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destroy this set of beliefs by rewriting the past to make it congruent with the present situation。 Perhaps the
most famous injunction about memory is philosopher George Santayana’s reminder that “Those who forget
the past are condemned to repeat it。” It is possible at this point to mention some instances of “social
amnesia；” such as the holocaust in Germany； the internment of Japanese American citizens in U。S。
concentration camps during World War II； or； more recently； the Jonestown massacre。 More typical
examples of memory distortion from psychological literature es from Bartlett’s classic study of “The
War of the Ghosts；” Allport and Postman’s study of rumor transmission； and Loftus’ recent demonstrations
of the unreliability of eyewitness testimony。
mon to all these examples is the susceptibility of memory to distortion。 However； the emphasis in this
demonstration will be on ways to improve the accuracy of memory。 The earliest known account of memory
enhancement es from the Latin writer Cicero； who tells a story of how Simonides was able to recall the
identities of a large number of banquet guests who were accidentally killed and mutilated beyond
recognition。 He did so by associating each guest with the place； or locus； at which he or she had been
sitting。 This mnemonic device later became known as the method of loci。 Other memory enhancement
strategies； many of which have been popularized by Lorayne and Lucas in The Memory Book include：
1。 Associating what is to be remembered with what is already known–in some ridiculous way。 In
using this technique to remember who wrote “The War of the Ghosts；” for example； one might
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imagine a ghost munching on a Bartlett apple。
2。 Exaggerating the size； number； or some other characteristic of what is to be remembered。 For
example； one might remember to buy apples at the supermarket by imagining a shopping cart
brimming over with apples。
3。 Replacing abstract labels with vivid； concrete images whose names sound similar to the original
thing to be remembered。 The name “Zimbardo” might therefore be remembered as “sitar show；”
“limb cargo；” or “Z embargo；” while Joe Smith bees “Joe’s mitt。”
4。 Substituting vivid； similar…sounding images for the original items to be remembered and linking
these images together in a coherent story （see American States Demonstration below）。 This
mnemonic technique has been called “narrative chaining”。
Narrative chaining is curious because in one sense it ought not to work； the learner’s task is to recall a given
amount of material by putting it in a context that requires first learning a much greater amount of material。
The following experiment is designed to test the validity of the assertion that memory can be enhanced
through learning with the narrative chaining method。
PROCEDURE FOR BRIEF “AMERICAN STATES” DEMONSTRATION
Subjects
All students participate as subjects。 No maximum or minimum。
Time required for Research
10 minutes
7…ime required for discussion
5…20 minutes
Method
1。 Ask students to estimate how long it would take them to memorize the first 10 states in alphabetical
and reverse alphabetical order。 Also； ask how long it would take the entire class to do so。 Ask
students to raise their hands if they believe the instructor can teach the first 10 states to everyone
within 5 minutes （most should raise their hands）。 Ask how many believe the same can be
acplished in under 60 seconds （most should lower their hands）。
2。 Read the story contained in Materials； using dramatic emphases wherever possible。 （It helps to
have practiced this with a stopwatch before class； to ensure that the reading will be less than 60
seconds。）
3。 On pletion； ask the students to list the states in alphabetical order； turn the page over； and do so
in reverse alphabetical order。 Three minutes should be sufficient time。
4。 Go through the list aloud with the class and have students score how many states they
remembered。 Summarize the scores by drawing frequency distributions on the chalkboard。 Ideally；
the majority of students will recall most or all of the items correctly。
Materials
“Let’s start the top of our chart with an album （Alabama）； and on that album see a bunch of baked Alaskas
（Alaska）。 Now envision this album with all these baked Alaskas floating through an air zone （Arizona）； but
a voice from the air zone says enough of all these sinful baked Alaskas； there will be rain for forty days and
