Learning Strategies
The method of loci
The method of loci (loci being Latin for “places”) may seem strange at first, but after just a little practice it makes the process of memorisation significantly easier.
Method [1]
- Select a sequence of places on a route you know well. This could be the rooms you pass through as you walk around your house, your route to work or places on your body (e.g. from the tip of your head down to your toes).
- Now create visual associations between individual chunks of information and each place in the sequence (see examples below).
- To retrieve the information from your memory, simply go through the sequence of places and remember the images you created.
NB: The method of loci is not suitable for every learning context! Although it is a highly effective tool for the memorisation of lists or the sections in a speech or presentation, learners may find it difficult to create strong visual associations between places and abstract terms.
Examples [2]
- Memorising lists, e.g. the characteristics of edible mushrooms, the steps in a recipe, a shopping list, etc.
- Memorising each step in the operation of machines and devices you rarely use.
- Memorising the structure of a speech made without notes, e.g. a 5-minute introduction to your topic at the start of an oral exam.
- Memorising long numbers, e.g. PIN and PUK numbers, safe combinations, telephone numbers, etc.
- Memorising information gained during lectures – the method of loci works better with material you’ve heard than material you’ve read.
- Memorising poems or long passages of prose (e.g. as is often required of school pupils and actors).
How to use an imaginary route to university to memorise the following shopping list:
spaghetti – broccoli – sliced bread – coffee – bananas
Let’s assume you begin by going under a bridge. Imagine huge strands of spaghetti hanging down from it like a curtain. After the bridge you arrive at a crossroads where there is a conspicuously tall tree. Imagine the tree as a piece of broccoli. After the tree you pass a brightly illuminated bus stop, which is now magically filled with huge slices of bread. There is coffee dripping from the next set of traffic lights, and when you arrive at the main entrance to your university the door handle is a banana.
- Memorising lists, e.g. symptoms of an illness, bones in the human hand, etc.
- Memorising courses of action in time-critical scenarios, e.g. first aid, diagnostic processes, operations, etc.
- Memorising lists, e.g. conventional intelligence tests.
Now try out the method of loci for yourself by learning the following 15 words in the given order:
pencil – typewriter – light bulb – violin – northern lights – thermometer – pyramid – raccoon – wallet – grass – eyepatch – apple juice – fire – key – chocolate bar
The method of loci is said to be traceable back to a celebration where the Greek poet Simonides was invited to perform a poem in honour of the host. He departed soon after his performance, and this turned out to be a life-saving decision: The building later collapsed and buried all the other guests underneath it. The bodies pulled out of the rubble were unidentifiable, but Simonides could remember where everyone had stood when he left the building. He was therefore able to go through the building in his mind’s eye and identify the dead. [3]
Each individual room served Simonides as a retrieval cue (see Section 2.3 Kapitel“Forgetting”) that helped him remember which guests had been in there.