How "Event Scripts" Structure Our Personal Memories

General Memory Chat
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In the news:

After shuffling the cards in a standard 52-card deck, Alex Mullen, a three-time world memory champion, can memorize their order in under 20 seconds. As he flips though the cards, he takes a mental walk through a house. At each point in his journey — the mailbox, front door, staircase and so on — he attaches a card. To recall the cards, he relives the trip.

This technique, called “method of loci” or “memory palace,” is effective because it mirrors the way the brain naturally constructs narrative memories: Mullen’s memory for the card order is built on the scaffold of a familiar journey. We all do something similar every day, as we use familiar sequences of events, such as the repeated steps that unfold during a meal at a restaurant or a trip through the airport, as a home for specific details — an exceptional appetizer or an object flagged at security. The general narrative makes the noteworthy features easier to recall later.

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Thanks for posting.

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Great read

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This is fascinating. The idea of event scripts gives me a ton of ideas for how to construct new mnemonic techniques. All I’d need to do is identify/create an event script, to associate with something I want to remember. Here’s an idea just off the top of my head.

Weekly Schedule Clock

Identify Event Script

I’m constantly checking my watch. It’s become a routine that I do morning, afternoon, and night. There are four or five moments after checking my watch during which I go through a routine for each day of the week. This means I have four or five moments during which I go through the event-script of checking my watch everyday. The watch-event-script changes slightly everyday. So I have seven different watch-event-scripts with 4-5 moments each to create associations with.

Associate Event Script

I can associate the setting, thought, or emotion of all the watch-event-script-moments in a day with items I want to remember. Then, I can recall the moments in order to remember all the items.

Example
I note moments that fall under the watch-event-script category during these times of the day:

  1. Wake up, check watch to see how much longer I can sleep
  2. Get up, check watch to see how long I have to prepare for work
  3. Brush teeth, check watch to see if I’m taking too long to prepare
  4. Get in car
  5. Driving to work

I create associations between the moment and something I want to remember:

  1. I feel tired after waking up which reminds of anesthesia used in dentist offices - go to dentist
  2. I imagine a needle poking me in the butt, jolting me awake - Cut loose threads in carpet
  3. There’s a mini dinosaur in my mouth that dies from the toothpaste I use to brush my teeth - Essay on prehistoric life due today
  4. I get in my car, turn the engine on, then die because smoke suddenly fills the car - Go to store to buy new batteries for smoke detector
  5. I crash into a giant teacup while driving - Have tea with Elise