Mnemonics

Throughout the centuries humans have been concerned with the practical art memory. Everyone knows that normally it is difficult to memorize things. Yet a few people have always known special techniques that make the task possible with apparent ease. In the past, psychologists tended to ignore these techniques because they were thought to be more tricks and sophistry the practitioners exhibited themselves as stage entertainers or advertised themselves and their methods in unrespectable classified advertisements. But the techniques
work. In fact, we ought to examine procedures that simplify the job of memorizing with great care. Not only might they be useful in our lives, but the secrets of those who practice the art of memory ought to shed some light on the organization and operation of the mechanisms involved in memory. Certainly, the things one must do in order to learn material easily bear some relationship to the way that information processes operate.

The study of methods for improving memory has long been popular, for a good memory can serve its owner well in many activities. Who among us has not wished for better ability to retain important material ? Through the years a number of systems have been developed for the purpose of improving memory. The details of the systems are not always known, for often their designer has kept them secret , hoping to gain either an advantage over his competitors or wealth from his students. But a study of must public systems ( and guesses about the techniques used by practitioners of secret systems) indicates that they all have similar bases : they teach the user to pay attention and to learn how to organize.

(NORMAN,Donald A. – Memory and Attention.)