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This podcast contains detailed lessons on mnemonic such as the memory palace, number and phonetic systems, the link method, and more. Discussions with authors on technology and society as it relates to natural memory and mnemonic. Interviews with memory athletes on their techniques and training routines for competitions.

I had a lot of fun learning about memory during the unit. I feel like a podcast on memory it’s really interesting to learn about memory and discover curiosities we didn’t know about.

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Listen to The Craft of Memory Podcast on Spotify. Ronald Johnson is the host of the Craft of Memory Podcast, mnemonist, and memory coach. If interested in 1:1 memory lessons, please email: onlinememorytraining@gmail.com. On this podcast, you may expect to find detailed lessons on mnemonics such as the memory palace, number and phonetic systems, the link method, and more.

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3 processes of memory
Encoding = making mental representations of information so that it can be placed in our memories
Storing = process of placing encoded information into relatively permanent mental storage for later recall.
Retrieving = recess of getting or recalling information that has been placed into short-term or long-term storage.

3 types of memory
Sensory memory = initial process that receives and hold environmental information for several seconds. It can be iconic (visual) or echoic (hear).
Short-term memory = capacity to remember a small amount of information for a short period of time (up to 30 seconds).
Long-term memory = process of storing almost unlimited amounts of information for long periods of time.

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Personal story related to short-term memory

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Personal story related to short-term memory

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At the beginning of my exchange year I decided to join the cross country team to try something different and meet new people. During my first practice all the girls came up to me to introduce themselves. It wasn’t easy to remember all the names. The ones that remained in my mind that day were the names of the first and last girls who I met. This is called serial position effect, the tendency to recall information that is presented first and last better than information presented in the middle

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Personal story related to long-term memory

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Personal story related to long-term memory

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Last year my friends and I decided to buy the tickets for a concert even though we didn’t really like the band. We had time to learn their songs but every time I wanted to listen to music I wasn’t in the mood to listen to them. A few days before the concert I realized that maybe I procrastinated too much and learned all the songs in 3 days. Today, even though I’ve never listened to them after that concert, I still know the lyrics of all the songs they sung that night.

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Personal story related to long-term memory

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Personal story related to long-term memory

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When I was younger my mom taught me my grandparents’ house number so that I could call them from our landline by myself. Nowadays I have the numbers of all my friends and family on my cell phone, I don’t need to remember them to call them. The only number that I remember and never forget it’s my grandparents’ house one.

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Problem-solving shortcuts that reduce the number of steps to solving a problem.

I think that before using this strategy we should think about what could happen cutting the numbers of steps to solve the problem. Applying this strategy something could go wrong so we should take that in consideration before doing anything. On the other hand if the shortcut works well this strategy could be very useful.

Real life situation = When I was at a scout camp our leaders gave us a map with a marked trail to follow in order to arrive at the destination. By looking at the map I noticed a shorter trail that arrived in the same place we were supposed to go to. I talked about it with my friends and we decided to go that way saving almost an hour of walking. We could have been lost but we didn’t and everything went well (😮‍💨, otherwise it would have been my fault!)

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Trial and error (Problem-solving strategy)

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Trial and error (Problem-solving strategy)

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Problem-solving method characterized by repeated, varied attempts which are continued until success, or until the practicer stops trying.

I really like this method even if it can take time and patience. When you don’t know how to solve a problem it’s always better to try different methods and techniques rather than use a straightforward solution that doesn’t work or immediately give up.

Real-life situation = during my last physics test I couldn’t remember the right formula to solve a problem. I tried all the methods I could think about and in the end I finally remembered the right one.

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Tendency only to see solutions that have worked in the past.

It’s easy to find this obstacle in our everyday life without noticing that. If we already know a way to solve a problem we’ll always use that even if it’s not the only one. It’s ok to do that, but sometimes we should open our eyes and find new ways to solve problems.

Real-life experience = my 6 years old host brother, every single time his parents tell him “no” to something, he tries to ask the question a second time adding “please”. His parents are teaching him to say please by not answering his question when he doesn’t say that and doing what he asked for when he does. The problem is that sometimes the answer it’s a “no” even if he adds “please”, but he still needs to understand that.

