Memory and Retention Improvement Strategies

GULP

GULP is an acronym for an effective four step process to improve short and long term memory.

Step 1:  G - Get It

• "The true art of memory is the art of attention"  -Samuel Johnson
• be present and conscious during the initial learning
• pay attention and listen
• experience the initial learning with as many senses as possible

Step 2:  U - Use It

• review material immediately
• repeat it
• write it down
• sing or chant it
• recreate the experience of the learning

Step 3:  L - Link It

• associate new learning with something already known
• link it to something it sounds like (acoustical link)
• link it to a location
• make an acronym link
• mind map it
• rhyme it
• group it
• categorize it
• alphabetize it

Step 4:  P - Picture It

• create a visual image of the association
• make it move
• make it vivid
• make it bizarre
• exaggerate it
• use color
• use all senses - seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling

ASSOCIATION AND LINKING TECHNIQUES

1.  Acoustical Links

Definition:  linking new learning with substitute words that sound alike.

Effective for remembering the following:

• vocabulary words
• foreign languages
• names
• dates and events
• matching items (for a test)

Examples:

• crabs are crustaceans.  Picture a crab eating, holding, or walking on a crust of bread.
• barrister means lawyer, and sounds like "bear".  Picture a bear is a suit acting like a lawyer.

2.  Acronym Links

Definition:  using first letter of list to form a word, sentence, or phrase.

Effective for remembering the following:

• lists of people, places, or things
• things or steps in a sequence, formulae

Example:

• Roy G. Biv - the colors in the rainbow
• Every good boy does fine - musical notes on scale -EGBDF
• HOMES - Great Lakes (Huron Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior)

3.  Linking with Key Words that Rhyme

Definition:  Using rhyming "peg" words to remember a list of up to ten items.

Effective for remembering the following:

• lists of people, places, or things
• things or steps in a sequence

Examples:

• one-bun (associate first item on list with bun
• two-shoe (associate second item on list with shoe), etc.

4.  Linking with Poems and Songs

Definition:  creating a rhyme, poem, or song to associate with new material to be learned

Effective for remembering the following:

• rules
• theorems

Examples:

• "i" before "e" except after "c"...
• when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking
• 30 days hath September, April, June, and November...
• artery begins with "a", from the heart it takes blood away
• veins has at its end and "n", it takes the blood back again

5.  Linking with Locations (LOCI)

Definition:  linking items to be remembered with specific locations in a room or with locations on a mental map

Effective for remembering the following:

• lists of people, places, or things
• things or steps in a sequence
• dates and events

Examples:

• make a mental map of some place very familiar, such as a bedroom, the classroom, the route taken to school.  Items to be memorized are associated with certain landmarks in this map and recalled in that order.

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