Texan Mosaic

Story by Rebecca Burgess, COMM 2311-151 Newswriting and photos from students in COMM 1318 Photography 1

You’ve probably used one before without knowing it.

This one, for instance, could be considered a classic:   My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.  Instead of remembering a list of all eight planets, it’s maybe easier to remember the silly story instead. 

The first letter of each word in that story stands for the names of each of the eight planets:  Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

That is a mnemonic device in action.

In today’s fast-paced world, retaining and recalling information is more critical than ever. Whether studying for a test, memorizing a shopping list, or

remembering someone’s name, mnemonic devices can help you remember.

 According to Merriam-Webster,  “mnemonic” is an adjective that means “assisting or intended to assist memory.”    Brittanica.com explains the word mnemonic comes from Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory in Greek mythology.

Examples of mnemonic devices appear all over the internet and they appear to apply to all age groups.   For instance, Varsity Tutors offers “4 Mnemonic Devices for Elementary Students”.  One of the four listed includes a “silly story” much like the nachos and planets example.  The story is: Never Eat Sour Watermelon.  That can help children remember North, East, South and West.

SPC Associate Professor of Biology Harriet Strickland, says she uses a mnemonic device to help her students study in her general zoology course.

“I use the phrase ‘King Philip Came Over for Grape Soda’,” she says, “to help students memorize the levels of hierarchy in animal taxonomic classification, starting with the most general level of classification and ending with the most specific.”

The letters of that phrase, she explains, and their order match up with Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.

According to Psyche Central, a website that offers information about mental health and psychology, there are several specific types or categories of mnemonic devices that could prove helpful for remembering things.

It explains, for instance, that tricks like the nachos or grape soda story are simply acronyms.   Another example of this type of memory trick would be HOMES.  Those letters stand for the names of the Great Lakes:  Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

The site also lists songs and rhymes as another category of effective mnemonic devices.       

“Most young children are taught to remember the entire alphabet,” the site writes, “ — 26 random letters in a row — by reciting it in a simple rhyming tune.

“Songs and rhymes work for adults as well. Just think of how easily you sing along when an old song comes on the radio.”    

Gail Malone, SPC’s director of the Teaching and Learning Center, says mnemonic devices can be a useful tool for college students, especially if someone needs to remember things in a particular order.

“They can help us to,” she says, “for example, if we have a list of 10 things we need to remember, we can come up with a mnemonic that will help us to easily remember 10 things.”   

But in the end, she says, whether something like this helps a college student, she says, may depend on the course the student’s taking.

“For example, if you’re taking a course where you’re getting a foundation,” she says, “and it’s just important to memorize lots and lots of information, mnemonic devices could be very helpful.”

Additionally, Malone points out that mnemonic devices may help a student develop a growth mindset.   That, she explains, is a belief that intelligence and skills can develop through dedication and effort.   That mindset, she says, can help a student study overall.

But, Malone cautions, there are limits to a mnemonic device’s effectiveness.

“A mnemonic device may not help us understand how things interact or operate,” she says, “but it can trigger memory recall.”

In other words, if you’re taking a more advanced course or a course that helps you utilize information, mnemonic devices, she warns, are going to be less effective.

So, what do you need help remembering?   A list of something for a test?  Or a shopping list?  Whatever it is, a mnemonic device in the form of a silly story, acronym, rhyme, or song may devices help you do it.

It’s not that hard.  After all, students use similar concepts in text speak.  For Instance, what about:  OMG, OTW, LOL? 

Feels familiar doesn’t it?

Midterm exams are just around the corner.

FX  and T T Y L!