The Use of Mnemonics by Written & Oral Traditions

Question 1

Mnemonic Devices

Answer 1

Mnemonic: any technique used for impro ng or enhancing memory
● These are active at the encoding stage of memory processing
● They do not work by reducing the amount of information they add ➡
information to organise material & to make connections with existing
information
● They use information is already stored in LTM by forging a link with the new
information trying to be remembered

Question 2

Mnemonics in Written Traditions

Answer 2

Written cultures: a culture in which stories and information are shared and preserved through the process of reading and writing
● Acronyms
● Acrostics
● Method of loci

Question 3

Acronyms: (+ Initialisms)

Answer 3

Acronyms are pronounceable words formed from the first letters of a group of words
● Acronyms don’t have to be a real world
● It is often a pronounceable abbreviation that isn’t actually a word like ANZAC Initialisms are abbreviations that are pronounced by saying each letter of the word indidually, they cannot be pronounced in the way that words can like ATM and VIP

Question 4

Acrostics

Answer 4

Acrostics are a phrase in which the first letter of each word functions as a cue to help with recall
● They involve making verbal associations for items to be remembered by constructing sentences using the first letters of the information to be remembered
○ Never Eat Soggy Weetbix North, South, East, West
➡
● Acrostics can be useful for remembering information in sequential order

Question 5

Method of Loci

Answer 5

The method of loci is a mnemonic system that commits a familiar location or sequence of locations to memory, then sually links them with information that needs to be recalled
● Each location acts as a retrieval cue that makes it easier to retrieve the information when it’s needed
○ Locations must be familiar to the indi dual
● Particularly useful when needing to remember a list of items in a particular
order

Question 6

Mnemonics in Oral Traditions

Answer 6

Oral Traditions: Practices in which knowledge, stories, and customs are preserved and shared through spoken word and movement
Songlines:
● Used as mnemonics to memorise and communicate information Songlines are a na gational route comprising a sequence of locations.
● Locations o ften include significant landscape features that incorporate vi tal information.
○ At each location, a story, song, dance or ceremony is performed, and is associated with that particular location
●
Encoding, storage and retrieval of knowledge communicated at different locations are enhanced through stories with d characters