Memorisation of hundreds of definitions verbatim for exams

Homework and Study Help
21

Forgive me if this has already been suggested…

I’d recommend using a memory palace that is as large as you can find (or make it, although I strongly recommend using an actual place you know well). Or, instead, multiple palaces divided by topics/subject areas you’ll need to know.

At the outset, create images for the conjunctions, articles, and prepositional phrases you’re going to need. That way you’ll clearly know if you need an and or an or in a given sentence. If you foresee using multiple ands in a given sentence, you may want to have multiple variations of your “and” image, so you don’t get lost. For example, if “sand” is your image for and, you could use a pile of sand, a sandy beach, sand in an hourglass, etc.

Create images for other words/phrases in the definitions that cannot be misconstrued or interpreted in multiple ways. Not that this would apply in your case, but if you need to remember “bull,” make sure that your image is truly a bull and cannot be misremembered as a cow or some other random barnyard animal.

Finally, try not to overcrowd your locations. I realize you may want each locus to hold all the words for a given definition, but that may get confusing if the locus is overstuffed with information. (One solution may be to place the main word in the locus, then work down vertically from that for the definition, as if the linked images were going down into the floor and then into the ground and deep into the earth.)

Bob

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22

Hi,

I have applied that idea to some of my definitions. I also ended up reading around 84 pages of “Improve your memory” it’s a great book, thank you for the recommendation.

However, my only question left now is, how do I remember the stories I created?

Thanks

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23

Go to magnetic memory dot com. Massive information available for free. Advanced material available ranging from a very few dollars scaling up to a significant sum. If you sign up for the youtube material, you will receive two or three hours of free material a month at least. That will cover the neurobiology of memory and how to utilize it, different methods for different memory targets, the various memory practices throughout recorded history, memory techniques from different cultures, methods used by different memory champions as outlined in personal interviews with them, basically more information about memory and how to use it than you could imagine.

His material is self contained so that taking his free four hour video course will expose you to the total process. As a result his book on learning German can be applied to any language. His free lectures on memory methods that Aristotle and Socrates used when teaching can be applied by the contemporary student (or not!!) All his material is designed to be self sufficient.

Anthony is a professor of film studies with a phd in philosophy. His own personal story of how he got drawn into memory application because of his physical and mental issues while getting his phd are interesting in themselves. It started with doing magic tricks to supplement his income while working part time as a student.

Have a look at his site. At the very least you will never have trouble remembering pin numbers and passwords again. For free. And in the case of pin numbers etc, with very little time and effort in learning how to do it.

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24

Note: I do not speak English, possible spelling mistakes

Step 1: Separate the information into two parts:

I. Concepts; II. Definitions.

Step 2: Use the Palace of Loci to Memorize the Word List

Step 3: Once you can recite all the concepts: start with the first concept and break the definition down into key words.

Ex. Atomic Orbital - Region - high - probability - finding - electron.

Step 4: Create concrete images to replace abstract terms.

Ex.:

*Region - a map

*High - drugs

*Probability (no image comes to mind, so I’ll break the word down to find something meaningful) pro - profesor + babi - baby - ility - ability

*Finding - :mag: Magnifying glass

*Electron - An electron reminds me of a small, angry, blue man lol (small, because the electron’s mass is negligible, angry because it has a negative charge, and blue because in my chemistry book electrons are represented by blue dots. You can imagine the man is angry because he is short… And blue lol).

Step 5: Add the pre-existing image for “Atomic Orbital” to a funny story involving the definition images.

Ex.: (My image for Atomic Orbital is: Atomic - Oppenheimer; Orbital - The Worldcoin Orb for scanning eyes)

Oppenheimer Oppenheimer’s head is an Orb. He’s sitting on my bed. He says he’s lost, so I pull a map out of my pants. He takes the map, rolls it up, and makes a joint of marijuana.

I don’t have time to finish the story, but I hope I explained it well, bye

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25

A fair question. :stuck_out_tongue:

You have options. The main idea is to establish a strong association between the information and the mnemonic story.

At the very least, quiz yourself on the information occasionally and make the effort to remember the mnemonic story associated with it.

I usually prefer to give (at minimum) the first mnemonic image or scene a location (method of loci).

