It may seem like a pain to have to memorize dates, state capitals, and names, but if you know the tricks, it's much easier. Here are a few simple tricks for improving your memory skills, including some useful examples of things that you may need to memorize for school.

1. Start by chunking. According to psychologists, it's especially hard to make your brain recall long lists of separate pieces of information. To make it easier to remember a long list of almost anything, break the list into small and manageable groups, or "chunks."

For example, you might find it hard to remember all of the original 13 British colonies in the United States. But if you break them into small groups based on common traits, such as the region each colony belongs in, it's much easier. First, just concentrate on learning which colonies belong in which region. When you know each region, you know the whole set of 13.

Mid-Atlantic

1. Delaware
2. New York
3. New Jersey
4. Pennsylvania

Southern

1. Maryland
2. Virginia
3. North Carolina
4. South Carolina
5. Georgia

New England

1. Connecticut
2. Rhode Island
3. Massachusetts
4. New Hampshire

2. Use mnemonic devices. These are memory improvement techniques, and are sometimes quite elaborate. One common device uses words or abbreviations to compress lists of information into shorter bits that are easier to remember. Here are some common examples:

Names of the Great Lakes

H-O-M-E-S; Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

Colors of the spectrum

R-o-y G. B-i-v; Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet

Order of operations in mathematics

Please Explain My Dull, Awful Subjects; Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/Division, Addition/Subtraction

Planets in the solar system

Many Vocal Enemies Make Jokes Squealing Under Nervous Pressure; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Biology taxonomy

Kings Play Chess on Funny Green Squares; Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

Musical scale

Every Good Boy Does Fine; E, G, B, D, F

3. Link information to visual cues. Often it's easier to remember a place or an image and its characteristics, than it is to recall a set of unfamiliar pieces of information. To memorize the information, you can try taking an item from the list and associating it in your mind with a picture or place that you know well.

For example, let's say you need to memorize the presidents of the United States since World War II. You could associate each of the presidents with a place you know well, such as your front porch:

To reinforce this, you could draw a sketch of your porch, and note on it the location of each president. This technique is so powerful that you might find yourself thinking of the presidents the next time you go to your porch.

4. Read with a purpose. Many psychologists think that the best way to remember what you read is to follow the PQ4R method. PQ4R is a mnemonic device for Preview, Question, and four R's: Read, Reflect, Recite, Review. If you are reading a chapter in your biology book, for example, you should start by skimming the whole chapter for an overview. Then create some questions to concentrate on while you study, such as "How does photosynthesis work?" Then read the chapter. After you've finished, reflect--think about how the chapter has answered your questions. Recite the answers back to yourself, explaining the information in your own words. Finally, go back through the book, skimming again for the main points. Sound like a lot of work? It may take longer than a quick skim, but it's also a great way to make sure you retain what you are reading, rather than just sitting in front of the book and turning pages.

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