forty nights so next you see yourself sawing an ark （Arkansas）。 You need animals for your ark； so the first
one you call is a fawn （California）。 You notice it’s a strange fawn； though； because it has colored toes
（Colorado）。 You can’t have that； so you cut them off； but then the fawn can’t walk into the ark； so you
connect the cuts （Connecticut）。 The fawn climbs aboard； and your next animal is a woman。 Of course； her
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name is Della （Delaware）。 Della’s wearing flowers （Florida）； so she looks very nice for the manimal on the
ark–George （Georgia）。”
PITFALLS TO AVOID
1。 Be sure to have students’ undivided attention before reading。
2。 Avoid reading the story in a monotone voice。
PROCEDURE FOR DEPTH…OF…PROCESSING DEMONSTRATION
（Developed by Scott Fraser at the University of Southern California。）
Depth of processing and expanding memory through narrative chaining under varied conditions of
rehearsal： This demonstration enables students to pare their ability to recall lists of mon words with
and without the use of narrative chaining by repeating the words or having a distraction to overe。
It is obviously important for students to be able to recall accurately materials they have studied。 Often；
differences among students’ exam grades reflect not how much or hard the students have studied； but
rather how good their memory was for what they learned。 Are such differences in memory pletely
determined by inherent differences in native ability or are they in part attributable to the ways in which
people learn and store information？ If they are built…in abilities； reflecting “brain power；” then either you
have a good memory capacity or you do not。 If； on the other hand； the condition under which you learn the
material to be remembered influenced your recall； then memory can be expanded by control of these
situational variables。
Mnemonics is the general name for techniques designed to improve recall by associating the new material
with familiar material； by using vivid images evoked by the material； or by abstracting some elements and
rebining them into a more easily remembered form。 For example：
Question： Can you give the colors of the spectrum in their correct sequence？
Answer： Mr。 Roy G。 Biv is a mnemonic to remember Red…Orange…Yellow…Green…
Blue…Indigo…Violet。
Other Mnemonics You Might Want To Give Your Students
The order of the planets from the sun： “Meek Violet Extraterrestrial Make Just Such
Unusual New Pets。” （Mercury； Venus； Earth； Mars； Jupiter； Saturn； Uranus；
Neptune； Pluto）
The most mon elements in the human body： “P。 COHN’S CaFe” （Phosphorus；
Carbon； Oxygen； Hydrogen； Sulfur； Calcium； Iron （Fe））
The order of taxonomic classification of plants and animals： “Kings Prefer Crowns Or
Fairly Grand； Similar Vanities。” （Kingdom； Phylum； Class； Order； Family；
Genus； Species； Variety）
The best metric system prefixes； in descending order： “Kangaroos Hop； Dancing
Despite ing Motherhood。” （Kilo （thousandfold）； Hecto （hundredfold）； Deka
（tenth part）； Centi （hundredth part）； Milli （thousandth part））
The order of operations in algebra： “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally。” （Parenthesis；
Exponents； Multiplication； Division； Addition； Subtraction）
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Pi to fourteen decimal places （the number of letters in each word of the mnemonic）：
“Now； Dot； I find I still determine to suffer fools who laugh whenever grandpa
insults grandma。” 3。14159265358979
In this experiment； students will test the validity of the assertion that memory can be enhanced through
learning with the narrative chaining mnemonic method supplemented by a procedure that involves greater
depth of processing to overe a distractor。 In addition； there will be a delayed recognition test （as in
multiple…choice exams） to examine the effects of the independent variables on each of three dependent
measures。
1。 Word lists are posed of simple nouns high in imagery and concreteness。 There are two practice
lists and 10 experimental lists； each containing five words。
2。 Timing：
。 10 seconds for presentation of list
。 15…second wait before writing remembered words–this time is filled with either repetition of
words or “distraction” task of saying “Hello。”
。 15 seconds time to write remembered words
。 5–10–minute delay between pletion of the last immediate recall list and the start of the first
delayed recall
。 5–minute wait for the delayed recall （or less if students raise their hands when they cannot
recall any more words）； fill time with information about memory processes
。 2…4 minutes for recognitio