Mnemonics for study (2nd ed.) (Study Skills)

The value of mnemonics to raise intellectual abilities comes after mastery of new material, as the students at Bellerbys are using them: as handy mental pockets for filing what they’ve learned, and linking the main ideas in each pocket to vivid memory cues so that they can readily bring them to mind and retrieve the associated concepts and details,

Memory and understanding are connected. Having key information memorized so you can readily call it to mind releases mental power and helps you work more easily at higher conceptual levels. It also allows you to form mental patterns involving the subject you’re learning. To memorize information, test yourself through active recall (retrieval practi

conscious mnemonic devices can help to organize and cue the learning for ready retrieval until sustained, deliberate practice and repeated use form the deeper encoding and subconscious mastery that characterize expert performance.

Whatever method you use to memorize, remember to strengthen those new sets of links by actively testing yourself over several days.