckles denote the months with 31 days and the spaces between them indicate the months with 30 days (February also falls here). 

Example 2: And the other mnemonic technique is VIBGYOR - The shortest and quickest way to remember the colors of a rainbow! 

So, we have been using or adopting mnemonic learning all these days and never thought it was a part of a memory booster and used tacitly without scientifically knowing the term. That's ok! Better late than never, let's grasp it now! Like the above types, let’s explore the various mnemonics techniques that help store information in our brains. 

Mnemonic techniques - The rootlets of learning strategy

1. Keyword mnemonics

It is a technique used to remember an unfamiliar word by gleaning it to a familiar word. In other terms, the meaning of the unfamiliar word is used as a keyword by visualizing it as an interactive mental image. 

Example: To remember acrophobia, fear of heights, you can use any keyword from the original text, acre, and create a mental image of something easy to remember, i.e., measuring the length (height) of your acre.

2. Method of loci

The association of materials and locations are the significant players in this technique. So, you first visualize a mental map of any familiar place (home or college campus), then use this imagery to establish an order of any list (of items) and retrieve the items by walking through the imagery map. 

Example: You can remember your shopping list (facewash, towel, face cream, etc.) by mind mapping the items syncing or correlating with the route to your house, college, or school. You can consider facewash as soon as you are back home from college, towel on the college bus window, find face cream hanging while passing by the college gate, and so on.

3. Semantic-based techniques

Songs, stories, and rhymes are the fundamental factors in the semantic-based learning technique. It works pretty straightforward: you have to use the to-be consumed or read subject/information to create a story, song, or rhyme and relate it to oneself, and thus it makes it easier to consume the information. 

4. Link Method

It is the chain-linking method used to remember a list of items. It helps you recall by creating a series of visual imagery and interconnecting with each other, where recalling one item ignites the cue for the following item name. 

Example: An image is used to join Item 1 and Item 2, another image is used to join Item 2 and Item 3, and so on.

5. Acronyms

Yes! VIBGYOR is the example that we discussed above. So, acronyms work by helping you form a unique name using the first letters of the to-be-read information. Then, every letter acts as a recalling cue for the original data. 

6. Acrostics

The first letters in the to-be-read information are used as the series of letters and make them a new sentence when read in sequence. 

Example: Energy is neither created nor destroyed, can be recalled as E, I, N, C, N, D.

7. Pegword Method

It uses the numbers and words rhyming pair to remember a list of events or facts (basically a "peg list"). Then mental imagery is created to remember the to-be-read information or list.

Example: One is sun, two is a shoe, three is free, four is sour, etc. First, memorize the pairings and then start visualizing any imagery in an order. Then the number and the corresponding peg cue the original item.

• One+Sun, visualize the first rays from the sun

• Two+Shoe, visualize pairing of the shoes 

• Three+Free, visualize buy 2 get 1 free deal

8. Phonetic System

It is a technique where a number is used to represent the consonants, and these are converted into words using vowels. Each number represents a consonant or set of consonants (1=t, 2=n, 3=m) (1). 

Example: Manatee can be decoded into 321 (numbers), ignoring vowels. 

These are the types of mnemonic learning techniques that are in practice to grasp and recall the to-be-read target information. Now, with research analysis, let's quickly look at how the 3 commonly used mnemonic learning techniques have fared off their role in enhancing students' memory.

Keyword mnemonic

The study conducted for the high school students at a career technology center in Dayton, OHA, showed how keyword mnemonics helped medical students remember the technical and medical terminology (3). In this study, Medical terminology 350 (The Dean Vaughn Medical Terminology 350 Total Retention System), a mnemonic learning strategy - involves keyword mnemonics and mental imagery, is used to recall the scientific meaning of Greek and Latin words of medical terminologies. 

The senior Anatomy and Physiology students who were enrolled in vocational programs to Medical Secretary and Dental Assisting programs were divided into 3 different groups. Twenty-five elements of Greek and Latin or word parts were given to all the groups for 4 consecutive days:

Group A (n=20): Medical Terminology 350 (MT 350); students were given instructions with an audiovisual learning module; later, they were asked to create word bank cards that included the Greek or Latin word, the audionym (sound-alike hint or cue), the original meaning of the term at the back of the card, and a picture of the mental imagery in the front.

Group B (n=20): Rote Memorization; students were asked to memorize and prepare the flashcards with the element and its original meaning.

Group C (n=1): Combined (Both MT 350 and Rote); students (already exposed to MT 350 with the dentistry practice) were instructed to memorize and prepare flashcards.

