From: spacefox@acs.bu.edu (Godfrey Degamo)
Newsgroups: alt.self-improve
Subject: Memory Journal... ANSWER!
Date: 13 Oct 92 06:25:12 GMT
Organization: Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
Originator: spacefox@acs.bu.edu



Dear Readers who are concerned about their memories,

     I have been very busy since September and I have not found the adequate
time to write to this group.  Hopefully, I may address the questions
people have mailed to me.  I do believe I owe you guys an apology.  Sorry.
     Anyways, the question posed to me often is "What is a memory journal?"
I wish I could post more about sequential link techniques and other mnemonic
techniques before I answered this.  Anyways, I assume you know what the various
memory techniques are.  (Perhaps, as I continue to write, such knowledge
may not be necessary.)
     Anyways very simply, a memory journal is where I keep all the memory
exercises that I have done during the course of having the journal.  I also
write any particular word that I have found difficult to "convert" to 
another word(s) that sounds the same as the original, but has more meaning
for you.  (If you are familiar with this, it is what I call "concretizing".)
     Well, I'll give you a few examples:


1)
     One of the exercises that I do, is a sequential link exercise of 20 words
taken pseudo-randomly out of the dictionary.  I take words that are not
concrete and words that I have never seen before.  These two criterions
I use to judge how difficult the list is.  By adding to the list of
20 words, words that I know, or words that I can easily form a picture,
the list becomes much more easier.
     Anyways, I set aside time to memorize the list using sequential link
technique.  I also time myself to see how long it takes to memorize a list
completely, and I write this time down.
     Once the list is memorized, I write the list down in order, on the
next page.  I then look for accuracy in my recollection, and guess where
my "weakest" link occurs.  Then, wait 24-48hrs and on the third page of
my journal, write down the list from memory again, in order.  If I forget
a word, I analyze why I perhaps forgot it.  And think of a suggestion as
to avoiding this.
     Ofcourse, this sounds tedious, but it is not.  You may wonder if it
helps any.  I feel that it does.  I usually keep the list at the same
level of difficulty.  I have seen my time go down by half.  I'll
give you an example:

a typical list that I rate at 85 difficulty:
1  stingray
2  elongation
3  mealworm
4  shofar
5  rapture
6  mossagate
7  Manx
8  pretzel
9  snuffbox
10 encipher
11 yoke
12 cacomistle
13 denudate
14 histrionics
15 grille
16 northeasterly
17 pervert
18 spectrum
19 responsibility
20 demoralize

My time on this was: 16:13.67 minutes.  (I'm kinda a stickler for 1/100s.)


Then a few months later
I memorize a list that I rate at difficulty 90:

1  limbo
2  planter
3  modality
4  kisumu
5  gum ammoniac
6  extortion
7  seminal
8  tarmacadam
9  cowfish
10 jet
11 percipient
12 reprove
13 titter
14 wizardry
15 near
16 dilute
17 besides
18 philharmonic
19 secondary
20 rough

time: 9:49.17 minutes

     Anyways, perhaps it would be faster to memorize these lists by rote.
I have tried it that way, but I have never timed myself.  Anyways,
I do know that even if rote is faster than SQL (sequential link),
with SQL you retain more over a longer period of time.  Besides,  SQL
is much more fun.  But, I'll leave it up to you guys to tell me what
is better.  I have been doing SQL for so long that when I'm confronted
with such a memory task, it is what I rely on first.
     I have also noticed that my memory in general improves when I do
these or any of the other exercises in my journal.  However, I do prefer
this exercise over any other, because it basically focuses on links, the
key to mnemonic techniques.  Additionally, by keeping a tab on what links
did not work, you begin to find a pattern of what works for you.  Usually
this exercise points those out more than any others.


