The mnemonic peg system, invented by Henry Herdson, [1] is a memory aid that works by creating mental associations between two concrete objects in a one-to-one fashion that will later be applied to to-be-remembered information. [2] Typically this involves linking nouns to numbers and it is common practice to choose a noun that rhymes with the number it is associated with. [2] These will be the pegs of the system. These associations have to be memorized one time and can be applied repeatedly to new information that needs to be memorized. [2]
The Rhyming peg-word system is very simple, as stated above and could look something like this:
For example, to remember the first 8 digits of Pi, using the Major system as well:
The next step is to link the items with some sort of dramatic action, in order to record the order in which they appear.
The less likely you are to have seen the scene in real life, the more likely it is to make a reliably retrievable impression.
While it is common to link rhyming nouns with numbers, that is by no means the only system. There is also the Major system, which connects sounds to numbers. [3] [4] The Major System is more complicated to learn than simple rhymes or alphabetic pegs, because it associates numbers 0-9 with a specific letter or sound, then larger numbers can combine to create words out of the sounds. [3] It is limitless in the number of pegs it can produce. Furthermore, a recent modification to the Major System introduces the concept of dimensions. [4] The most common association between numbers and letters is the following: [5]
This would make the number 33 "MM" which could be made into the word "mom" to better aid in memorization or 92 is "PN" and could become "pen." [3] "Cat" (or "cut") would correspond to 71, as vowels do not have any value.
The Person-Action-Object (PAO) system is the most complex. [3] It associates all numbers 00-99 with a distinctive person, action and object. Any six-digit number can be memorized by using the person assigned the first two digits, the action of the next two digits and the object of the third. [3] For example:
This would make the number 341379, Frank Sinatra kicking a cape. [3] Memory grand master, Ed Cooke, reportedly has been working on the Millennium PAO system, which would create an association for all numbers 000-999. [3]
The peg system is commonly used by Mental Athletes for memory competitions for events like card memorization as well as digit memorization. [3] The peg system has also been applied in a classroom with learning disabled students. The students that used the peg system performed significantly better than the control in both immediate and delayed tests. [6]
Several studies have investigated the use of this memory mnemonic as a form of an imagery-based memory system within the process of learning a second-language. [7] For example, if a native English speaker is attempting to learn Spanish, they will notice that the Spanish for duck is pato, which is pronounced similarly to the english word pot. The individual can develop a mnemonic peg system in order to remember this association by thinking of a duck with a pot on its head.
One complaint concerning the peg system is that it seems to only be applicable in mundane situations. However, the peg system can be used to remember grocery lists, key points in speeches, and many other lists specific to one's particular area of study or interest. Many recognise that this system can be used to remember a wide variety of objects or information. The peg system works, so long as the information trying to be remembered is specific, able to be visualized, and tied to a unique retrieval cue. This tool of memory can be more efficient than rote memorization. [8]
A mnemonic device or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember.
The major system is a mnemonic technique used to help in memorizing numbers.
A mnemonic link system, sometimes also known as a chain method, is a method of remembering lists that is based on creating an association between the elements of that list. For example, when memorizing the list, one could create a story about a "dog stuck in an envelope, mailed to an unlucky thirteen black cat playing with yarn by the window". It is argued that the story would be easier to remember than the list itself.
The Dominic system is a mnemonic system used to remember sequences of digits similar to the mnemonic major system. It was invented and used in competition by eight-time World Memory Champion Dominic O'Brien.
Memorization is the process of committing something to memory. It is a mental process undertaken in order to store in memory for later recall visual, auditory, or tactical information.
Piphilology comprises the creation and use of mnemonic techniques to remember many digits of the mathematical constant π. The word is a play on the word "pi" itself and of the linguistic field of philology.
In cognitive psychology, chunking is a process by which small individual pieces of a set of information are bound together to create a meaningful whole later on in memory. The chunks, by which the information is grouped, are meant to improve short-term retention of the material, thus bypassing the limited capacity of working memory and allowing the working memory to be more efficient. A chunk is a collection of basic units that are strongly associated with one another, and have been grouped together and stored in a person's memory. These chunks can be retrieved easily due to their coherent grouping. It is believed that individuals create higher-order cognitive representations of the items within the chunk. The items are more easily remembered as a group than as the individual items themselves. These chunks can be highly subjective because they rely on an individual's perceptions and past experiences, which are linked to the information set. The size of the chunks generally ranges from two to six items but often differs based on language and culture.
Linkword is a mnemonic system promoted by Michael Gruneberg since at least the early 1980s for learning languages based on the similarity of the sounds of words. The process involves creating an easily visualized scene that will link the words together. One example is the Russian word for cow : think and visualize "I ran my car over a cow."