Not everyone uses method of loci. I do. I use it a lot. So I give the scenes a location in a space I know well. Then, every time I recall the information, I also make the effort to actively recall that specific location and the mnemonic story.

And periodically I quiz myself (flash cards or anki or textbook questions etc).

I have a ridiculous amount of technical information on programming,and network engineering. I have definitions and details memorized on machine learning, martial arts, Brazilian Portuguese, math, databases, music theory, and who knows what all else sitting comfortably in my head. And with some effort I can recall most of it just as I memorized it.

But it’s only because I make the effort to recall the mnemonics I create at least 3 out of every 4 times I need to access the information.

And if things were fuzzy or difficult to recall, when I either “remember” or just create new mnemonics because I can’t remember at all, I do that forwards/backwards practice routine with the info again.

The association between the info and the menmonic cues I make up to remember the info is often nigh instant. Just like I know how to spell my name without really thinking about it. When someone says (or I read) “Python’s Open() function” immediately the tin/warehouse/office in Weatherford where I placed the mnemonic scene for that info pops into my head.

Effort is the name of the game if you want that sort of recall with a particular chunk of information.

Hope that helps! :innocent:

26

I have created a loci, I think i have it down. I will provide an example.

In Physics the definition for a moderator: “Usually graphite or heavy water, it is used in a nuclear reactor to slow down electrons to cause fission reactions”

For my loci I chose a shelf in my room. On the shelf there is some thick radioactive goo, it is thick, smells like chlorine and is warm and stick, on-top is a graphite pencil.

Thick goo = Heavy Water, Graphite pencil = graphite, Radioactive = Nuclear

In the goo is a minifigure of a Finnish swimmer called Neubo he was made to swim in the thick goo to cause a Finnish reaction from the crowd.

Neubo = Neutron, Finnish = Fission

Let me know if theres anything i can improve,

Thanks.

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27

Oh and coming back to this: The acrostic method is making rhymes out of words. Not sure if I’ve ever seen it done outside of a list. Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.
There are a bunch of different ones for the colour bands on a resistor, the polite one’s I don’t like (Too many useless words like “be”), nor most of the impolite ones (and the one or two remaining are still too uncouth to directly quote)… But I did come across one posted by nullbot 13 years ago on reddit: Beneath Beautiful Reefs, Octopuses Yell “Go Blow Vapor, Great Whale”

Anyway, what I’m suggesting is basically to make a bunch of single sound hints to read from as part of your review, instead of reading the quote directly.

Not sure where I first heard of this. I know Freemason’s use it in their little memory books to obscure and memorize things. Nelson explains it much better than I did.

28

This is the video I watched months back!

It is actually the video that has spiraled me into memorization techniques.

Best,

Thanks

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29

@jdrt2430
I like your mnemonic.

Not required per se, but I’ll also go ahead and recommend establishing a set order to traversing each detail you memorize.

For instance in your example I would probably start with Nuclear or Nuclear Reactor as the first item on my shelf for the definition.

In fact as another example here’s how I might think about memorizing that definition had it come up in my studies:

I would probably have a nerdy Discord “moderator” showing off his model Nuclear Reactor (that’s on the/your shelf) on camera to some mildly amused gal he follows around on Discord and keeps calling “Kitten”. At least that’s how it might start.

This does a couple things.

The first thing it does:

is establish that your very first mnemonic association on that particular shelf tells you exactly what this mnemonic is about: Moderator is something directly related to a nuclear reactor. Probably not that hard to figure out that Nuclear Reactors use moderators and that this is a definition that you memorized relating to moderators in nuclear reactors. Which will make whatever mnemonics that you create next easier to find, because one always comes after the other. This way you can forget the definition, and “find your way back” soon as you remember the shelf or the moderator or the reactor independently.

One day things might get fuzzy in your mind as they tend to do to all of us from time to time. If that happens and you always think of the term “moderator” and “nuclear reactor” and your shelf together, you can remind yourself of whatever comes next pretty easy:

  • “Hmmm moderator… related to Nuclear Reactor…”
    Which will then make answering the question “How are these images related?” fairly simple. If you end up making the very first mnemonic you recall something like heavy water/thick goo and a graphite pencil on your shelf, there’s not necessarily any clues to the topic and the reason you want to remember the thick-goo/heavy-water and graphite. There’s no immediate “first” mnemonic tied from your shelf to “moderator” or “nuclear reactor” other than (hopefully) remembering whatever it is that signifies to you that this goo is radioactive.

