The method of loci Mnemonic elaboration
"Elaboration [in a learning context] is the association of new terms with known terms by means of textual, verbal or pictorial links.” [1]
Mnemonics generally take the form of a single word and make use of our memory’s associative capacity. As is the case in the majority of mnemonic techniques, they are designed to assist the memorisation of abstract terms that may initially seem to have little in common.
Rhyming mnemonics retrieve information with the aid of our auditory memory, whereas pictorial mnemonics use our visual memory. Mnemonics can be funny or absurd, as is illustrated by some of the examples given below. All mnemonics are designed to reduce complex facts and circumstances down to images and terms that are as simple and easily recognisable as possible and serve as retrieval cues when we wish to access the information we have associated them with.
Mnemonics are also a good way to add welcome variety to a set of flashcards.
Rhyming mnemonics retrieve information with the aid of our auditory memory, whereas pictorial mnemonics use our visual memory. Mnemonics can be funny or absurd, as is illustrated by some of the examples given below. All mnemonics are designed to reduce complex facts and circumstances down to images and terms that are as simple and easily recognisable as possible and serve as retrieval cues when we wish to access the information we have associated them with.
Mnemonics are also a good way to add welcome variety to a set of flashcards.
Examples
Law
- Name the four levels of court jurisdiction in Germany.
- Andrew Loves Orange Buses = Amtsgericht Landgericht Oberlandesgericht Bundesgerichtshof
- Name the requirements for a commercial paper (i.e. elements of a negotiable instrument).
- WOOPS FUN:
- W = Writing
- O = On demand or at definite time
- O = Order or bearer
- P = Promise or Order to Pay
- S = Signed
- F = Fixed amount of money
- U = Unconditional
- N = No unauthorized undertakings or instructions
- When might the statute of frauds apply?
- MY LEGS: Marriage, a contract that will take a year (or longer) to perform, an interest in land sales or otherwise, the execution of a will, most purchases of goods over $500 or surety of another’s debts.
Medicine
- Sequence of questions to be asked when admitting a patient to an emergency room: SAMPLE
- S = Symptoms
- A = Allergies
- M = Medication
- P = Patient history
- L = Last meal
- E = Event
- Branches of the plexus cervicalis: Oliver always takes sugar.
- occipitalis minor
- auricularis magnus
- transversus colli
- Nn. supraclaviculares
- Intrinsic reflexes
- 1, 2, buckle my shoe.
- 3, 4, kick the door.
- 5, 6, pick up sticks.
- 7, 8, shut the gate.
- S1,2 = Achilles tendon reflex
- L3,4 = Patellar tendon reflex
- C5,6 = Biceps tendon reflex
- C7,8 = Triceps tendon reflex
[1] Petermann, F. & Petermann U. 2018, p. 28
[2] http://www.jurastudium-info.de/lerntechniken-furs-jurastudium-die-mnemotechnik-das-lernen-mit-eselsbrucken-76/ & https://www.talentrocket.de/karrieremagazin/details/die-top-10-jura-eselsbruecken-im-zivilrecht-zivilprozessrecht, date of last retrieval: 09.02.20
[3] https://www.praktischarzt.de/blog/merksaetze-in-der-medizin-eselsbruecken/, date of last retrieval: 09.02.20