The method of loci is a strategy for memory enhancement, which uses visualizations of familiar spatial environments in order to enhance the recall of information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, journey method, memory spaces, or mind palace technique. This method is a mnemonic device adopted in ancient Roman and Greek rhetorical treatises. Many memory contest champions report using this technique to recall faces, digits, and lists of words.
The title mnemonist refers to an individual with the ability to remember and recall unusually long lists of data, such as unfamiliar names, lists of numbers, entries in books, etc. Some mnemonists also memorize texts such as long poems, speeches, or even entire books of fiction or non-fiction. The term is derived from the term mnemonic, which refers to a strategy to support remembering, but not all mnemonists report using mnemonics. Mnemonists may have superior innate ability to recall or remember, in addition to relying on techniques.
The art of memory is any of a number of loosely associated mnemonic principles and techniques used to organize memory impressions, improve recall, and assist in the combination and 'invention' of ideas. An alternative term is "Ars Memorativa" which is also translated as "art of memory" although its more literal meaning is "Memorative Art". It is also referred to as mnemotechnics. It is an 'art' in the Aristotelian sense, which is to say a method or set of prescriptions that adds order and discipline to the pragmatic, natural activities of human beings. It has existed as a recognized group of principles and techniques since at least as early as the middle of the first millennium BCE, and was usually associated with training in rhetoric or logic, but variants of the art were employed in other contexts, particularly the religious and the magical.
Memory has the ability to encode, store and recall information. Memories give an organism the capability to learn and adapt from previous experiences as well as build relationships. Encoding allows a perceived item of use or interest to be converted into a construct that can be stored within the brain and recalled later from long-term memory. Working memory stores information for immediate use or manipulation, which is aided through hooking onto previously archived items already present in the long-term memory of an individual.
The World Memory Championships is an organized competition of memory sports in which competitors memorize as much information as possible within a given period of time. The championship has taken place annually since 1991, with the exception of 1992. The next World Memory Championship will take place in Vashi, Maharashtra, India for the first time. It will take place at 24 to 26 November It was originated by Tony Buzan and co founded by Tony Buzan and Ray Keene. It continues to be organized by the World Memory Sports Council (WMSC), which was jointly founded by Tony Buzan and Ray Keene. In 2016, due to a dispute between some players and the WMSC, the International Association of Memory (IAM) was launched. From 2017 onward, both organizations have hosted their own world championships.
Rajan Srinivasan Mahadevan is an Indian mnemonist.
In psychology, multiple trace theory is a memory consolidation model advanced as an alternative model to strength theory. It posits that each time some information is presented to a person, it is neurally encoded in a unique memory trace composed of a combination of its attributes. Further support for this theory came in the 1960s from empirical findings that people could remember specific attributes about an object without remembering the object itself. The mode in which the information is presented and subsequently encoded can be flexibly incorporated into the model. This memory trace is unique from all others resembling it due to differences in some aspects of the item's attributes, and all memory traces incorporated since birth are combined into a multiple-trace representation in the brain. In memory research, a mathematical formulation of this theory can successfully explain empirical phenomena observed in recognition and recall tasks.
Metamemory or Socratic awareness, a type of metacognition, is both the introspective knowledge of one's own memory capabilities and the processes involved in memory self-monitoring. This self-awareness of memory has important implications for how people learn and use memories. When studying, for example, students make judgments of whether they have successfully learned the assigned material and use these decisions, known as "judgments of learning", to allocate study time.
Exceptional memory is the ability to have accurate and detailed recall in a variety of ways, including hyperthymesia, eidetic memory, synesthesia, and emotional memory. Exceptional memory is also prevalent in those with savant syndrome and mnemonists.
Memory sport, sometimes referred to as competitive memory or the mind sport of memory, refers to competitions in which participants attempt to memorize then recall different forms of information, under certain guidelines. The sport has been formally developed since 1991 and features national and international championships. The primary worldwide organizational bodies are the IAM and WMSC.
In cognitive psychology, Brown–Peterson task refers to a cognitive exercise purposed for testing the limits of working memory duration. The task is named for two notable experiments published in the 1950s in which it was first documented, the first by John Brown and the second by husband and wife team Lloyd and Margaret Peterson.
Elaborative encoding is a mnemonic system which uses some form of elaboration, such as an emotional cue, to assist in the retention of memories and knowledge. In this system one attaches an additional piece of information to a memory task which makes it easier to recall. For instance, one may recognize a face easier if character traits are also imparted about the person at the same time.
Making pegs from rhymes:
Making pegs from shapes:
Alphabet Pegs:
Major system peg list