Project Memory XL http://memoryxl.blogspot.it/ Presentation about the mnemothecniques. By the Italian group. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

1. Presentation of the results of the second round: Identification of mnemonic methods,
rules, techniques or exercises which maybe useful in education
1.Step : Methodology
Please describe briefly the method
you have used
Workshop □ discussion group □ brainstorming X
in small X or in big □
group
with learners □ or teachers □
with learners and teachers X
individual work by learners X or teachers □
other □: ...........................................
Please find 3-5 mnemonic methods, rules, techniques or exercises which may be practical
and useful in education:
Name of the
method/rule/technique/ exercise:
METHOD OF LOCI
Short description of the method/...
In this method the things that we need to remember
are associated with specific physical locations very
familiar for us: for example the route we follow
everyday to go from our house to work, or our house
with its different rooms. In this method we collocate
things to remember in specific landmarks: the entrance
of the house, or the rubbish bin in front of my house.
The more dramatic the associations, the more vivid the
memory, the easier to remember. During our mental
walk in these familiar places we will find the things
where we have left them and we will remember them.
Searching in the Internet X
searching in appropriate literature X
conversation (talking) with teachers □
conversation (talking) with learners □
in a seminar □
other □ :.............................................................
Where /how did you find it:
Additional remarks if needed:
This method is also called “Roman room” or “Memory
Palace”

2. Presentation of the results of the second round: Identification of mnemonic methods,
rules, techniques or exercises which maybe useful in education
2nd step: Please evaluate the chosen method/rule/technique/exercise to determine whether it is
useful in education in general and/or in relation to particular subject areas.
Please answer the following questions (regarding each method,...)
Did you try this method yourself?
If yes, in which situation?
Did you have any difficulties in using
this method?
Do you have another evidence of
using this method/... (like
information from other people,
Internet, literature) please describe
What kind of success was
experienced by using this method/...
no □
yes X
as a learner, X a teacher X
during a learning X or teaching □ process
other situation □:
.................................................
Yes, a lot of difficulties. Even though we created
strong associations of objects with familiar places,
we remembered the places but we forgot the things
we had associated with them.
Other people □ Internet X literature □
According to experts using this technique a person
with ordinary memorisation capabilities, after
establishing the route stop-points and committing the
associated images to long-term memory, with less
than an hour of practice, can remember the sequence
of a shuffled deck of cards.
Very poor success. This is what happened to a man in
our team. He had a very busy day, he had to
remember: to walk the dog (he imagined a huge dog
at his front door); to fill up with petrol (he imagine a
puddle of petrol with a strong smell at the entrance);
to say happy birthday to his mum (he imagined a
delicious birthday cake on the kitchen table); to go to
the doctor (he imagined the doctor lying on his bed);

3. to take out the trash (he imagined rubbish in the bath
tube); to check the emails (I imagined my lap top on
the sofa in the sitting room). When he woke up in the
morning he tried to remember all the things he had
collocated in his rooms and tried to accomplished
them during the day. When he came back home, late
in the evening because he had run out of petrol, there
was a terrible smell of rubbish. He got a phone call.
His mum was furious because he had forgotten to say
Happy Birthday...
Is this method – in your (or others )
opinion – useful in general
education ? Please describe.
It’s not worth it especially when we need to
remember something urgent. It takes too long to
create the associations and to fix them.
Is this method – in your (or others )
opinion – useful in specific subjects?
In which one?
According to specialists we can apply it to giving
speeches without notes, memorizing chapters of
books, numbers, playing cards, poems, quotes,
studying for tests.
We don’t think this method is useful to remember
immediate things like the shopping list. It’s faster if
we write the things to buy!
Other remarks you would like to add:
This methods dates back 2500 years. As the story
goes Simonedes developed a method of memory he
referred to as loci after a tragic accident where the
roof of a building collapsed and killed everyone
inside. He was able to recognize the identity of the
corpses by associating them with the place where
they had been sitting.
Thank you very much !