Hello forums It may be weird that a graduated doctor asks about how to learn by heart, but here it is:
If you have to learn for example a definition 100% accurate how do you learn it? Do you repeat in your head the first 2-3 words and how many times or do you repeat the whole sentence? Simulate please the process (inner talk, etc.) what is going on in your head.
Details: I am an auditive learner and I have even finished the medical university with great results (graduated first). Yet learning by sound is not practical and makes me somewhat an invalid. It is either someone who helped me by sort of “asking over” or I have found audio sources. Please do not suggest visualization, I have tried that many times. Also methods like associations, imaging a story did not work at all nor I liked it. I was always admiring those who could just sit quietly looking at the notes and somehow the info got into their heads. In this I would kindly ask help.
Wow, this is a tough one. Visualization, associations, stories, etc. are all techniques many of the top mnemonists of the world use. The fact that you finished at the top of your medical school suggests to me you already have some kind of outstanding study technique. Maybe AlexM will chime in. He’s in medical school now, and one of the best mental athletes in the world.
I remember reading on this forum, although I forget exactly who posted it. Do a forum search for “poetry”. There was a post about a method of memorizing poetry in which the poster discussed a technique that was popular. It involved reading the poem aloud in various increments (one line at a time, then two lines at a time, etc.). Perhaps that will help you.
I would suggest about 99.999% of the members of this forum consider themselves more visual than auditory learners. furthermore, I for one tend to believe most people are visual learners despite what they might think. before accepting one is anything other than a visual learner, I would suggest watching some youtube videos by ronnie white or other memory expert. for that matter, is there a memory expert today who uses a technique other than something visual?
As Graham said, what have you tried with things like visualisation and association?
I do have a hard time understanding that association doesn’t work for you, as memory as a whole is based on association. Your brain literally stores all memories as a bunch of connections between aspects that are useless for recalling anything on their own. A banana isn’t a banana to your brain, it is a certain pattern of specific, connected neurons. Connection and association are what all memories use, and so it is also what mnemonists use to do the things they do. Visual or Auditory doesn’t matter, but connections and associations do.
The method I use for rote memorization in a “non-visual” way, is to create unique song patterns for each line of text to be memorized. For example, I have the periodic table set to Gymnopoedie by Erik Satie. I’m a musician, so this generally is great for me but might not work for a lot of people. Also, t’s a mixed bag because the learning is associative but not necessarily “deep” as the music has little to do with the subject. It’s sort of like storing a reference table.
It may be weird that a graduated doctor asks about how to learn by heart, but here it is: