Mnemonic techniques enhance memorization of information.
Mnemonics include:
Acronyms are formed using the first letter of each word from a group of words that the learner is trying to remember. For example Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder's acronym is ADHD. This is used in the medical and education fields to identify this disorder. Acronyms are particularly useful for remembering names of historical figures, animal classifications, math steps etc. They are excellent for recalling information from rote memory. Acronyms do not enhance comprehension however. Other difficulties faced by students developing acronyms as a study strategy is they might get too lengthy and thus be difficult to recall themselves and sometimes the information being studied cannot be easily made in to an acronym.
The use of acronyms can enhance recall of vast amounts of information by reducing the information into manageable chunks and recognizable patterns. Once the student attends to the original information, recombines or encodes that information into a recognizable pattern (acronym), rehearses the information that relates to the acronym in a multisensory approach thereby committing the information to short term memory, stores it in long term memory through rehearsal and making connections with that information ...then it is ready for retrieval. A summary of this process is:
Attention ----> Encoding ----> Storage ----> Retrieval
http://brain.web-us.com/memory/theories_and_processes.htm
An excellent source of other memory techniques can be found on this site: http://www.studygs.net/memory/
