In the world of hypertext and the internet, information is memorable when it is easily accessible and very visual. When something is appealing to the eye and not overwhelming it can be memorable. The visual aspect of memory seems to be a very important part of recall. It doesn't have to bean actual picture that you look at, but a picture that you can visualize that is either familiar so that it wont be forgotten or unusual so that it can be easily remembered. The image along with narrative help to make the information more memorable. When the information is not a picture that is being looked at, such as words, numbers, and other "chunks" of information, it can also be remembered as long as it is in small doses. Small doses meaning the "magical number 7". Sequences of numbers, words, and other similar information cannot be remembered by most if it is a list longer than 7. Working memory is unable to store information in quantities much larger than this. However there are some exceptions.

Forgetting is a natural part of most people's memory. We tend to forget trivial information that has little or no importance. Memorable information can also be lost. This could be attributed to the constant changes in our mind and our world. Emphasis of what is important is shifted throughout our life to fit the context of who we are at any given time. This could be one of the reasons that as we get older images collide and memories are distorted. It also depends on how the information is presented to us. In a study done on childhood amnesia the children remembered the most in situations where the information was discussed with the parent while the event was taking place. Both the child and the parent had to talk about what was seen. This created a framework for the child to remember the information. The experience was made more significant and the child was able to process the information and remember it in a way they could understand . In effect, a narrative was introduced by the parents. For the children in the experiment who either did not discuss it at all with the parent or if only one or the other mentioned it, there was no context or significance and they had a more difficult time remembering what happened without cues.

In the class experiment in which we had to recall a list of words both by "rehearsal" of each word and "method of loci", the method of loci proved to be a more effective way of remembering words. A larger number of students recalled more of the words using this method. When repeating the words there was no context to remember them whereas when there was a visual context the words could be learned and recalled more easily. This is true when performing immediate recall of information. Repetition can however make information memorable over time when it is in the form of practice. Although in this case, we understood the words presented, when we try to learn new information practice and repetition is beneficial. This is due to the understanding of the material that we acquire. The Method of Loci allows you to make a link between something you are familiar with and an image. The more bizarre the image the easier it was for some people to remember it. The recall was easier because you placed each word in an environment that you were familiar with, it was a place that you could see either an action or just the image of the word. It became a story for action or just the image of the word. It became a story for some in which there was a logical way to follow events and for others each place, which probably could have been chosen at random, represented a specific word.

Mnemonic devices are continually being used to remember information but in many cases the information can be forgotten. Another way that information is made memorable is by creating a "memory palace" for the information. This form of mnemonic device allows you to record large amounts of information by creating a context for the information. This method is not frequently used today as it was described in the chapter on "The Art of Memory". The images used when creating this "memory palace" were very vivid and unusual but all remembered in such a way that was logical to those who needed to recall the information. Synesthesia is another condition in which information is memorable. For some, a form of synesthesia can be taught or found on occasion. In the case of Luria's subject S., he used synesthesia to remember a large amount of information. He developed a taste or an intricately detailed image and narrative for words, numbers, and other information. Everything for him was remembered due to his senses. He called upon his perception and when recalling it was as if he was reading the information of a chart or a board that was permanently in his mind. S. had no separation between short term memory storage and long term, his memory seemed to have no limitations. S. seemed to have the reverse problem of most. He had a harder time forgetting than remembering. He ended up having to make a conscious effort to forget. He was able to recall charts of information and remember information that was read aloud to him. The words, however, when read out loud had to spoken at a slow pace or his images would be confused. Noises outside of what was being said were also a distraction which affected his ability to recall. S. however could still recall as accurately whether he was reading the information or it was spoken to him. The aural component of memory is another thing that can make information memorable. Some people recall more accurately when they hear the information rather than seeing it as text or pictures. When recalling information they use their senses in a way similar to those who recall the way information actually looks on a page. They either remember the information because it is important to them, or like S. they remember the way the voice sounded and the images the voice may have created to store it in their memory.

Information can be memorable upon first glance in situations where there is a context; context meaning a place, person, or image which can act as a cue to recall the information. Learning by rote is not usually the best form of committing information to memory although it works for short term storage. As said by Alexander Craig Aitken, information is memorable if it is learned by heart meaning that it must be important to the person remembering it. What is important to us or memorable can be what is familiar. We tend to automatically remember information that we can relate to. George Miller and Bartlett also state very similar ideas that we remember things based on what we already know creating a context for new information. Barlett also says that what we do remember can never be exact recall of the information because everyone interprets what they learn in a different way. This is because people have different experiences in life and create a different context for what they know. This is demonstrated in the class data for the reproductions of the story "War of the Ghosts". The reproductions for some of the students showed influences from their own views and writing styles. One student changed the section on why one of the young men didn't want to fight from family ties to being peaceful in nature. This would be an example of how her own views were transferred into the story. She created it because it was a logical reason to her for why he wouldn't want to fight and she most likely based her response on her own experiences and thought of why she wouldn't want to fight. Another student changed many of the descriptions in the story, due to the unusual style of the writing, and created more vivid imagery. This is possibly due to the way she remembered the story and how she would have described it if she were telling it. This made it more memorable to her. Some students also combined the imagery in the story with the actual way that it looked on the paper as a method of reproduction. This may not be an example of remembering built on past experiences, however, it is anotherway that information is made memorable due to the visual component of memory.

Overall memory works in many different ways. Some people remember better through visual stimulation and others through auditory. Some can remember a face and others a name. It seems however that recall is dependent on how the information is presented and the importance we give to the information. Memory palaces as well as other mnemonic devices could be a beneficial tool for storing large amounts of knowledge. If they were used more often then perhaps memory could be a limitless resource for those who were able to use them well. Overall, memory would still remain unique to each individual because the information we are taught would still be dependent on what importance it has and the experiences and interpretations of those presented with it.

Mnemonic Devices and Memory Palaces

My Experience With Mnemonics

Annotated Web Bibliography

Bibliography

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