A close cousin of rehearsal is simply repeating something as you hear it, and in some cases, embellishing it with another technique, such as using imagery or making other types of associations. The difference is that the rehearsal technique described in the previous chapter is for longer, more complex information where you are trying to remember more details. Repetition is a way to remember simpler bits of information, such as names of people, phone and bank account numbers, and street directions. You are not so much reviewing and rehearsing this information as repeating it over and over to drum it into your memory.
A classic example of how this works is the old memory game that many kids learn at school or camp to remember names—and sometimes adults play, too. Everyone sits in a circle or group. In turn, each person says their name and the names in order of every person who previously said their name. Players keep going until someone misses a name; then that person is out and the next player continues from there. The last person left in the game is declared the winner. For example:
And so on. The game is typically used as an icebreaker, and the usual outcome is that everyone knows and remembers everyone else’s name, since they learned this through repetition.
The process of repetition is one you can use for almost anything because we think faster than we listen to something.
When you use repetition, pick out what’s important to you; you obviously don’t want to go around repeating everything to yourself. For example, if you are introduced to a large number of people during the evening, it might be better to collect cards from everyone where possible and use repetition for the names of the people whom you want to talk with further. (See Chapter 27, which is devoted specifically to remembering names and faces.) Also, as you repeat something, use images or associations to make it even more vivid to you. If you have a number of things to remember at one time, like a series of numbers for an account or a password, use chunking, too, to make what you repeat to yourself even easier. (Chapter 28 is devoted to remembering numbers.)
Consider using either mental or physical repetition, or both. For mental repetition, use self-talk to say the person’s name over and over to yourself. For physical repetition, say the person’s name out loud or write it down, using it in a context that makes sense, such as by prefacing a statement or question with the person’s name or giving a reason why you are writing the person’s name down, such as “I want to contact you later about this program we talked about.”
Here are some examples from everyday life of how you might use repetition.
1. You meet someone and want to remember that person’s name. Say that person’s name over several times in your mind; then make a comment to that person using his or her name, such as “That’s an interesting point you are making, Henry.” At the same time, you might reinforce repeating the name mentally and physically with an image, such as seeing a clucking hen, which will become an image association with Henry. Or use the all about me method to think about how you might work with Henry in the future or how a relationship with Henry might benefit you.
2. You listen to a lecture and want to remember an idea that was expressed. (This is not to be confused with trying to remember extensive details about this lecture, as described in Chapter 13.) State the idea to yourself mentally and repeat that statement several more times to yourself. Then, if you want to embed it even more firmly, use the all about me approach to think about how you can further gain from this idea—or for a negative idea, how you can avoid the consequences.
3. You hear or see a phone number, bank account number, or password and want to remember it. In this case, you may already have a place where you have written this information down—a good idea, because you don’t want to keep a lot of numbers in your head that can fade over time. But for convenience, you want to access these numbers quickly, too. Ideally, slow down the pace of learning these numbers, so you can repeat each number to yourself without interference from another number. Then, for each number, if it isn’t already chunked, chunk it up, and mentally repeat that number to yourself. Additionally, to help remember what each number is for, create an image for that item or organization. For instance, if it’s a phone number, visualize the image of a phone next to the number. If it’s a bank account, visualize the bank where you have the account. If it’s a password, create an image for the Website or account where it is a password, such as imagining a camera for a site featuring films or a newspaper for a daily news site. You can use your memory of real images, humorous cartoon images, company logos, or whatever helps to make the link between the number to remember and the place where you can use it.
4. You are getting directions about somewhere you need to go. For security, it is best to actually write these down if you have more than three or four steps to remember, because once you make a mistake like turning left instead of going right, you may get lost. But it’s often very convenient if you can remember these directions and not have to constantly look at what you have written—which can not only slow you down but cause an accident if you are driving in a car. To remember the directions, repeat the street or which way to go on it mentally to yourself as the person says it (“Turn right when you get to Maple Avenue” can become “right onto Maple”). At the same time, try to envision a map in your head, so you visually create a mental map to follow along with your mental soundtrack. You might also add in image associations as you hear each street name, such as seeing the image of a peach for Peachtree Lane, the image of a small mechanical gadget for Widget Road. As for the directions, as you say left, right, or straight ahead to yourself, you might see the image of an arrow on a street sign pointing in that direction. As for the distances, such as if someone tells you to go two blocks or go six miles, repeat those numbers to yourself, too. In Chapter 28, you will also learn to create associations with those numbers using the Number Shapes method, such as a “stick” for 1 or a “swan” for 2. See those images appear as you say the numbers.
5. You hear the title of a song, book, or movie or see it in print, on a Website, or on a movie marquee. Repeat the title to yourself several times—and again, it helps to think of an image you associate with the meaning of the words, for example, the image of a man behind bars while a bright red heart flashes above him for a song entitled “Guilty for Loving You.”
Now that you’ve got the basic idea, concentrate on picking out things to repeat to yourself as you go through the day. At the same time, combine saying the words to yourself with using other memory reinforcers like the all about me or imagery associations techniques.
After you have used this technique for a few hours or a day, reflect on how well it has worked for you. To do so, think about each type of thing you have tried to remember (e.g., names at an event, ideas you have heard, phone or bank numbers, or directions) and see how well you recall it. You can do this mentally, or to further check yourself, write down the names, ideas, numbers, directions, or other items you have tried to remember through repetition. Compare what you’ve written to the real items and see how accurate you were. Determine the percentage of correct items remembered.
Do this exercise again and again over the next few days with new material, and compare your performance each day. You should find that for equivalent-sized lists, your percentages will go up. If you try this with a significantly larger list, your percentages will be likely to go down, since you have much more to remember. Conversely, with a significantly shorter list, your percentages should go up, because you have much less to remember. So for comparability, keep what you try to recall each day about the same amount.