Memory Tricks using absurd stories

[hksuperstar]

Hey everyone.
New guy here. While studying vigorously for the DAT, I decided I wanted to try a different way to memorize the biology section in less time. It's definitely the hardest section for me due to memorization difficulties. I also wanted to utilize my time better for more practice questions and different, as opposed to reading something repetitively to memorize (doesn't work for me). After spending some rest-time researching memorization techniques, I stumbled upon a technique using creating your own crazy stories. I decided to test it out on a small part of the Biology section from organic molecules to lipids. I know its not a lot but it took a while to create a story out of nowhere lol. Plus, it's easier for me to forget the details (which are important) in a longer story. This definitely helped me so far cause I was able to visualize the story and relate it back to the notes! Since it helped me memorize the functional groups and carbohydrates (in detail from Ferralis's notes), I wanted to share this technique and story. Maybe this will help y'all out. I'll definitely be writing more. Feel free to comment on it.



Kemi went to the store to buy some organic groceries. There was a book lying on the floor and inside one of the pages was a Blastoise Pokemon card, and she said OH! Hydropump skills! As she was walking through the bread (carb) and OX aisle, she saw heard a mom calm her baby by saying COOH. Then a mean ol’ (amino) guy approached her asking for her number and she NaH. She felt threatened and called a Police Officer to arrest him. Turned out, his name was PHil who happened to be her bOSs’s son. What FATE. She then went to the pasta (carb) aisle and ON the shelf, she saw a Cat clenching an Owl with 2 paws. Turns out, that Cat Hugs the Owl all the time (aldehyde). She can really make her day by taking her KEys out and getting the Cat to puR with the Owl. One thing that Phil, Blastoise, the mom and her baby, and the cat all had in common was that they liked POLAR bears that drink a lot water. Shortly after, another guy approached her asking for some METH. He was Crazy High, and he didn’t like polar bears and was scared of water, so she said no. He just wanted to share his dislike for polar bears equally to everyone. That reminded her that she needed to get some rice and Gatorade for her Asian neighbors. They love to cook their rice in gatorade. The neighbors actually have a large (poly) family that breaks down and argues, causing at least someone to walk out, when they drink water. They always seem happier and are closer when they don’t drink water. They have 2 kids who don’t drink water at all but enjoy eating the following together, while linking sugary acid puzzles: GLUe and FRUits (SUCks cleaning that up); GLUe and a GALlon of LACtaid milk; and 2 GLUes with MALT balls. 1 child enjoyed eating her GLUe and FRUits the most. She always enjoyed saying “Ahhhhh” while laying DOWN on the Cat. Sometimes she would lie UP with the Cat, and she would Be ok. Despite the positions, one Hand would extend and the other Hand would make an O. Since the family was large, they asked for a sack of rice. (almost sounds like saccharides) Mrs. CHI-TIN, who was being a pest, called asking to get some corn starch for the plants and more sugar for her humans. After she hung up, she put her cell phone by the plant on the wall.

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[baywatch123]

i think this would be one of those strategies that would work for only a few people, or who knows, maybe all. but the time to read the story, memorize it, then to recall the specifics of a story would be way too time consuming, as you only really have a short amount of time for each biology questions.

this might work as a last ditch option (personally). for me i like pictures, colors and arrows, in fact studying this section was definitely not enjoyable, but doable (successfully) when done in small chunks over a long time. that also depends on how much time you have for studying

but thanks for sharing.

 

[starnova]

What you're describing is essentially the method of loci. The visual component definitely aids the recall aspect. However, I find that most memory techniques work for information that follows a sequential order (pathways, series of events or reactions), and sometimes it is quite difficult to fully retrieve or decode the story you created. It does work for certain things, but most of the time rote learning still works best for random bits of information. Thanks for sharing though.