Chapter summary#

In this chapter you saw over thirty techniques you can use to memorize information and skills. I grouped them into the six categories so you can remember them more easily. These are the associate, visualize, verbalize, simulate, perform and repeat categories of techniques.

You saw that association is a fundamental memory skill. It underlies many of the other techniques, and works well because it uses basic memory principles. I described for you the basic rules of association, as well as some techniques that use it. These include basic mnemonics, linked lists, peg words and events, method of loci, and chunking techniques.

Next we discussed visualization. You read about general visualization principles, and then we considered how you can use it for visualizing goals and strengthening the other techniques. You can also use visualization for mental practice.

The Verbalize techniques rely on using words, both spoken and written, to change your internal dialog. You saw how to create and use assertions, scripts and a mental firewall to change your self-talk and behaviors.

Simulation helps you practice skills and procedures using external aids. We looked at basic simulators that use household objects to help you learn. We considered PC-based simulators, and saw that you can use PC simulators for a wide range of activities, not just flight simulation. We also reviewed simulation using other people, or role-playing.

We use simulation to help learn skills, and the next section on Perform techniques covered skill-learning in much detail. I gave you an outline of how we learn new skills using a “three stage skill learning” model. You then found out about part task training, a technique often used for learning complex skills. We discussed Task Variation and Task Interference techniques, what overlearning means, and the shunt technique for changing behaviors. You also saw how to use anchoring and modeling to manage state during performance.

Repetition is fundamental for learning, and so the last techniques, the repetition techniques, gave you ways to use repetition effectively. We quickly looked at rote learning and flashcards, and then looked in more depth at repetition techniques such as scheduled repetition and programmed repetition. You saw how software like SuperMemo could change how you remember information for the long term.

Lastly, we covered some potential issues that may arise when using these techniques. We looked at what to do if a technique doesn’t work, what can happen if you don’t associate correctly, and two other points that can help you fix technique problems.

In the next chapter, we look at Memletic Styles. You will discover you own learning styles using the styles questionnaire. The rest of the chapter looks at how to make the most of both your dominant and secondary styles.