2)
     Another exercise I like doing is going through my Gray's Anatomy book
and pulling out nice long words to do a phonetic play on them.  I call
it phonetic exercise.  Basically, it's taking a word that is hard to visualize
or that you have never seen and turning it into word(s) that sound the
same as the original word but is easier to imagine or has more meaning to you.
Here is a page from my journal:

amygdaloid - A mig alloy, A nickel loins

Internal Maxillary - (Your inside body) has a Maxell tape that's hairy.

corpora quadrigemina - (body) 4 Ragu (the sauce) - men ate.

peritoneum - parrot toe onion

cephalic   - sea phallic

     You get the idea.  It basically an exercise on "concretizing" a word.
For me, the converted word is something easily seen.  This exercise can
be a fun, creative and at times frustrating.  You may note the last word,
sexual words are not taboo in techniques.  If it works, use it.  In fact,
I have to censor quite a bit of words for this example!


3)
Numeric Exercise.
     If you are familiar with numeric techniques to memorization, then
this is quite self-explanatory.  I just randomly take 2-3 digit numbers
write them down, and conjure up as many words for those numbers as possible.
Someone in a letter told me how he knew the phonetic based way of memorizing
numbers, but, thought it was too cumbersome to make sentences out of long
digit numbers.  Well, don't make sentences!  I find it's easier to take 2
or 3 digit words representing parts of the long number, and string them
together using SQL.  (There it is -SQL. SQL I find is the basis for most other
mnemonic techiques.) Making sentences of the number is a great exercise in
flexibility, do it in your leisure time.  Or actually, do them in a journal.
However, it is not necessary.  

trivial example:

3.1415     ma, door, toll

6.626 X 10^(-34)  shoe chain shoe (carrying) Mir (the space station)

I usually let my "normal" memory take care of units and signs.


4)
      This is basically exercise 3, but I go from words to numbers.


5)
Pair SQL
     Basically, it's like the 20 word SQL.  However, its just a 10-20 lists of
word pairs.  I just basically think of all the links my
imagination can conjure up between any two given words.  I write this down
in my journal aswell.  You may ask, what this accomplishes.  For me,
it accomplishes 2 things.  By making more than one link, it helps me
be more imaginative in memorizing 20list words.  I often find that I tend
to use the "x is made up of y" link.  Also, in a 20word list, it helps to
isolate sequential words first.  And, well, since this is a pair word exercise,
I feel that it helps me.


6)
Peg system
     This is the same as 20word SQL.  However, instead of linking successive
words together, I link them to words representing 1-20.  I don't do this
exercise that often, because I find it to be ineffective.  I also find this
technique to be good for "quickie mem and quickie forget" tasks in real life,
but, not for a long term memorization.



    Well, anyways, I suppose there's a bit more I can practice on.  For
instance, how to memorize a map.  Or the techniques to memorizing a face.
But, I never have a need to do so.  And, the logistics of doing it in a
journal is out of my reach.  One other note, I only time myself and tried
to out do myself on exercise 1.  The others I don't time myself on.  This
is because, I just don't see how I can rate myself on it and I just never
bothered.  It may be worth my while to do so.  It would force my mind to
be quicker and more spontaneous.
     As always, these are just suggestions -nothing etched in stone.  You
should just experiment, if what you do helps you, than keep doing it.
Be creative, explore!  I may even abandon my exercises for some new ones.
(I get bored easily.  Incidentally, I don't use my journal on a regular
basis, because, for me,  this gets boring and becomes more of
a chore than something I want to do.)
     Well, I guess that's all for now.  Sorry for that late entry.  Checking
by the entries to alt.self-improve, it looks like you guys have moved onto
other topics!  Well, if you are curious, as to what may have transpired on
this group for me to write this, I'm sure there's a kind fellow out there
who has all the postings about memory and wouldn't mind filling you in.

Oh wait...  there is one more book I like to suggest for you guys.  Since
most memory involves attention, you might want to improve your attention
span.  I suggests looking at the book called Pumpin Ions by Tom Wujec.
I also suggest that you play Mine sweeper, a MicroSoft Windows game.

Well, I better stop blabbering... have a good one.

                           -G. Degamo,
                            spacefox@acs.bu.edu