For some people, remembering certain types of information can be difficult like learning people's names and anniversaries. This is where a memory technique called mnemonics can help. It uses things like rhymes, acronyms, and diagrams to aid in memory retrieval which helps you to remember information like items on grocery lists, birthdays, and other facts and figures.

An example of a mnemonic is the "30 days hath September" rhyme for remembering the number of days in a calendar month. Mnemonics may seem like mere child's play but for those of us who need a little trick to help us remember things this works very efficiently. Something funny or strange sounding like a mnemonic may stay in the user's mind better and longer.

The human brain codes and interprets complex information such as images, colors, structures, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, positions, emotions and language. We use this information to make sophisticated models of the world we live in. Our memories store all of this information very effectively. So if I said the word "dog" you might instantly think of several different word associations like bark, hairy, pet, leash, etc. In the same way that your brain is able to easily bring up the information associated with the word "cloud", you can use a mnemonic to bring up information that you have associated with it. Another example of a mnemonic is the word "scuba". Each letter in the word "scuba" stands for something. null

To help students and readers alike to remember the order and names of the planets in the universe, a mnemonic is used. The goal is to remember the order of the planets as follows: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Before reading on, create your own sentence by using the first letter of each of the planet names. My sentence is as follows: My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Noodles. Let yourself go and be creative as you like when you are writing out your mnemonics. Try to avoid negative and violent mnemonics because these negative associations are more difficult for your brain to recollect. In order for you to recall the mnemonic images quickly and easily, stick with non-negative word associations. Make your mnemonic images as memorable as possible. This will also help to improve your memory. You should never underestimate the power of humor; an effective mnemonic image is one that is funny and has a lot of humor in it.

Since the idea behind using mnemonics is to encode difficult-to-remember information in a way that is much easier to remember, it is a very effective way to help you to improve your memory. So if you are a student who wants to do better on exams, or your vocation requires you to recall information quickly and easily, or you simply want to remember facts and dates better, the use of mnemonics will help you accomplish this.