Aboriginal memory tricks make students’ memories much better

The memory technique that indigenous people used thousands of years ago has proven to work well for students. They score better with this technique compared to the insufficient memory technique, which the ancient Greeks already used.

A group of medical students from Australia had to try to remember 20 butterfly names in the study. After training in the Aboriginal method, they had almost three times more chance of getting a perfect score. The memory deficiency technique decreased the chance of obtaining an ideal score. studying Published At PLOS ONE.

In amnesia, you put things you need to remember in your head in a place (“palace”), for example your living room. For a shopping list, you can, for example, put milk on the dining table and put a banana on the piano. At the supermarket, you think afterward about your room and see milk and bananas in those places on your mind.

Thousands of years ago, indigenous people also associated things they want to remember with existing ones, in their case often landmarks in a landscape. But they also add a story, which is easy to remember.

This study shows that it works really well. Students also found the Aboriginal method more fun to use. Researchers are now studying the application of the technology in medical training for students.

Good for the champions?

Memory champions, who can recall impressive lists of information, often use the amnesia method. Future research should show whether their performance can be improved with the help of Aboriginal technology.

Memory Palace is not the only method used by memory athletes. For example, they also use the number system. Additionally, each number contains a specific image – for example a horoscope for number 1 – and the things they need to remember are then attached to the number pictures. This way you can save large amounts of information in the correct order.

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