Example: 

Group A: The Greek term "Gastr '' and "gas truck" can be the audionym here now the learners imagine a "gas truck," and it cues them to convert it as a gas truck with a stomach for a tank. The learner connects the image with the audionym and recalls the actual term. And this mnemonic strategy is called Dean Vaughn Medical Terminology 350 Total Retention System. Element (gastr-) →Audionym (Gastruck) →Meaning (Stomach) 

Group B: Element (gastr-) →Meaning (Stomach) 

All of them took part in pretest and posttest, and the results of Group A students who had practiced MT 350 secured greater scores than the combined and rote learning groups. Thus, the study enunciates the influential role of keywords and mental imagery in recalling the intricate scientific abbreviations and technical terms. 

Method of Loci

To unfurl the effectiveness of the method of loci, here is a study involving how the students of human learning and memory courses use this technique to remember the grocery list by creating a memory palace based on their campus locations. 

Two groups of undergraduate students were considered, while Group A with 30 participants and Group B with 37 participants of Goucher college (4). The task was to recall Grocery list one and list 2. First, the students were asked to recall the list using their own learning technique during the pretest. And then, they were advised to read the Moonwalking with Einstein book (that articulates the method of Loci mnemonic technique and teaches us how to create memory palaces based on our location to remember the list of items). 

The students used this technique, and during the posttest, they used this mind mapping technique to remember the grocery list. The results showed a significant difference from the pretest scores to the posttest that precisely indicates the use of the method of loci. Also, there was another measure that proved beneficial here is the change in the memory aid questionnaire that reflected self-reported score, i.e., the technique also aids the students using MoL in their daily life, including a real-time memory improvement. Most importantly, the study proved that mnemonics strengthens metacognitive sophistication in undergraduate students. 

Semantic processing

Semantic processing was proved beneficial over non-semantic processing (reading, re-reading, or rote learning) by using Craik and Tulving's (abbreviated version) classic-level of processing experiment on undergraduate students (5). 

When Craik and Tulving's experiment was presented, students spotted 18 words for 2 sec each (one at a time). Before presenting each word, an orienting question appeared to encourage the students to learn the characteristics of each term. 

The questions were divided into three types for every six words; orthographic, phonological, and semantic orienting questions. The questions were later randomly mixed and presented to students for 3 seconds each. Then, the instructors asked students to write "yes" or "no." Post that, the activity witnessed a short discussion about the types of questions and the reason for their inclusion. And then, the instructor gave a 60-sec surprise test to recall the words written on the answer sheet! The results showed better scoring for the semantic processing condition than the other two. Thus, it helped students realize the importance of learning by relating the information to themselves rather than reading, re-reading, or memorization. 

Mnemonic and its awareness (particularly in psychology students)

Most students believe that rote learning is the best approach to amassing information and seeking good grades. Though the results of mnemonic strategies are improving the study habits of students, most of the students are not aware of the influence of the mnemonic method in excelling in their college courses (4). However, most psychology courses articulate the memory learning strategies as their introductory course, yet when the students (undergraduates) were surveyed on the uses, familiarity, and implementation of mnemonics, they remembered only a few of the techniques, including acronyms, acrostics, keyword, and pegword, though the other methods (MoL, link method, and more) has proved to be an effective memory booster techniques. So, demonstrating these techniques and endorsing memory improvement strategies in college courses might help students improve their metacognitive awareness and be an effective pedagogical tool that aids course learning (6). 

Based on the survey report, it's evident that students know the definition of mnemonics and lack knowledge in implementing them in studies. So providing classroom training on mnemonic and sharing insights on memory improvement strategies improves the students' overall academic performance and can potentially impact study behaviors. Hence, mnemonics can be used as a practical learning strategy. 

References

1. Adam L. Putnam (2015). Mnemonics in Education: Current Research and Applications. Translational Issues in Psychological Science 2015, Vol. 1, No. 2, 130 –139.

2. Margaret H. Thomas, & Alvin Y. Wang (1996). Learning by the Keyword Mnemonic: Looking for Long-Term Benefits. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 1996, Vol. 2, No. 4,330-342.

3. Diane Walker, & C. Jayne Brahler (2008). Learning scientific and medical terminology with a mnemonic strategy using an illogical association technique. Advances in Physiology Education 2008, 32: 219 –224.

4. Jennifer Mccabe (2015). Location, Location, Location! Demonstrating the Mnemonic Benefit of the Method of Loci. Teaching of Psychology 2015, 42(2): 169-173.

5. Julie M. Bugg, Edward L. DeLosh, & Mark A. McDaniel (2008). Improving Students’ Study Habits by Demonstrating the Mnemonic Benefits of Semantic Processing. Teaching of Psychology 2008, 35: 96–98.

6. Jennifer A. McCabe, Kelsey L. Osha, Jennifer A. Roche, & Jonathan A. Susser (2013). Psychology Students' Knowledge and Use of Mnemonics. Teaching of Psychology 2013, 40: 183.