Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer remembering formulae

Hi everyone,

Do any of you have any good techniques for remembering (often long and complicated) formulae?

I have been looking at a book by Dominic O'Brian called "How to Pass Exams" about learning and memory. Anyone familiar with this bloke? If so, is he any different from Harry Lorraine or whats-his-face Trudeau?

All the best,
Max

Nope, the three of them basically use and teach the same memory techniques, maybe with their own personal slant on each, but in the end it's all the same. I was pleasantly surprised to see how different Memory Optimiser was, but I still like the other basic memory techniqes too.

Remembering formulae:

Let me guess, they told you to make pictures? Relate words to numbers and numbers to words? Put things in "rooms" in your mind (the Loci system)? They are pretty effective techniques, but do require practice to master and maintain.

Dominic O'Brian material is similar to Harry Loraynes and Kevin Trudeau.

Robert Finkel in his book Memory Booster has a technique he refers to as the telescopic technique. Based on first orgainising the information, then creating visualisation, and associations OVA.

His technique for memorising a chemical chain would work well for formulas unfortunately it needs the diagrams to explain it (visualisation).

Mind mapping seems irrelevent for formulas however have you drawn a flow chart? The act of drawing it up in a flow chart will probably anchor a good deal of the formula into your memory and if you do it using colour you'll create a visual image you can call into your minds eye.

Alex

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to reply

I have been looking at the book on Amazon, and they wouldn't let me look inside - so I'm not sure what O'Brian said about formulae. The book I read by Lorraine was something that I dug out of an attic fifteen years ago, read once (put nearly everything to use), and promptly left to gather dust in the original attic. There wasn't anything about formulae - mostly just show-off techniques.

Alex, what is a flow-chart? Is this something that I missed in the PR course or book?

max, it's a long shot, but you could try holding the cards with the formulae on them above eye level (is it left or right?) to acces your visual resources. I have been told that helps in learning, but I have never used it myself.

Since I last posted, I have been checking up on stuff about O'Brien, and, although his methods are pretty much the same as others, I found a site that raved about him and his now out of print book, so he may be the better of the three after all. Here's a link:
http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/gtm/0009domo.htm

I use a substitution technique to learn numbers: each digit can be represented by a couple of letters, then make words out of numbers. I suppose maybe you could do this with the mathematical symbols as well. Just an idea...
Nick :-)

Hi,

I have been using the substitution technique for numbers since I was 11, but only the straight numbers like phone, credit card, social security, whatever - just digits, no exponents, no fractions, no decimals, no physical constants, and no greek letters. In aerodynamics loads of the exponents are capital R, capital M or whatever, where the letter could be anything from a constant to another equation, depending on what they defined in the preceding paragraph. So if there is a good system for memorising equations out there I'd love to find it. If not I might just roll up my sleeves and make one myself

I will try the "flash cards" (up to the right is creating something new, up to the left is remembering archived information, btw) for remembering, just in case it works

Thanks for the link to the O'Brian article - I've decided to order the "pass exams". What the heck! I'll probably learn lots of fun tricks as well as a couple of useful ones (though why I would ever need to memorise a full deck of cards remains a mystery to me!).

Flow charting is something similar to a mind map but more structured. You generally use the same symbol for the same function. It helps to outline step by step procedures and often having drawn visual representations it becomes easier to remember each of the steps.

Alex

Ah, I do see how these would work for algorythms and things - exciting!

oops. embarrassing...

algorithms, of course. edit function won't accept my password!