Learning and mnemonic systems

7 min readApr 3, 2021

If I close my eyes and visually cross over the threshold of my flat, I am immediately greeted by a massive nose factory standing out from the wall, an anatomical runny nose building facility. This informs me that the first cranial nerve or CN I, is the Olfactory Nerve. Looking past this I see an eyeball glaring down at me, and this reminds me of the CN II optic nerve.

I can move on through the flat seeing various images, many disturbing and strange moving pictures, that reveal the names of the other cranial nerves.

This is a demonstration of the memory palace technique. There are many mnemonic systems, and the memory palace is a place where you can store all the other mnemonics.

What type of mnemonic systems exist?

What role can mnemonics play in learning a subject?

What are the limitations of mnemonic systems?

How can you maximise the benefit of your own memory systems?

This article aims to address these questions as well as point interested readers in the direction of other resources to aid them in their own learning. The references and links at the bottom of this article will help direct the reader’s attention to other resources.

What are mnemonics:

The word mnemonic comes from a Latin version of a Greek word that can be translated as ‘mindful’ or ‘pertaining to memory’ (www.Etymonline.com)

Specifically mnemonics are used to chuck information to make recall easier. There are numerous ways — some easier than others to employ.

Studies including this one (Dresler et al, 2017) demonstrated that mnemonics work by strengthening neural networks associated with memory. The study followed memory athletes, a control group and used fMRI technology to look at the differences within “functional connectivity”.

Types of mnemonic systems:

There are a variety of systems that can aid the student in recalling information. Some techniques involve composing a single sentence built from the first letter of the data they want to recall. Let’s illustrate this with an example or two:

l Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet) for the colours of the rainbow.

l Scared lovers try positions that they can’t handle (Scaphoid, Lunate, Trapezium, Pisiform, Triquetrum, Trapezoid, Capitate and Hamate) for the eight wrist bones.

As we can see using Richard we see that it begins with ‘R’, and so does red. This system works fairly well and best with information that isn’t too far from the students personal lexicon. After all just knowing that one of the wrist bones begins with an ‘s’ might not help if the student doesn’t learn much about anatomy.

One might also learn by rote, continually going over the information until it sticks. I used this method to learn the Greek alphabet and others have used it to learn the phonetic alphabet.

Other mnemonics include visualisation techniques such as the method of loci or ‘memory palace’ technique demonstrated in the opening of this article.

Other techniques use music or melodies to help learn information.

One study finding that words sung to a group meant that they recalled an average of 20% more words than a control group who listened to the words spoken(Knott et al 2018)

Peg systems can facilitate a change of numbers into images. Methods have been developed by memory athletes such as Harry Lorayne and Dominic O’Brien to perform such feats as memorising 54 decks of cards and thousands of digits of pi.

Thus the variety of aids to memory are vast and the use of them takes many forms. But exactly what role do mnemonics play in learning a subject?

The role of mnemonics in learning

According to a survey (Karpike et al, 2009) only 14% of 177 students used mnemonic techniques. Other more popular techniques included rereading textbook passages and note-taking.

But it may be time to reconsider and endorse specific mnemonic techniques in education, especially give the study (Qureshi et al, 2014) which demonstrated better recall of information by endocrinology students. Those taught through didactic lectures and the MOL technique(method of loci or ‘memory palace’) did significantly better on scores.

My argument would be that given the technical nature of the field of endocrinology and the success of these students, it might be time to actively teach mnemonics in a class of its own.

As demonstrated above I can more easily memorise the 12 cranial nerves with imagery than I can without. With a little adjustment and with a peg system such as the O’Brien system, there are a lot of areas and fields within education that could benefit by a systematic teaching of memory methods.

Given that we now have an evidence base for the use of different mnemonic techniques, the debate whether any particular method is mere anecdote is not an obstacle.

What are the limitations of mnemonic systems?

It may not surprise the reader that knowing the 12 cranial nerves — tells you nothing about function, innervation and action. In a sense I know the cranial nerves, but I know nothing about them. Mnemonics DO NOT replace deep learning.

On a test knowing FOIL for algebra gives me an idea of how to go about a problem of multiplying two binomials but not whether I should.

It’s good for the student of mnemonics to not fall into some sort of Dunning-Kruger effect, thinking that because they can memorise entire biochemical terms or amino acids, that they can solve biochemical formulas.

Mnemonics are used in tandem with learning, to store away details so that you can free up the brain to deal with complex material. That said mnemonics are an incredibly powerful tool which can not only enhance learning but more importantly, the fun of learning.

Using memory aids is very much like everything else, the more you practice the better you get. The memory palace I have today, has evolved over time, less easily remembered images have ceded to stronger associations.

Other uses for mnemonics

Once one is familiar with a broad array of techniques and mnemonics there is practically no end to the possible uses. There are those who use these techniques to deliver speeches from memory, making their oratory more extemporaneous and unplanned.

Others use these techniques to join memory championships every year — and like in the case of Joshua Foer a journalist who entered, win them.

Recalling lines of poetry, learning musical notation and competing for quiz shows are more of just a few select ideas for employing devastatingly potent memory aids.

Maximising the potential of mnemonics

So how does one maximise the benefit of mnemonic techniques?

Whatever techniques you use, the first step is to build a memory palace. There are some great tutorials online, and you can find a complete guide on my Youtube channel in the links and references at the end of the article.

2. Practice using the memory palace to embed mnemonics.

3. Learn a numeric peg system, I would recommend Dominic O’Brien’s system. (Link to his website in references)

4. If you’re a student, the first step is to analyse the material for appropriate keys that can be memorised.

5. Use a few well practised mnemonic methods rather than a dozen unfamiliar ones. The memory palace should be one of the one you practice all the time.

6. Group your mnemonics together. This is one of the benefits of having a memory palace with rooms. If I’m learning the skeletal system, these rooms will not reside with n or amongst rooms dedicated to the circulatory system. In the same way if I’m studying the psychology of emotion, I won’t group studies dealing with emotion with that of Freudian psychoanalysis. The system has to be reliable, the memory palace is your filing cabinet and thus the better ordered it is, the easier things will be to recall.

7. Have fun! Mnemonic work should be fun, so much so that memorising becomes a minor addiction. So don’t stress if you committed something to memory and you find later on you can’t recall the info. It’s in there, you have to trust the process. In the method of loci, it might just be that an image isn’t memorable enough, or the environment is too cluttered. So whatever you memorise make sure you practice when you’re calm and not stressed. In fact there is some evidence that using some of these methods aids in mood elevation(Dalgleish et al, 2013), and you may find using them for more than mere recollection.

Final words

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief tour through mnemonics and how they are used, and how they can be used to enhance learning.

Feel free to contact for further info.

In the coming weeks I will be working on a more comprehensive list of mnemonic systems.

Thanks again

References and links:

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR_GTBCQRY-2ECXd_PoEs3w

I have tutorials as well as demonstrations on my Youtube channel and am happy to help anyone start exploiting memory aids.

What are mnemonics?

https://www.etymonline.com/word/mnemonic

(Dresler et al, 2017 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5439266/)

Types of mnemonics systems