Question

Just as you get into your car, your friend calls you and asks you to pick up seven other friends and bring them to the party. You don't have anything to write with, and you don't want to leave anyone behind. The names are Layla, Tony, Ben, Mark, Brent, Amber, and Jody. Discuss two methods you might use to remember the seven names.

Answer 1

Mnemonic strategies are of great help to remember certain information. New information learnt can be stored by repetition. However, repetition alone can also confuse you and make it difficult for you to recall learnt information. In the above example, the two methods that I would use to remember the seven names are; chunking and musical mnemonics.

An individual can chunk and remember up to seven individual units. It would indeed be difficult to remember all seven names. I would instead chunk them in three units; Layla-Tony, Ben-Mark-Brent and Amber-Jody. This makes it easier for me to remember.

A-B-C is the easiest song to remember. I would in the same tone fit in these seven names, keep singing it along so that I forget nobody who needs to be picked up.