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The three principles of memory have been
known since Roman times, and are as powerful today as then.
The First Principle of Memory: IMAGINATION
If you think about the sort of things
that you can remember easily, what is common about them? The answer
is that they are interesting in some way. Your brain is very good at
remembering things that it finds interesting.
This leads to a memory principle. Make
the things that you want to remember interesting. You must conjure
up images in your mind that are bright, vivid, dynamic, funny, sexy
and colourful. Things that move, explode, flash and so on are
more memorable.
Use all of your senses: sight, sound,
taste, touch, smell. Most people find that vision is their primary
sense, but adding the feel of a thing can be very memorable,
as with the other senses.
The Second Principle of Memory:
ASSOCIATION
One idea naturally leads to another.
When things are connected, then we can move from one image to
another with ease. This can be used in remembering lists (connect
each item to the previous), or can be used to connect ideas to a way
of remembering them. (See Pegs)
The Third Principle of Memory: LOCATION
This principle is derived from
the ancient prescription given by Cicero and others, that memory
images should be placed in locations that are familiar to you. This
in a sense automatically ASSOCIATES your images with something that
you have already memorised perfectly (the locations).
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