Importance of Mnemonic Devices - Research Paper Example

Mnemonic Devices Introduction Loss of memory is one of the prime factors affecting excellent performance of activities to carry out. There is increased desire to advance the ability to recall previous information concerning essential educational schools and industrial organizations. This essay principally entails knowledge about mnemonic devices. In addition, this piece of writing brings to light the various types of mnemonic devices. Further, the article educates individuals on the importance of mnemonic devices. Finally, there are limitations regarding the use of mnemonic devices and ways of ensuring that individuals have a positive perception concerning the use of mnemonic devices. Mnemonic Devices Mnemonic devices are the tools employed to enhance the capability of an individual to retain learned information. The prime concern of mnemonics is to enable people understand information at hand, simply by translating the original information to a piece of document that brains retain. There are two basic types of memory according to individual believers. First, there is inborn memory, whereby individuals have a decreased morale of employing mnemonic techniques to understand data conveyed to them. The second memory type is the artificial memory, in which individuals have a low aptitude of comprehending the information. This therefore makes people opt for better ways of grasping conveyed data by adopting mnemonic strategies. It is of essence to understand whatever piece of information comes an individual’s way (Margot, 2011). The use of mnemonic devices Mnemonic devices comprise of mnemonic expressions or poems used to reflect the original data. There are varied ways in which mnemonic strategies adopted are of significance to specific individuals as well as to the public. For instance, such phrases or poems are of use, especially to individuals are predetermining the statistical sequences. In the arithmetic sequence, there are certain letters used to represent several numbers. For instance, individuals may opt to institute letters “pi” to stand for the first fifteen digits in the numerical sequence. Secondly, mnemonic phrases are of use specifically to individuals learning foreign languages. Additionally, mnemonic poems are of use when passing over information about certain events to a significant group of people (Perlmutter, & Weinert, 2013).  Types of Mnemonic Devices Devices used for the translation of data are of great significance to the lives of human beings. The ability to comprehend available information depends on the type of mnemonic device adopted. There are a number of types of mnemonic devices worth applying. These types include melody, phrase, symbol, coalition, poetry works, organization of notes, name, and picture mnemonics. The type of mnemonic strategy to apply depends on the objectives concerning the type of information to encode. The most effective types of mnemonic techniques are the melody, name, phrase, and note organization mnemonics. Melody mnemonics The lyrics are significant ideals, helping people remember details of huge documents. The best place to apply music mnemonics is in academic institutions due to various reasons. To begin with, students composing songs that entail academic information are able to understand several topics. Understanding facts denotes a step up in academic performance, as the students have better methods of translating difficult ideas as portrayed in several academic works difficult to comprehend. Students may also settle on music, mnemonic because it entails the translation of long pieces of information (Perlmutter, & Weinert, 2013). Name mnemonics Name mnemonics entail abbreviations made from the first letters of several words. The use of short forms is to form a word. For instance, individuals know that the rainbow has seven colors. However, it is a constraint for some people to name the correct colors in the order of appearance. Lack of knowledge about colors is because there are many colors in the universe, a fact that results in confusion in regards to which color appears in the spectrum. Therefore, to have individuals spend less time when recalling the colors, it is crucial to use the ROY G. BIV name mnemonic to stand for the actual colors, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. To recall the planets, individuals use a word statement (MVEMJSUN) which stands for Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (Kremer, 2010). Phrase mnemonic Phrase mnemonic also bears the name “word mnemonic” and is one of the commonly used mnemonic devices by scholars involves the use of possessive instruments to help people understand a certain idea. For instance, individuals know about Boyle’s Law, which entails necessary information enabling people to acquire knowledge about gasses and how to deal with the reaction of some of them (gasses). Individuals should aspire to obtain more knowledge concerning the practice of mnemonics to recall information (Perlmutter, & Weinert, 2013). Note Organization Mnemonic The mode of making a clear picture of the read content helps individuals to enclose an advanced perception regarding the message from which they obtain knowledge. Various people have different ways of understanding information. Some may go for available sources of encoding information while others have better means of translating facts. Individuals with reading text materials take short notes representing wide reading resource. Summarizing a topic helps individuals improve understanding of the book and predict on the actual meaning authors try to bring out (Kremer, 2010). Limitations facing the desire to mnemonic devices The use of mnemonic devices is not always easy due to a number of limitations. First, there is the lack of individuals ready to impart mnemonic knowledge to those with a lower understanding capacity. Secondly, there is competition that hinders potential persons from educating their colleagues on matters concerning mnemonic devices. Competition mostly applies in educational centers whereby individuals fail to concern about other students because they aspire to lead in academics. Competition in business industries results from lack of motive to let a similar organization acquire skills of operating their machinery for quality production. How to avoid such limitations It is vital for most of the beings in the society to aim at acquiring ways of enhancing performance of all individuals whether in the workplace or in learning institutions. Particularly, the heads of all institutions (both business and educational institutions) have the mandate to ensure that all people have better techniques of interacting with each other. Improved interactions lead to harmonious living with people from different areas. The use of mnemonic devices reduces time taken to study and is best through grouping students (Utter, 2007). Harmony results in the desire of every individual to avail necessary information to other people within the surrounding areas. Summary The ability to retain information is important to individuals and helps in the growth of individuals. Mnemonic devices are vital to the lives of humankind due to several reasons. First, it helps in encoding information for a better understanding. Secondly, mnemonic plans translate information in a manner that individuals have less constrained when conceiving knowledge. Snowman & Biehler, (2012) illustrate that application of mnemonic slogans in educational institutions helps enhance student performance and perception of an arithmetic sequence. Competition is the prime limitation hindering people to let others understand ways of carrying out assigned duties. Individuals should avoid mean characters and aim at developing the society through better output by enhancing cordial relations. Conclusion Individuals ought to aspire for increased productivity and creative thinking through better ways of analyzing information. Obtaining knowledge is a means of partaking equations and helps in quality of output. Individuals with a low ability of encoding information have better perception of their results after acquiring the best type of mnemonic devices. It is because of improved performances in schools and improved quality of output in organizations that societies grow and help impede poverty from taking over many of the regions. A number of beings should be at the forefront to ensure that every individual has the capability to perform as required. Therefore, it is worth concluding that mnemonic devices are the most essential tools for enhancing ability to understand the messages conveyed to them by either leaders or instructors. References Kremer, DS. Kelley. (2010). Thinking Games and Activities: Making Critical Thinking Fun for the Classroom. Lorenz Educational Press. Margot. Mnemonic Devices in Action. Retrieved on 13, March 2014 from http://www.learningbeyondthebook.com/2011/08/mnemonic-devices-in-action/ Perlmutter, M. & Weinert, E. Franz. (2013). Memory Development: Universal Changes and Individual Differences. Psychology Press. Snowman, J., McCown, R. R., & Biehler, R. F. (2012). Psychology applied to teaching. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Utter, B. (2007). Pick and plan: 100 brain-compatible strategies for lesson design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Read More