YOUR MEMORY IS THE ANSWER

Poor memory should rather be called poor process of memorizing or simply poor practice. We advocate step by step feeding of the memory. The process is contained in the formula: five Rs

(5Rs) meaning:

·         Recognition

·         Receiving

·         Retaining

·         Recalling

·         Review

The five processes are the way by which experts view memory processes. These processes will reduce forgetfulness to a level that is tolerable, a level that you will no longer feel the oppressive weight of forgetting. Your enormous memory capacity will see you through as you practice the processes. You will forget less and begin to remember more. Let us explore the five Rs.

Recognition: This is stimulating the brain by identifying what is seen newly with what has already been seen or known. In other words, you see and recognize. This is taking a decisive mental note of what you see or come in contact with. Recognition brings a state of registration in your brain. What is seen is registered. You see faces and something tells you, you have seen them before. That is recognition. I once watched on the T.V set a documentary of the ravaging famine and drought in African Sahel. Within a few seconds it became clear that I had watched it before. I began to see familiar scenes that I had watched and forgotten. That is recognition. The result was that the documentary stays with me till today. Recognition is very important and that is the beginning of upper hand in memory process. It will pay you to know that academics itself was built around recognition process. From courses, term after term, you recognize familiar words, topics, titles and diagram. New knowledge is explained in terms of what was already known. Nothing is entirely new in what is being taught. One million words of a book may be written from not more than fifteen thousand vocabularies. They are combination of a flow of patterns in various shapes and forms. Hence recognition is your first process in attracting and absorbing something into your fantastic memory. It looks natural that way. From recognition we come to receiving stage.

Receiving: Receiving stage is the comprehensive stage. You receive the knowledge with understanding. Vague understanding will create vague memory. Garbage in will give garbage out. Understanding at a thorough level aids remembering. Study your text carefully. Receiving stage is very crucial. How you receive determines how you remember and how you recall for use. Comprehension matters in memory work. The brain seems to develop resistance to what is not understood. Rote memory word is defined as printing into the memory word for word what is being memorized. You will tend to think that rote memory does not require understanding. The truth is that rote memory becomes easier once the subject is understood. Always make the needed attempt and sacrifice to understand your material. Comprehension is crucial to all memory work. A diagram or illustration is best memorized when it is mastered with understanding. Comprehension makes association possible and easier. Association is one of the best techniques of study.

Reasoning memory is the type of memory wherein you reproduce material in your own words. This type of memory work is done by careful understanding or

comprehension of the subject matter. Whichever way we look at it, memory work

requires comprehension. Comprehension precedes retention of knowledge. Poor memory arises from poorly organized work for memory. Experts made it clear that one of the principal reasons for forgetting is lack of comprehension. Experiments in physiology revealed that those who learn their materials will thoroughly understand the retained knowledge far longer than those who memorize without comprehending the materials. Comprehension aids the various processes of memory work and memory improvement techniques. Whether we talk of short- or long-term memory, comprehension is the underlying factor for memory work. Rapid or faster rate of memory is directly proportional to the degree of mastery of materials for memory. Greater degree of memory, degree of learning and degree of comprehension at receiving level marks how well we understand and memorize. Strengthen your memory power. Whatever you want to memorize for future recall, learn it thoroughly. Attend adequately to the original

material. Next to the receiving stage in the process of memorizing is retaining.

Retaining: This is the memory stage where the actual text is stored in memory. This is a natural

result or follow up to recognition and receiving. Here conscious effort is made using memory techniques to retain the text in memory. It may be rote or reasoning memory. Memory is retaining for recall. The retaining process takes more time than other processes as it requires repetitions until you are sure it is retained. The next step is recall.

Recall: Recall follows retaining. Recalling is the end product of retaining. It virtually represents the purpose of retaining. That is why we say retain to recall. Recalling is the confirmation of retention of learned material. Concluding the process of memory is review.

Review: Review is the only final guarantee of memory work. Statistics of how memory works

showed that more than 75% of facts put in memory becomes less distinct after four weeks.

Rote memory is particularly elusive, that the only guarantee is 72 hours interval of review.

Those who memorize Bible passages can testify to this fact. Except you review constantly there

is no way to retain Bible passages. A distinct quotation in word for word recitation is only possible by review. Review enables you to quote with ease. You will remember that we equate it to revision. Revise at planned and regular intervals to establish and consolidate retention.

Practice these “5Rs” again and again. You will be surprised how versatile you will be in memory

work. In academics there are quotations you can learn word for word or you must learn word for word. Such are numerous in science and mathematics where you talk of theorems, laws,

thesis, hypothesis, formula, diagrams and even texts. Let me say the man who can quote

excellently from the memory will be distinguished in the Arts department. The Arts

also needs rote memory work aside from reasoning memory. I developed a style in those

days. I had a big note book (old diary) where I wrote quotations or call it quotable quotes and

put these things in memory. The result was that it helped my writing and speech work

exceedingly. When I quoted verbally from memory in those days it attracted attention from others and drew satisfaction from within.

Culled from the book titled "FEEDS TO THE TOP".

Contact us to place this book in the hands of youths around you for giant strides in academics and also in life.

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