Learn how to prompt your memory with this easy experiment!
Steps:
- Write down the names of as many states as you can remember
- If you get stuck, try picturing a map in your mind. Or think about where you have traveled, state capitals, or where your favorite sports team comes from.
- How many states do you have on your list now?
- Would it help to know that there are four states that start with the letter A, three that start with the letter C, one with D, one with F, one with G, one with H, four with I, two with K, one with L, eight with N, three with O, one with P, one with R, two with S, two with T, one with U, two with V, and four with W?
- Can you fill in the blanks on your list and remember all the states now?
What’s Going On?
Have you ever tried to find something in a messy drawer? You know it’s in the drawer somewhere, but you just can’t find it with all that other stuff in the way. Well, searching your memory can be like searching in a junk drawer. The problem with remembering isn’t storing stuff in your brain – it’s finding the stuff after you’ve stored it.
Even if you know all the states’ names, you may not be able to find them in your memory when you need them. Memory researchers talk about retrieving memories (“retrieve” means “to bring back” like a dog bringing back a stick.) To retrieve the information you need, you may have to give your brain a little hint. You need to give you bring what memory researchers call a retrieval cue.
A retrieval cue can be any information that connects to the name of a state. The first letter of a state’s name can be a retrieval cue. So can the name of a sports team.
Source: Exploratopia, 2006: The Exploratorium.
