Method_of_Loci_and_Maintenance_Rehearsal

Abstract The aim of this study is to examine the different between the use of Palace of Memory and rote repetition rehearsal method in memorizing. There are two experimental studies going to conduct and the result is predicted that the effect of the two methods would be depended on the nature of the task and the time period. The palace of memory would be better in the task that focus on content and in longer time period while rote repetition would be better in shorter time period and non-content nature of task. Introduction Mnemonics are memory aids that assist one in remembering specific information by using a process, strategy, or technique that enables a person to improve memory (Higbee, 1977). Mnemonics are comprised of mental cues that are created to make information retrievable. This is done by associating a similar or dissimilar piece of information (mental cue) with the information needed to-be-remembered (Bellezza, 1996; Bjorklund, 2000) The method of loci or the memory palace is one of the techniques for memorizing that has been practiced since Classical times. It is a kind of mnemonic link system based on places (loci, or locations), used most often in cases where long lists of items must be remembered in order. When you think of an item and save it in a location or with anything that is familiar to you, you are actually linking the item of recall to the item already stored into your long term memory. To achieve this method: First, to memorize a “series of distinct loci along a familiar pathway” (Moe & De Beni, 2005, p. 95). Second, convert to-be-remembered items into mental representations. Next, “deposit” the image along some salient location on the path (Roediger, 1980, p. 559). Then, take a mental walk through the room to recall information. In this method, the loci can actually be used to remember more than one set of ordered things. The images may be replaced by new ones(Carruthers, 1990, Dudai 2002). Methodology In this research, two studies should be conducted and Test-Retest should be applied. Before that, researchers should randomly assigned 100 English speaking samples aged range from 20-35years. The reason for this age group is that, in this age group, the areas of the brain which responsible for memory should be well developed and haven’t yet started ageing. Since the nature of method of loci and maintenance rehearsal is different, two studies should be conducted. In day 1, the first study would be about memorizing an unordered list. The unordered list contains 50 items in a random order. Randomly divided the samples into two groups, group1 will be instructed to use the method of loci, and group 2 will be instructed to use maintenance rehearsal. Time for memorize is 1 hour and then the participants will be asked to recall as much items on the list as they could. After the study 1 is finished, they can take a rest for 30 minutes then continue on the study 2. Study 2’s procedure is the same as study 1 except the participants will be asked to memorize the sequence of a random 50 digits number, like 0.17181927640782…etc. After the study 1 and 2 are finished, the participants are required to come back again to complete the same studies in day 2 after 1 week The reason for test-retest is applied because suppose that method of loci will perform better if the task is of content nature ( study 1), it will perform better after one week because the participants should still have good memory about the unordered list, while the maintenance rehearsal will perform better only instantly. After the data collected, researchers can then calculate the hit rate of the two methods in two different natures of tasks and examine and compare whether the results support the assumptions. Results The data of memorizing strategies collected should be compared in terms of the two different aspects. By comparing the results of both memorizing strategies in the content nature task (study 1) as well as the sequential nature task (study 2), it can predict the difference in the result of different task nature. Also, the result should be compared in terms of the time frame. It means that comparing the results of both task collected in day1 and day2. It can predict which strategy can last for longer. Hypothesis 1, the result may indicate that in study 1, the task of unordered list memorizing would be performed better by using the method of loci but for study 2, using maintenance rehearsal would have higher hit rates than using the method of loci in day 1. Hypothesis 2, however, participants who use method of loci will perform better in both tasks in day 2. The result of hypothesis 1 is emphasized on the nature of the task while the hypothesis 2 is focused on the time duration. Discussion The memory palace, also known as method of loci, is the memorizing method that relies on memorized spatial relationships to establish order and recollect memorial content. One imagines a palace with many rooms and many shelves inside each room and the person imagine putting the items he needs to remember into different rooms according to the categorization. Or, simply associate the items to other relevant things that can help to categorize. That is also the reason the above hypothesis will be predicted. Since method of loci involved the use of association and categorization, it is therefore more effective when the materials is content based, which can group different items into a same category and associate the items with something relevant to help to store the information. Categorization also can help to store the information systematically, the organised information can easily store in long term memory and thus it is also better and easier for retrieving the information in longer time period. For maintenance rehearsal, memorizing by simply repeating over and over can only store information into short term memory. When the materials is not content based but sequential based, it can be performed better, since if one does not interpret or categorize the test items, or associating with relevant imagery , it is hard to store it into long term memory. However, for sequential based items, since it lacks of content, method of loci cannot performs its best effect because the random numbers are hard to associate with meaningful things. In this case, simply rehearsal over and over can have better result. Besides, participants using method of loci may take up some time for imagining, associating and categorizing, they may not have enough time to totally finish their memorizing. However, once they stored the items, they can retrieve the information after longer time period in both task natures. In contrast, maintenance rehearsal can only perform instantly, since only rehearsing for certain time period but with longer delay, the information can only remain in short-term rather than long-term memory. However, this research study is not perfect. During the studies, even though both group will be instructed the mnemonic methods they are going to use, no one can guarantee that the participants will use other methods for memorizing, thus it can greatly reduce the validity in the studies. Also, the participants who use the method of loci have a greater chance to recall the test items and they may drop down the items when they finish the first day of study. Conclusion Since method of loci involve the use of association and categorization which can link the to be remembered items with those similar items that already stored in our long term memory, or some events which similar to those happened in the past, it creates many memory traces which initiate for recalling. By using this strategy when learning new materials, people can make associations that are otherwise illogical appear logical in minds. 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