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In Reply to: Re: There's a link between pictures and memory posted by susie on January 09, 2004 at 02:40:59:
Okay Susie, here's the technique in a nutshell...
For remembering a person'sname, you create an image in your mind that can be associated to that person's face or name. The more exaggerated the image the stronger the association will become. For example:
The name of the instructor for that memory course was Leon Baird, so I pictured a big lion with a cute little bird on his back. The lion reminds me of his first name, Leon, and the bird, sounds a bit like Baird.
This technique can be used for anything. Even a grocery list, and not just to remember every item, but to recall them in a particular order. This method is called stack memory, because as you create each image to associate with an item, you stack it on the previous item. For example:
You need the following items...
newspaper, candles, hairspray, eggs, and milk
See yourself sitting in a chair. In your lap is the newspaper.There is a lit candle on top of the newspaper and it's started a fire on the paper. You spray the fire with the hairspray to try and put out the fire, but it only makes it worse. Next you break the eggs over the burning hairspray, but it still burns. Finally, you pour a jug of milk over the fire and put out the fire.
Describing the technique makes it sound more complicated than it really is. With a little practice, it becomes automatic, kind of like learning to speak a foreign language. You have to concentrate at first, but with practice, it becomes automatic.
The stack memory method is often useful when doing tasks that require a sequence of actions. I even used it at my 50th birthday party to recite in order, the top 10 reasons to know you are "over the hill." (#1 was: You know you're over the hill, when your brain-cell count finally gets down to a manageable level.)
