2009 September | ALLENGLISH Blog

When Mnemonic Devices Work (and when they don’t)

Test day was approaching, and I still had many lists to learn, characteristics to distinguish, and questions to answer, so I decided to rely on the oldest memory trick in the book…mnemonics. The strategy worked well to some extent, but there were adjustments I needed to get the most out of using it. Here’s what I’ve discovered:

Mnemonics work when…

memorizing lists of things
the words are short
an acronym is used
words create a sentence
the words closely represent the word they stand for
the sentences or acronyms are meaningful to the person who plans on using them

Mnemonics don’t work so well when…

classifying things according to their qualities
using long words that are more difficult to remember than the actual test item
a string of words are disconnected
sharing mnemonics
memorizing isn’t the goal (e.g. if you have to compare and contrast)

I passed the test, but I don’t owe it all to mnemonics. I gave myself plenty of time to study, reviewed all of the course material, made comparison charts, and was able to meet the course objectives.

So, when left to your own devices, choose mnemonic devices, but don’t forget to alternate according to the purpose of the activity.

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