Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

 Rehearsal.
Say it aloud: rehearsal. Think of this word in terms of its three syl-
lables: re—hear—sal. If you’re scratching your head about why you should do 
this, it’s to illustrate the point of
rehearsal:
to transfer material that you encoun-
ter into long-term memory. 
To test if you’ve succeeded in transferring the word “rehearsal” into your 
memory, put down this book and go off for a few minutes. Do something 
entirely unrelated to reading this book. Have a snack, catch up on the latest 
sports scores on ESPN, or read the front page of a newspaper. If the word 
“rehearsal” popped into your head when you picked up this book again, you’ve 
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passed your fi rst memory test—the word “rehearsal” has been transferred into 
your memory. 
Rehearsal is the key strategy in remembering information. If you don’t 
rehearse material, it will never make it into your memory. Repeating the infor-
mation, summarizing it, associating it with other memories, and above all think-
ing about it when you fi rst come across it will ensure that rehearsal will be 
eff ective in placing the material into your memory.
 Mnemonics.
This odd word (pronounced with the “m” silent—“neh MON ix”) 
describes formal techniques used to make material more readily remembered. 
Mnemonics
are the tricks-of-the-trade that professional memory experts use, 
and you too can use them to nail down the information you will need to recall 
for tests. 
Among the most common mnemonics are the following:
•
Acronyms. 
Acronyms
are words or phrases formed by the fi rst letters of a 
series of terms. The word “laser” is an acronym for “light amplifi cation by 
stimulated emissions of radiation,” and “radar” is an acronym for “radio 
detection and ranging.”
Acronyms can be a big help in remembering things. For example, Roy G. 
Biv is a favorite of physics students who must remember the colors of the 
spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.) The benefi t of 
acronyms is that they help us to recall a complete list of steps or items.
•
 Acrostics. 
Acrostics
are sentences in which the fi rst letters spell out some-
thing that needs to be recalled. The benefi ts—as well as the drawbacks—
of acrostics are similar to those of acronyms.
•