Why Do I Forget Things?

Why do I forget things?

Being a college student is a daunting task. We have many things going on in our life in tandem, to prepare us for life ahead. It’s extremely easy to forget the things we need to remember, especially in classes. The amount of information we absorb and are expected to remember in our courses can be overwhelming. The effective use of memory can help college students immensely in this regard. There are several techniques that can increase one’s ability to memorize and remember key information.

One of the most important keys to memory is interest. If you aren’t vested to some degree in what you are trying to memorize, you will have a more difficult time remembering it. This is because the brain organizes and retains information based on value and relevance. This process would affect how the memory would be stored in one’s mind. Also, the more background and general information you have to pull from on a topic will help as well. One practical way to learn involves using Mnemonics. Mnemonics are methods for remembering information such as acronyms and songs. It is centered on retrieval of information. One prime example is using the word HOMES to indentify the great lakes. If you can create one of these for your subject of study, you will greatly increase your brain’s information coding ability.

One of the most common strategies in encoding memory is being used at this very moment. It involves learning information in blocks, so it can be retrieved easier in the future. This is most common in telephone numbers, and it deals with the coding of information. Another memory technique is called the “pegword” method. This entails using a list of single words to link to ideas that need to be retained. If I needed to remember a sequence of events in a story for example, I might string a list of subject words that would remind me of the bigger plot. Research finds that most Americans are visual learners, so this next technique is particularly widespread. It’s called the “method of Loci.” It suggests using images to retain information, since the sense of sight is one of the most powerful and can be used very effectively to retain information. This strategy helps in the retention of information from the mind. In the end, there are many strategies we, as college students, can make use of in order to better remember the many facts that get jumbled around daily.