Method of loci
Method of loci
Developed in Ancient Roman & Greek societies, the method of loci was also termed the “memory journey”. Orators were able to memorize hour long stories by connecting each portion of the story with a landmark on a journey somewhere.
Let’s say your neuropsychology class requires that you learn the functions of the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain. You can remember each of these by linking it to the experience you have waking up in the morning (hindbrain), your transportation to class (midbrain), and your experiences sitting in class (forebrain). The three can also be remembered as varying in degree of complexity.
Hindbrain – You’re waking up, you’re barely human. Sleeping, dreaming, breathing, balance and coordination, and blood flow are all functions of the hindbrain.
Midbrain – Walking/driving/taking the train from home to school. Vision, hearing, motor control, temperature regulation, arousal/alertness – nothing too advanced, just enough to not drive into a tree, walk into someone, or to realize you’re cold and put on a sweater.
Forebrain – You get to school and here’s where you really hope you got a coffee by now and got enough sleep because here’s where it gets difficult. Let’s say you got a coffee – at this point, thanks to a part of your forebrain, you remember to eat and you get a bagel. Now you’re communicating what you see and hear in lecture to the higher parts of your brain to memorize. You’re actively trying to pay attention – consciously taking your mind off of whatever you were thinking about before and the classmate behind you whose talking. Forebrain activities mean you have to balance attention from what you see on the board, what your professor is saying, and what notes you’re taking in class, all while actually thinking about and processing the information. The forebrain handles the more advanced processes of thinking, attention, decision making, and other cognitive activities.
Self-reference effect
The self-reference effect states that you remember information better when it has some emotional or personal meaning to you. Take a psychological disorder - it’s tricky to not self-diagnose or diagnose your friends and family. Key to determining whether it is a diagnosable mental illness is that it must be culturally deviant (abnormal according to your culture), causes distress, and produces functional impairment (e.g. inability to maintain social relationships, work, school, etc.) Take generalized anxiety disorder – think about when you get really nervous about something. Is it brought on by a stressor? Is it something that generally makes people nervous? Did something significant recently happen that messed you up? If so, it’s likely temporary and caused by the situation – not a mental illness. If, however, you can’t sleep or eat, have lost a significant amount of weight – or in some other way is causing major issues in your life – then you may want to look into this further. How can the self-reference effect be applied to neuropsychology? Think about how each of these brain regions is working at this very moment. Thank your hindbrain for letting you live, thank your forebrain for doing well on your exam or remembering to buy groceries.
Connect and link
Bring everything together into a cohesive whole. Use an example of the last time you hurt yourself or imagine you’re touching a hot stove. First you have the pain receptors in your hand – what’s the next step? When does it reach the spinal cord? What happens when the signal enters your brain? Ask yourself these questions and answer them!
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