Mnemonic Devices Do Help Memory Recall (Hypothesis)

Assessing the Effectiveness of Mnemonic Devices in Memory Recall in College Students Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Abstract Mnemonics strategies are used in memory aid to help and improve recalling process of already learned information. Although there are other memory aiding techniques like critical thinking, conceptual thinking and pragmatic approach to learning, mnemonic techniques are also very useful in helping the students and other people involved in learning processes. This paper aims at adding more to the little research that has been conducted on the role of mnemonic strategies in memory recall. It will statistically determine if there is any impact of mnemonics in memory recall. The experiment will be conducted next semester and will target a maximum total of 100 students as the experiment subject. The students will be strategically and appropriately chosen to avoid the bias of the results that will be gotten. Preferably the students should come from one class where the teaching practices and experience used on them is the same so that the results will be more reliable and accountable. The students will be divided into two groups; one which will use mnemonics techniques and one who will not use them. The results will be in form of a similar test to all the students. The relationship of mnemonics strategies and the academic results will be analyzed and the conclusion made on if there is any connection between the mnemonic techniques and memory recall. Introduction Derived from the Greek word mnemonikos which means “of or relating to memory”, Mnemonic is a technique that is used to help an individual to quickly and effectively assist in the memory. It serves as a retrieval cue to the information which is stored in the mind. Recalling more effectively is, however, the most associated with a function in the field of psychology. The technique was first used in 477 BCE where it can be clearly traced to through events in history. These mnemonic techniques can be in various different ways. One of the way that it can be traced is by the use of the mnemonic form. Here it can, for instance, be classified based on the first letters that of the material that is being targeted. The second way in which the mnemonic can be classified is by the use of the function that the mnemonic performs. An example of this type of classification is when the function of the mnemonic is for recalling facts and when the used for recalling a process. Other more specific classifications have been developed over time which has increased the usability of the technique. Mnemonics are used or have been used by almost everybody at some point in life where one wants to remember a non-relational piece of information like a long list of words. Most of the study books that are on the market today also employ mnemonics to offer the reader with a simple and quicker way of remembering the information rather than having the reader memorize all the information. Since mnemonics techniques utilize the encoding process of the already in memory information, a person must have cognitively interacted with the information that they want to recall using the mnemonic strategies. The most common of mnemonics strategies is the ones that involve imagery and those ...