Discover why imagery is the key to learning and teaching memory.

Recommended Posts: Any of the posts in Tool Box.

Each of us experience life through as many of the five senses as we have access to. The more senses that are involved seems to make the experience that much richer.

By the same token, those details that we glance over and do not commit our full sensory attention to are often quickly forgotten.

How many times have your ears “glanced” over a name you just heard, only to forget it the next minute? How many images that our eyes perceive each day have a lasting impression?

It should come as not surprise to educators, or anyone reading this post, that many students vastly prefer movies and video games to any reading. TV provides the pictures and the sound while video games do one better by placing the player as the main character of the story.

On the other hand, have you ever been lost in a book you are reading?

Your ability to immerse yourself in a fictional world is often due to an author’s ability to engage multiple senses that simulate reality combined with the the reader’s efforts to focus on and process those details.

When students do not comprehend what they are reading, but they are able to decode the words correctly, the reason is often due to a lack of engaging with the details of the book.

If a sentence states that “The van turned into the driveway of the house”, there is not much there to make that sentence memorable, and if you were to ask a student what pulled into the driveway, they would likely have to go back and look; however, adding sensory details can trigger a student to remember even the most mundane passages.

What color is the van? How fast is it turning in? Is the driveway cracked? Is it gravel? What color is the house? Does the air smell like cut grass or something else? Are there other houses around? What can we hear? Is the van loud? are their birds or the sounds of kids playing?

If we focus on the details that are NOT provided in a passage, we can often trigger the students memory to the details that are the most important. After processing minor details while reading the passage, the student will likely easily remember what pulled into the driveway because they they have a multi-sensory vivid image that extends beyond the passage and remains ready to retrieve in the student’s memory.

The techniques featured in this post and within the memory world at large are founded on creating images.

Why images? Our brain wants to think in pictures. Just ask your students. Try asking your students the following question:

“What do you think of when I say purple polka dotted giraffe?”

Did they think of a picture or the words? I bet the overwhelming majority thought of a picture. Including you!

When creating images for these techniques, don’t skimp on the details.

For example, when making your alphabet peg list, you may create the image of an apple to represent the letter “a”, but don’t stop there!

Is it a green apple? Is it bruised or even rotten? is there a worm hole in it? Is it deliciously sweet or bitter? What is the corresponding smell? How soft or hard is the apple?

Taking the extra time to ensure your images are as real as you can possibly imagine.