Memory Improvement. Is that Even a Thing?

Memory Improvement has long been in line with "Badam Khao" in our culture. I am not an expert or dietitian to suggest how wonderfully this works but in Psychological Researches there has been some conclusions and suggestions to improve your memory. Most of the strategies listed below might not be new to you, but what makes this article different is the evidence of a research and evaluation attached, to have you concluded what memory strategy is the best.

1. Repetition: "Practice makes a man (AND WOMAN OFC) perfect". This is too old to be new. the more times information is memorized, the more accurate your recall is and hence, less time it takes to re-learn just in case if you ever forget in life. That's why your mamma has always been saying to you before exams: REVISE MORE THAN ONCE. 
   In Psychological Research, Ebbinghaus and Linton has been pioneers to study the repetition phenomena. They found out the greater the number of repetitions the less time it took to re-learn the lists. since the majority of the material was lost within the first day, perhaps the best time to test memory is after that time delay. Furthermore, everyday memories lasts longer if they are occasionally remembered.
   Now before you start repeating and memorizing every xyz you want to, remember that Ebbinghaus only tested himself and used nonsense syllables. You're different from Ebbinghaus and certainly have meaningful syllables or rather your exam syllabus to learn about, no? Advertisers and Psychologists have found that simple verbal repetition is not very effective. Bekerian and Baddeley found that frequently repeated radio information did not produce strong memory
   
2. Elaboration: Ever heard of "Words makes you think a thought?!". Information to be remembered should be made as meaningful as possible. New material will be remembered better if it is integrated with existing knowledge and if it is richly associated with other information. Remember your Mamma saying, "Samajh k yaad karo beta"
   In Psychological Research, Craik and Tuiving found deep semantic level processing increased recall. Morris et al, found that football fans recalled a list of football results far better than non-football fans. The fans' interest and knowledge made the scores more meaningful and deeply processed. Ley found out that patients remembered medical information better if they had existing background medical knowledge.
   In terms of its efficacy, its definitely productive. But all you gotta do is do the extra effort such as keep your phone aside or chats deactivated while reading or learning something, before your mamma shouts "Dehan aur Demagh kahan hota hai tumhara?" Because without Dehan and Demagh you can't make sense of things, can you?
   
3. Memory Cues: Mmhmm, recalls a song from 10 years ago and entire Pandora box of memory opens? Well that song was a cue for you to those memories. often memorizing cues or memory jogs will help access to large amount of information. Recreating a condition under which material was learnt can act as a trigger to memory.
   Tulving and Pearlstone found that cues such as category headings could improve recall of lists of words under those headings. Godden and Baddeley showed how state or context could act as a powerful memory jog when testing driver's recall of material under water and on land.
   Remember VIBGYOR OR ROY.G.BIV for violet, indigo, blue, green ....for colors in rainbow? Yes, that's the power of the cue. Now, start figuring out ways for memory cues to be written/identified for your upcoming exam.
   
4. Organisation: Information is better remembered if it is presented in a structured way. That's why all your text books are organized in chapters (Wait, how long that you open up a text book?!). The structure may aid recall (nerd in your class might say: "Oh I remember it was in chapter 2!") by linking information in a meaningful way, grouping or ordering material more manageably or by taking advantage of the mind's existing ways of representing knowledge (for example in semantic categories). 
   In Psychological Research, Bousfield found in free recall studies that information is automatically organised in Long Term Memory in semantic clusters. Bower et al., found higher recall for words organized in meaningful hierarchies. Miller showed how the capacity of Short Term Memory can be improved by organizing/chunking information into larger meaningful units, while many studies have supported the primacy/recency effect where word order affects memory.
   
5. Improving Consolidation: Memory can be improved by limiting disruption to it (Through preventing interference) or by strengthening it. Now you know you can't learn anything when its too noisy or why your mamma say to keep phone aside or why libraries are made or why actual study group works. (By actual study groups i meant those who study not a get together for party.)
   Jenkins and Dallenbach found memory was less disturbed if material was learnt before going to sleep while McGeoch and MacDonald found interference effects were greatest if two sets of information were learnt close together in time and were similar. Also, caffeine may also help in strengthening whatever you're learning indirectly by increasing attention, or via a state dependent effect. (Coming this from a Caffeine dependent Shrink, Ha!)