Advanced Association
Taking it to the next level
You are at the stage now in mnemonics where you should have a good grasp of how to associate information and structure it in your mind so that it can be easily remembered and recalled. We have seen in our previous lessons how important the Rules Of Memorization are; Organisation, Relaxation, Imagination and Association. Let’s see how we can take ROM a step further and memorize more complex information using advanced association. In the examples you have been working through so far you have been memorizing some fairly straightforward items; cup, banana, rocket etc. These are all words that instantly bring, not only an image to your mind, but perhaps an emotion, sound, smell or taste; making them very memorable and easy to associate, either with each other, or to one of your filing systems. However, what do you do when you get information that you don’t instantly have a mental image for? Something a bit more complex?
At this point you have to start opening up your creative mind and finding more lateral ways of applying ROM and associating information. There are two methods for doing this; that with practice become second nature. With both methods the meaning of the word can play an essential part in creating an image for your information.
- Natural associations – images sparked off by a memory, sense or emotion.
- Sound-alike associations – images which sound similar to the information you are memorizing
Sometimes you will combine them both. Like everything else in mnemonics the best way to understand is to experience.
Natural association
The following are my personal associations, so I will give you examples of how these words relate to myself, chances are you would have a different image.
Awesome – the first image that comes to mind for me is an awesome tidal wave. So I would use tidal wave as my image.
Fearless – a fearless lion or someone you know who was fearless in the past.
Scary – Freddy Kruger, or a similar kind of scary image.
Sound-alike association
Madagascar – if you have been here then you may have an emotional association. If not we need to look at how the word sounds. A Mad – gas – car, could represent Madagascar.
Capitulate – the first part of the word is cap, so your image could be a cap. The meaning of capitulate is to surrender or give up. So you could imagine a cap kneeling down with his hands clasped together, surrendering, giving up. This way you remember the word and also what it means.
Accentuate – the first part of this word sounds like axe, so your image could be axe. Accentuate also means to emphasise, highlight, make more noticeable. So you could imagine your axe in a spotlight, emphasising his tap dancing skills.
Speaking the information
An important point to notice in ROM is when you look at your mental image you speak the word out loud; the more obscure the word the more important this is. By doing this you are making the image become one with the word and therefore helping to lock it in your mind. I have often had the question asked in seminars – wouldn’t it be quicker just trying to remember the words rather than taking time making up images? To this I usually hand out a list with 30 words and ask them to try and memorize the words without the use of mnemonics. This usually makes the point. Obviously memorizing like this will seem strange at first but then again what new thing we learn doesn’t? Like I said before, practice something enough and it will eventually becomes second nature, when its second nature it feels the natural thing to do. This segment of mnemonics is particularly important; you need to get enough practice and feel comfortable and confident with it before moving on.
I have listed 10 words below. Use natural and sound-alike associations to convert each of these words into images and then file them onto an Item System.
- Give yourself no more than 5 minutes.
- Use the first image which pops into your mind.
Twenty Words
- upgrade
- ecstatic
- priority
- jovial
- stern
- obstreperous
- crotchety
- order
- compromise
- adjudicate
Now write down the 10 words you remember on a separate piece of paper. Check your answers and see how many you get right.
This is the biggest step to get your head around with memory improvement techniques, however it doesn’t take long to get up to speed.
