Smell, Taste, Feel, and Sound

Don't forget!

Today marks the final Daily Mind Game for the Week of Memory.  But let's not forget all the cool ways to carve new memories into our brains.  So far, we've discussed the value of spatial context in creating memorability.  We also talked about crafting faux novelty to make dull concepts interesting.  Next, we used linguistic hooks to embed names into consciousness. Finally, we constructed detailed mental models and looked at pictures (instead of reading) to play to our brains' natural talents.  Today, we're going to move beyond the visual and linguistic world and incorporate the other senses into our quest for iron memories.

When we were first constructing our childhood home/memory palace, I encouraged us to fold in details beyond the visual in order to enhance the memorability of the scene.  Textures, smells, sounds and more are all useful in maximizing the detail and giving our brain more links back to new memories.  But, that was just a side note.  Today, we're going to attack these "other" senses head-on to really push our mnemonic ninja-skillz to the next level.

Think for a moment: do you have a memory of eating or drinking something that didn't agree with you?  Perhaps you became sick...  How does the thought of the offending dish make you feel today?  Personally, I have a very bad feeling about Applebee's to this day because of a bad interaction with a Linguine dish :(  These food-aversions are a particularly salient example showing just how memorable feelings, smells, tastes, and more can be.  When we get sick, all of the details pile up to create one of the strongest memories possible.

Smell, Taste, Feel, and Sound

Task: Improve memorability of a new concept by associating non-visual details.

Info: Today, when you run into a new concept to learn, combine previous tricks with additional no-visual details.  Imagine each component of the process having some feel, texture, smell and sound.  Let's say I'm trying to memorize details about molecular and cellular biology.  Perhaps I could imagine the cell and interacting with each component.  The cell wall might feel and smell like butter.  The cytoplasm could feel and smell like salt water.  Other organelles might make weird sounds when they engage in various functions.  Again, the point of all this is construct a detailed world for a new concept.  The more details, the more likely a single concept will get embedded in the structure of our minds.

Goal: Use all five senses in creating a mental model of a new concept.

Imagining smells, sounds and textures can be difficult but, like anything, gets easier with practice.  Give it a try - these senses can be very powerful mnemonic cues!  Good luck.

Mental Model

You will never forget The Happy Homunculus!

If you've been following along so far this week, hopefully I've convinced you that almost anything can be made more memorable by creating a vivid visual image complete with novelty.  But, perhaps you're skeptical that these techniques would work in a "real world" situation.  They just seem to be so much work!  Everything to be remembered now needs to go in a spot in a memory palace and rhyme with some bodily function?  Untenable.

Perhaps.  But embedded  in these techniques of memory are more general mnemonic principles that can be used more regularly and more easily than memory palaces and rudeness.  Specifically, the key to a strong memory is detail.  The more the better.

For me, that is a counter-intuitive concept.  Before, the picture I had in my head of memory is like a hard-drive on a computer.  For every file I added (a detail) the less space I had for more files.  But, the more I thought about the brain, the more I realized that is not a correct way of thinking about memory.  Our brain provides a structure of pre-existing concepts.  Somehow, these complex concepts are embedded into the network of our brains, and different concepts can be reconnected in new ways to form new memories.  In this way, "memory" isn't a new file on a computer, it is a new set of links between concepts already in the brain.  Therefore, to create strong memories, we need to add as many details as possible because every new detail is a new connection that links a new concept with an existing one.  The more new connections, the less likely we are to lose all the connections over time and forget.

So, when you encounter something new that you need to learn, spend a little bit of effort creating an elaborate mental picture, or model, or the process, system, or fact you need to remember.  The more details you can layer on to the mental model, the more inter-connections you will create and the more likely you will be to remember any single detail.  Yes, this requires some effort up-front.  Is your goal to remember things or be as lazy as possible?  Wait, don't answer that.

Mental Model

Task: Create a detailed mental model of a system or process you need to remember.

Info: In my work, I need to remember a combination of systems, principles and facts.  I'm sure the same can be said for you.  So, when you encounter some new information, try to combine as many details into a mental picture of the problem as possible.  Imagine each part of the process as physical objects interacting.  Imagine how the components might meet, and create a mental picture for the process of interaction.  Label and anthropomorphize each component or person.  In addition, try to imagine how the new information relates to old information you have.  How do the concepts connect?  Can you create a mental model of the new system?

Goal: Maximize the detail of your mental model.

What do you think?  Are you still in the memory = hard-drive camp?  Convince me that I'm wrong in the comments!

Name Game

I always forget my homunculus' name.

I can't stop picturing it: my homunculus in the form of a orangutan, wearing high-heels, doing a risque dance on my kitchen table.  Unfortunately, this is the Week of Memory, not the Week of Forgetting, so I don't have any idea how to get rid of that image.  I guess I'm going to just have to live with it.  But, that's ok, because I'm very excited to distract myself with today's Daily Mind Game.  The name of the game today is the Name Game, and the goal is to try to help myself with a small cognitive deficit I've been dealing with: remembering people's names.

It happens to me all the time.  I meet someone for the first time, a mutual acquaintance introduces us, says the person's name and I immediately start thinking about other stuff.  "I wonder what his spirit animal is?", "Metacognition is a nifty word to say out loud.", "Man, I'm really hungry."  Then, I realize, "Poseidon's beard, I've forgotten his name already!"

It all comes down to a lack of attention, up front.  My attention is not directed at the process of remembering the name, it drifts to other topics.  The name evaporates from working memory.  Then, I'm up a stinky creek without a paddle.  The key, is to make the effort, when the name is fresh, to make it stick.