The second thing this mnemonic does:

is make me laugh.

So, @jdrt2430:

Keep going. Keep experimenting. You’re definitely on the right track and frankly that mnemonic may be perfect for you to remember with. And even better, if it isn’t the best mnemonic, the next one you make (as long as you make effort again) has a much stronger chance of being the perfect one.

Regards,
Beau

30

Hi,

My mnemonic journey has already been stumped…

I have to learn all these off for next week verbatim:

  • Transverse wave is a wave where the direction of the wave is perpendicular to the direction of vibration.
  • Longitudinal wave is a wave where the direction of the wave is parallel to the direction of vibration. (e.g. Sound)
  • Reflection is the bouncing of waves off an obstacle in their path.
  • Refraction is the changing of direction of a wave as it enters a region where its speed is different.
  • Diffraction is the sideways spreading of waves into the region beyond a gap or around an obstacle.
  • Interference: When two waves from two sources meet, a new wave is produced. The displacement produced at any point by this wave is the algebraic sum of the displacements that each wave would produce on its own. This is called interference of waves.
  • Constructive interference: When waves from two sources meet and the amplitude of the resulting wave is greater than the amplitudes of the individual waves.
  • Destructive Interference: When waves from two sources meet and the amplitude of the resulting wave is less than the amplitude of the individual waves.
  • Coherent Sources: Two sources of waves are said to be coherent if they are in phase or if there is a constant phase difference between waves from each of the sources. If this is so, the sources must also have the same frequency.
  • Interference Pattern is the resulting pattern when waves from two or more coherent sources meet.
  • Stationary wave: When two periodic travelling waves of the same frequency and amplitude moving in opposite directions meet, they interfere with each other. The resulting wave is a stationary wave or a standing wave.
  • Doppler effect is the apparent change in frequency of waves due to the motion of the source or the observer.

I’m finding it very hard for them to stick and i cant think of any good mnemonics.

Any help would be appreciated.

31

I’ve suggested this before, but: My recommendation is to create a memory palace, with each of these terms (and their definitions) placed in specific locations within that palace.

For those words/terms that occur frequently in the definitions, create images that you can easily use without much thought. For example, for “frequency,” just imagine a freak (whatever that might be for you) doing something “freakish” that would be memorable. Whenever you need the word “frequency,” just picture this character.

For a full definition, let’s pick “Doppler effect,” something known by anyone who’s ever heard a car siren pass by. So I’d start by picturing a police car zooming by, its siren changing tone as it passes. (I’m assuming you can easily identify that as an example of the Doppler effect.) “The apparent” (picture a parent) “change” (coins are suddenly pouring over your parent’s head) “in frequency” (your “freak” image, maybe he/she comes by to collect all of the change) “of waves” (a giant tidal wave slams into him/her) “due to the motion” (if you need help with “due to the…” maybe a rhyme here would help: the tidal wave came “due to the motion” of the ocean…?) “of the source” (turns out it wasn’t a tidal wave of water but a tidal wave of rich, creamy sauce) “or the observer” (your parent is using an oar to beat dry a soaking wet copy of a newspaper called “The Observer”). This is just off the top of my head and may not hold much relevance for what you know or how you think. But if you literally need verbatim mnemonics, I think this could be a helpful way to create them.

You most likely won’t need triggers for every single word. (So you may be able to recall things like “due to the” simply from context.) And, again, if there are phrases or groups of word that recur throughout the definitions, I’d recommend creating “shorthand” images for them, which literally could be anything. That is, you could decide that a brick wearing a party hat means “due to the motion of” if you wanted to. It only has to make sense to you.

Bob

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32

Don’t forget to decode them at least once a day for a few days. If you have time, really explore all this information you’re memorizing so you can really make connections and figure out how it all fits together, and how it relates to the real world. If not… Well, do it after these tests.

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