How to Use Mnemonics
Jonathan Firth's Memory & Metacognition Updates #47
Mnemonics were one of the first psychology concepts that really fascinated me, and also one of the only memory-related ideas presented to me as a new teacher.
I’m sure you’ve come across mnemonics too. Perhaps you’re aware of the use of the word ‘FACE’ to help remember the order of the notes on a staff with a treble clef, or of simple phrases to remember the electromagnetic spectrum or the order of the planets.
You might also have created mnemonics of your own. They are popular across a range of subjects; I used them as an undergraduate to help me remember the names of neurotransmitters.
So, how well do these techniques work? Those who are familiar with the review of study techniques by Dunlosky et al (or recall my posts about it) will know that keyword mnemonics were listed as ‘low utility’.
Not promising!
On the other hand, many students swear by mnemonics, and the fact that memory champions use them suggests that their benefits are not just a metacognitive illusion. Some people can memorise a shuffled deck of cards in mere minutes.
Dunlosky et al describe the benefits of mnemonics as short lived*, and I think that’s fair. We may remember the information without remembering the mnemonic initially used to learn it.
For that reason, I view them rather like scaffolding. A mnemonic for a particularly tricky set of information (terminology, arbitrary item orders, etc) can help this to initially stick. But what really matters is that students then use the information actively, meaningfully and across multiple contexts.
That way, we are promoting learning, not just performance.
This seems a good moment to mention a forthcoming book that I co-authored, as it talks about all of these issues in more depth. Written with Nasima Riazat and published by Corwin/Sage, ‘What Teachers Need to Know About Memory’ is, well… just that! It covers all of the basics of memory, including some lesser-discussed but important topics. It’s evidence based, of course! And there is a chapter on mnemonics.
I’ll mention it again when I have a publication date—it should be out before the end of the year.
Have a great week,
Jonathan
Last week: Metacognition as part of PSHE
Website: www.jonathanfirth.co.uk
Please note that my slides and similar materials are used under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. This means you can use or adapt them with attribution for non-commercial purposes. If you wish to use my materials for other purposes, feel free to get in touch.
* It’s also worth noting that the Dunlosky review focuses just on two uses for mnemonics: the keyword mnemonic for vocabulary, and mental imagery for comprehending text (p. 21).