Memory is a confusing and sometimes frustrating aspect of our brain. I oftentimes struggle with my lack of both long-term and short-term memory. There are times when I forget what I did the previous weekend and I have difficult times remembering things from my past that other people seem to have no trouble remembering. One of the best ways to make ensure that your memory is placed into long-term memory is to use elaborative rehearsal. For this type of rehearsal, you make connections between what you are trying to remember and something you already know (Goldstein, pg, 173, 2011). This results in putting the memory into a deeper level of processing based on its meaning, which makes encoding, and retrieval better. Unbeknownst to me, I have been using this process for years without ever realizing that is was an actual scientific method used to enhance our memory.
Recently I had to study for the dreaded mid-term. I say dreaded because of the amount of information you are expected to remember. Months and months of information are condensed into a 60-question test and in order to pass you need to remember a great deal of information. After much trial and error, I have learned that the best way to remember everything is to put the information into terms and concepts that relate to my own life, much like elaborative rehearsal. One example was when I
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You can use your prior experiences, knowledge and even feelings that are in your long-term memory when trying to form new memories. It can be an obvious connection such as the example above or a subtle one. The beauty of elaborative rehearsal is that as long as it is a connection that makes sense in your head it does not have to make sense to anyone else. This concept seems so simple and easy to do yet it takes a conscious effort to draw these