By now, you have all the tools to do this: your memory palace and some creative imagery.  But, let's add one more little trick to the mix: rhyming.  Things that rhyme are much more memorable than things that do not, so a great strategy for making names stay put is to rhyme the person's name with some strange activity in a place in your memory palace. For example, let's say I just met some dude named Chris Hall.  I might say (in my head, not out-loud) "Chris Hall: Swing and a Miss for Chris Hall, playing wiffleball in my front hall, he put a hole in the wall! Chris Hall." Of course, I would also visualize this very scene in my memory palace.  Done.  Name committed to memory.  FOREVER.

Name Game

Task: Remember a new name.

Info: I gave you a pretty good idea above of what it takes to create a lasting memory.  However, some names are harder than others to rhyme and create scenes for.  In those cases, try using alliteration to add some memorability.  Also, if the person possesses some quality that reminds you of an animal or object that starts with the same letter, use that.  Do whatever it takes to create a bunch of memorable links to the person's name in your memory palace.

Goal: Use a combination of rhyming or other word-play, novelty, and your memory palace to commit a name permanently to memory.  You will be quizzed at a later date.

Aren't these memory tricks the bee's knees? Finding memory a breeze? Leave a comment to let me know, if you please ;) Geez.

Lewd, Crude, and Rude

Never forget.

Let's pick some random things to remember, ok? Some things that are totally unrelated to anything we have going on, but that aren't too interesting by themselves. Today, let's memorize the following items: a paperclip, a box of tissues, a glass of water, three red pens, a paper airplane, a baseball cap, a computer monitor, some high heels, a pack of diapers, and nail clippers. Got it? No? Let's fix that.

Yesterday, we created our first memory palace using our childhood home. The idea was to create a visual structure in our brain and then to exploit that structure to remember a bunch of random schtuff. Our brains are visuospatial machines, and will easily remember stuff if we create a vivid visual, spatial, and experiential image of the things to remember. Today, we're going to combine our memory palace with another memory trick in order to commit the list of objects above to memory. The other memory trick? Memorability.

Some things are just more memorable than others. This is particularly poignant days after September 11th here in the U.S. The emotional nature of the terrorist attacks 10 years ago, the extreme images, the fear, all resulted in rapid, vivid,and long lasting memories. Why? Because all of the neurochemical soup flooding around our brain in that moment was screaming: "important!" So, we remember.

Today, we're going to create faux memorability, in our memory palace, to remember less important things: the ten objects listed at the start of today's post.

Lewd, Crude, and Rude

Task: Memorize the ten objects listed above.

Info: To remember the objects, you will use the two memory tricks we've discussed this far: your memory palace and memorableness. Start walking through you childhood home recalling all the details along the way. Now, as you reach discrete spaces and places in your house, imagine the objects one by one being in different spaces. This is the function of your memory palace. But in addition, imagine a family member doing something strange, awkward, rude, crude, or lewd with each of the objects. Why? To make it memorable! For example, I'm imagining my brother piercing his own ears with a paper clip in my laundry room. I will never forget that image. You try it! Be as creative as possible.

Goal: Memorize all ten objects, in order, using your memory palace and memorableness.

How did it go?  Did it work? If it didn't you weren't being nasty enough!  Visualize your dog taking a poop in a baseball cap on your kitchen counter. A glass of water with an eyeball in it, in your refrigerator.  Really get into it. You'll remember, I promise!

Childhood Home

A typical memory palace.

The place where you grew up - picture it in your mind's eye.  Take a tour, virtually, in your mind, like you are getting home from another day at school.  Picture the entrance, look around.  Take in the details: the carpet on the stairs, the coats hanging on the hooks, the color of the laundry-room door, the shape and texture of the tiles in the hall.  Feel the floor under your feet, the smoothness, the roughness, the pattern, the texture. Make it feel like reality, because this is your first memory palace.

"Uh, what?" Says your homunculus.  "What is this palatial memory-thingy you speak of?"  Fair enough, it may seem like an unusual connections to make between our childhood home and the art of improving our memory, but, hopefully, the link will soon become clear.

It's a memory trick that has been around for centuries, also known as the Method of Loci.  Our brains have evolved to easily memorize complex sensory information, particularly visual and spatial information.  When objects are placed in physical locations, our brains have an uncanny knack for remembering exactly where they are - a critical skill for hunter-gatherer-hoarder-protohumans that need to remember where that mulberry bush is.

This week, we're going to exploit this feature of the human mind by imagining various objects, people, and events in our childhood home so that we can remember them.  Why do we want to memorize these things, you might ask? Well, to prove that we can!  Then, when we really need to remember something, it'll be a breeze.  So, before we get to the real fun, we must prepare a suitable memory palace.

Childhood Home

Task: Imagine a walking tour of your childhood home.

Info: As you go on your virtual tour, try to virtually experience as many details as you possibly can.  Your goal is to create as vivid and realistic picture of your home as possible.  All of these details will be critical for tomorrow's Daily Mind Game, when we will be trying to memorize a short list of random stuff.  The more details the better, so really go to town!  Be sure to incorporate smells, sounds, etc.  The more details, the more connections your brain will be able to exploit during future memory challenges.

Goal: Create a vivid picture of your childhood home incorporating all five senses: sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch.

Still mystified about the purpose of this exercise? Check in again tomorrow for the next Daily Mind Game, to learn more!