How can the way in which we organise our thinking by using mental images, concepts and schemas help us improve memory?
The ways in which information is organised when stored has an effect on memory retention and retrieval. Individuals must organise their thinking by effectively using mental images, forming concepts and developing schemas for retrieval to be at its best. The following shall explore these three theories as well as describe how they could improve memory.
Iconic thought is thinking using mental images and it is iconic thought that can help improve memory. This is evident in Raugh and Richardson (1975) key word technique experiment which involved associating key vocabulary with mental images. One experimental group had to learn sixty Spanish words after learning the key word technique and the control group did the same without the knowledge of the key word technique. The experimental group scored an average of 60% higher than the control group. This experiment clearly shows a correlational relationship between the using mental images and retrieval.
There are several explanations for this. Firstly, information is recalled by using memory cues associated with the target. By forming mental images individuals create additional cues hence, raise the probability of reaching the target memory. Also the more attention paid to information the better it is stored. By forming mental images individuals pay the information more attention than if they were not using mental images therefore, information is stored more effectively. Also forming large, colourful and distinctive images aids retrieval.
Mnemonics is a system used for improving retrieval based on the use of mental images. A common verbal mnemonic used is Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain which, represents the first letters of the spectrum of light. In this example a sentence is easier to remember than an ordered list and therefore, increases the chance of memory recall.
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