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The tendency to think of things in terms of their usual functions.

When we learn that an object is made for a particular purpose we stick with this idea. Sometimes we need to realize that it’s not like that.

Real-life experience = I always thought about jar of food containers and that’s all. Then one day, when all of our glasses were in the dishwasher, my mum gave me a jar of water and I was shocked. Since then I love to use jar as glasses.

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One of my favorite techniques to remember things, especially school stuff or difficult terms, it’s to make a story out of it. A lot of my friends have told me that they already don’t have time to study, even less to make a story out of what they’re studying, or that it’s ridiculous and it’s not going to work. When I told them the story I made it was a lot faster and easier to remember our homework. For example, few years ago, our science teacher told us to learn the periodic table. At home I created sentences with words that started with the same letter of the elements. The next day I told them to my classmates who were struggling and suddenly the whole class remembered the periodic table thank to my method.

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A lot of times when I’m taking notes in class I tell myself that at home I’ll copy and write them better. Also a lot of times I go back home and I’m too lazy to do that. But then, when it comes to study I can’t remember what I wrote down because it’s messy and it all looks the same, nothing pops out and stays in my mind. Since then I started to highlight the most important words in my notes, using different colors for different topics or units. In this way, even if the notes aren’t perfect and well written, it’s easier to remember what I wrote, especially the highlighted words, thanks to our sensory memory.

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Listen to The Craft of Memory Podcast on Spotify. Ronald Johnson is the host of the Craft of Memory Podcast, mnemonist, and memory coach. If interested in 1:1 memory lessons, please email: onlinememorytraining@gmail.com. On this podcast, you may expect to find detailed lessons on mnemonics such as the memory palace, number and phonetic systems, the link method, and more.

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Does stress affect your memory? - Elizabeth Cox

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Does stress affect your memory by Elizabeth Cox

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Does stress affect your memory by Elizabeth Cox

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I experienced a lot of times loss of memory under pressure, but never asked myself why. This short video explains it well. It shows us how some stress can help us remember information, but how a lot of stress can do the opposite, erasing what we learned from our memory.

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Does stress affect your memory? - Elizabeth Cox

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Why are memory, thinking and problem-solving important 

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Why are memory, thinking and problem-solving important 

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Memory allows us to preserve and recover information, thinking helps us solving problems, also using problem-solving strategies, like algorithm, heuristic, trial and error or insight. Using our memory actives our brain, increases the releasing of dopamine, neuroplasticity and reduce stress. There are two different types of thinking: divergent (beginning with a problem and coming up with many different solutions) and convergent (beginning with a problem and coming up both a single correct solution).
Memories are fundamental in our life, to be remember basic things in our everyday life and be happy. Thinking allow us to be the way we are and be different from the others.

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Songs I could sing without looking at the lyrics 

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Songs I could sing without looking at the lyrics 

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This is my favorite song of all time. I loved it all my life but this summer, 1 month before leaving for my exchange year, my dad found a video he made of me when I was younger with this song. It made me very emotional to look at the mini me in the video while the song says “Hey there Delilah, what’s it like in New York City?” thinking that I was about to leave for New York City and stay away from my parents, friends and home for 10 months.

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Gazzelle is an Italian artist and it’s my favorite singer. I never knew he existed until I listened to this song on the radio. When the DJ said its title I immediately opened my notes app and wrote that down. Little did I know he would become my favorite singer and 5 months later my best friend and I would be at his concert together.

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We sing this song almost every bonfire night at scouts, especially at this summer’s camp. “Buon viaggio” means “Have a nice trip” and both my best friend and I were about to leave for our exchange year, so this song acquired an even more important significance.

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Dancing Queen - From 'Mamma Mia!' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Meryl Streep

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Do I really have to explain why? Mamma Mia is my favorite movie and musical ever! I could sing every ABBA song with my eyes closed. Especially this one, just because I’m a “dancing queen, young and sweet only seventeen”.

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Dancing Queen - From 'Mamma Mia!' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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Dancing Queen - From 'Mamma Mia!' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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It’s pretty embarrassing for me to admit that I know every single word of this song. It’s the farthest thing from the kind of music I like. I just learned it for the boy I used to like, it was a completely waste of time 😐.