I have just been reading a very good new book on neuropsychological rehabilitation by Barbara Wilson and colleagues Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: Theory, Models, Therapy and Outcome
I also heard her give an interesting talk this week on memory rehabilitation. In the book and the talk she discuses proven techniques to help with memory. These are designed for individual with memory problems but they also work really well for anyone wanting to learn and remember information. The methods are backed with experimental evidence. They will work for adults as well as children.

1. Encourage associations or links when learning- the best way is to use visual or spatial images and associate these with what you are trying to learn. Some of the best learners use an internal picture of a house or journey and imagine what they have to remember placed in different places in the house. This helps with retrieval of information from memory.

2. Spaced retrieval i.e. gradually extend the recall time. With this you need to initially recall what you have learnt straight away and then over time extend the time gap between learning and retrieval. For example look at a fact to remember, cover and recall immediately, then look again and wait for 15 seconds and try and recall, then 30 seconds and then 1 min etc. This leads to information stored more deeply in memory.

3. Pace your learning and reduce the amount you are trying to learn at any one time. Learn a few bits of information, have a break and learn a few more. Trying to do too much at once doesn’t work.

4. Organize the information e.g. if learning a list, group the items together according to meaning. For example for a shopping list put the items of fruit together, drink together etc. If learning facts group together for meaning. The brain likes to store information semantically i.e. according to categories.

5. Error free learning- this is used to teach others. If the person doesn’t know the answer to the question immediately provide the answer and ask them to repeat. Continue to support until the answer is recalled automatically without any errors. This works for adults with memory problems including those with Alzheimer’s and also for children with learning difficulties. See previous post for more details

It does take a bit more effort to store information more efficiently in memory when learning but these methods are proven to work. There are other techniques and also the research behind them in the book.