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Why memory programs rarely work

Like diet programs, memory programs rarely result in permanent change. Mostly people come away with some new knowledge of memory strategies, and lots of good intentions, but their good intentions fall by the wayside. They might be left with one or two very specific memory ‘tricks’, but that’s about all.

Research has found that even intensive memory courses (sometimes lasting as long as a month) do not usually result in permanent use of the memory strategies taught.

Why not?

Not because the participants are stupid or weak-willed. The fault lies in the way memory improvement techniques are generally taught.

How to permanently improve your memory

The main problem seems to be that the programs don’t go deep enough. People need to understand the context of what they are learning.

Permanent memory improvement requires a knowledge of how memory works

Research suggests that whether you habitually and appropriately use effective memory strategies - and that’s what permanent memory improvement is all about - depends far more on how much you know about your own memory processes than on how smart you are.

It has been found that people are most likely to generalize memory strategies across to other tasks when they have been taught general information about how the mind works. Furthermore, people who already have some knowledge of metamemory skills are most affected by such training.

In other words, the more you understand about how memory works, the more likely you are to benefit from instruction in particular memory techniques.

The key to memory is understanding memory.

Permanent memory improvement is about building good habits

Research suggests that to be effective, memory training should also include:

• extensive practice
• experience at a wide variety of tasks
• information that encourages belief in the new learning strategies

To develop any skill you need to practice, but to master a skill you need to practice to excess. If it’s not automatic, using the skill will require too much effort. You won’t use it. Eventually you will lose it.

The key to permanently improving your memory skills is developing the right habits. To build a habit (whether good or bad) you must over-learn — repeat and repeat and repeat until you do it without thought. You will never acquire genuine, permanent, memory improvement without over-learning.

An automatic, over-learned skill is part of your ‘permastore’. Like the permafrost that never melts, memories in permastore are never lost.

Mastering a memory skill means making it a habit.

Building new habits requires belief

People are most likely to take on board new habits of learning if they are convinced of their usefulness. Such conviction doesn’t come about merely because they have been told so, nor even by trying out the technique themselves. To be really convinced of a technique’s usefulness, a person needs to experience for themselves the generality of the technique in everyday situations, and to have some understanding of why it works, as well as to believe in their own ability to use the technique successfully and appropriately.

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