When talking about memory in this chapter, metacognition and metamemory are introduced. Metacognition is our awareness of and knowledge about our own cognitive system. In other words, this is referred to as knowing about knowing. Metamemroy is the knowldege about ones own memory system; also known as knowing how to know.
Ones metamemroy process includes the awareness that you must get things into the memory by performing some intentional acitivity. This intentional mental acitivity is known as rehearsal. Mnemonic means to help the memory. As the textbook states, a mnemonic device is an active, strategic kind of learning device or method, otherwise known as a rehearsal strategy. Each mnemonic device is either formal, meaning you learn the mnemonic scheme and then apply it, or informal, which is when you invent the scheme yourself.
Informal devices are characterized by three principles:
- The material being learned is structured and integrated into a preexisting memory framework.
- The material to be remembered must be practiced.
- The mnemonic device provides a plan or scheme for retrieving information.
Mnemonic devices provide an easier way to remember information. People use them to remember specific items in a shorter, quicker way than memorizing the entire concept. There are two types of mnemonic devies in which the book discuesses.
The first one is the method of loci. Two active ingredients are invloed in this method; the first being the memorized physical locations and the second being the mental images of the to-be-remembered items. An example of this would be the grocery list that we did in class. It worked very well because each grocery item that we associated with locations was easty to remember. The other is the peg-word mnemonic device.
This is where a prememorized set of words serves as a sequence of metnal pegs onto which the to-be-remmeberd matersial can be hung. For example, rhymes help to remember the items necessary. All mnemonic devices are helpful, whthery they are invented by yourself or not. Each of them rely on the three principles previously mentioned. If you take the method of loci device, for example, each principle applies to it.
It clearly provides a structure for learning because you are consciously attempting to memorize items within a certain structure. The material is practiced because you are visually picturing items with the locations and repeating that to yourself so you can remember it. And lastly, this device privdes a scheme so that one can retrieve the information being stored in the memory. Because of the method used, one can later retrive this inforamtion fairly easy. Overall, mnemonic devices provide a way to help peole remember speicific things.
Each of the pricniples are very important because without them, it would not be a mnemonic device. Without these devices, remembering information would be very difficult as there is a lot to store in our memories.
