The Eight Laws Of Memory

1. The Law Of Comprehension.

This is the simplest, but also the most important. According to the German writer Georg Lichtenberg, people poorly remember what they read because "they do too little thinking". The more deeply you grasp what you memorise, the more easily and the more in detail it will remain in your memory.

2. The Law Of Interest.

"For knowledge to be digested, it must be absorbed with relish," wrote Anatole France. The interesting and "the appetising" is remembered easily as man does not have to make special efforts, as the ability to spontaneously memorise comes into play.

3. The Law Of Previous Knowledge.

The more one knows on a certain subject, the more easily one memorises everything new pertaining to it. Everyone must have noticed that when he opens a book read long ago, he reads it as if he had never read it before. This means that when he read it for the first time he lacked the relevant experience and information but by this time he has accumulated them. Thus reading forms connections between the accumulated and the new knowledge. This is the result of memorisation.

4. The Law Of Readiness For Memorisation.

The reader derives the information he sets out to derive from the text. The same goes for the duration of memorisation. When one wants to remember something for long, one will remember it in any case better than when one wants to remember something for a brief while.

5. The Law Of Associations.

This was formulated back in the 4th century B.C. by Aristotle. The concepts which arose simultaneously summon each other up from the memory bank by association. For instance, the atmosphere of a room evokes recollections about events which took place in it (or recollection of what you read staying in it, and this is exactly what you need).

6. The Law Of Sequences.

The alphabet is easy to recite in its regular order and difficult in the reverse order. The conceptions learned in a certain sequence, when recalled, summon each other up in the same sequence.

7. The Law Of Strong Impressions.

The stronger the first impression of what is being memorised, the brighter the image. The greater the number of information channels, the more strongly the information is retained. Hence, the task is to achieve the strongest possible initial impression of the material subject.

8. The Law Of Inhibition.

Any subsequent memorisation inhibits the previous. The learned portion of information must "settle" before the next is taken up. The best way to forget newly memorised material is by trying to memorise something similar directly afterwards. This is why school children are advised not to learn physics after mathematics and literature after history and to learn poetry before going to bed.

Memorisation Advice

Before you set about reading a book, article or document, try to guess from its title what is written in it (or what you would write in the author's place). The same "forecasting" applies to the heads of chapters and the first paragraphs of the text.

Before reading (listening and glancing through) think of what information you want to derive, and what for. This will stimulate your interest and prepare you for its cognition. Where the author, citing a number of arguments, is going to draw a conclusion, make a deduction yourself first and only then continue to read.

Before reading recall all relevant information known to you. In other words, "brush up" your knowledge. Try to imitate Ancient Roman orators, who learned their speeches pacing up and down and "establishing connections" between the text and the atmosphere of their homes and then would recall the speech by taking "mental strolls". If you want to memorise a text in detail don't learn it piecemeal. Learn the whole text, and learn it in its natural sequence.

To avoid forgetting the name of a new acquaintance, strengthen the first impression left by him by repeating his name aloud ("Excuse me, have I heard you right?"), using it in the conversation and when parting. Write down this name, if only with your finger in the air. imagine in whose honour this man may have been named, etc.

Try to evoke the strongest possible emotions connected with the information you memorise. Incidentally, this is exactly what Lenin did. The margins of the books he read bristle with categorical and profoundly emotional notes: "True!", "What nonsense!", "Ha-ha!", and "You've hit the nail on the head!"

When preparing for intensive mental efforts consider the state you are in at the moment. Sadness, irritation, uncertainty and fear are enemies of memory. Never write down things without an attempt to grasp and memorise them! To these rules you may add a host of your own, based on the laws of memory. In short, the knowledge of these laws will enable you to memorise much more than before even if you had complaints about your memory.