Strategies for Memory Improvement

Strategies for Memory Improvement

1. Organisation into categories

   • structuring info using heading, hierarchies etc.
   • Bower et al
     • lab exp, Ps asked to memorise letters, two conditions, information sorted into hierarchies & information sorted randomly
     • Ps recalled more information when sorted hierarchically
     • concluded organisation improves recall
   • evaluation
     • - much of the research lab-based so low in ecological validity

2. Organisation through 'story method'

   • Bower and Clarke
     • Ps asked lists of words through 'story method', others Ps (control group) just asked to memorise list of words
     • Ps in 'story' condition recalled more words
   • evaluation
     • - technique only works for particular types of information (not abstract material) e.g. suitable for remembering shopping list
       • - limits practical application
     • - quite hard to do

3. Active processing

   • carrying out deeper semantic processing, focusing on meaning of material
   • building more retrieval cues so memory lasts longer
   • Craik and Lockhart
     • some Ps asked to complete structural task, others acoustic, others semantic
     • found that Ps remembered words better when carrying out semantic task
   • Evaluation
     • + can be applied easily e.g. teaching
     • - most likely processing information at more than one level at once
     • + scientific support from lab-based research e.g. Craik & Lockhart