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Cicero's method of memorization. An example of creating images from three different objects

In the modern world, every day a person is faced with various amounts of information, plans, tasks. Many people speak in front of other people, during which they must beautifully and correctly express thoughts, guide or lead people, engage in learning and at the same time arouse interest. Alas, not all of us are able to instantly and efficiently enter the necessary data into memory. But fortunately, there are techniques for memorizing any amount and complexity of information. These methods are called mnemonics, which translated from ancient Greek means the art of remembering.

So, as a result of the development of memory, we are able not only to smoothly and thoroughly present information, i.e. have oratory skills, but also have the art of memorizing it professionally, while the volume and complexity of the data can be any.

This may be hard to believe. But we know one main secret for successful - this is changing any data into pictures (images), and then reproducing it in memory.

There are many techniques, but in this article we will look at the memorization technique from Cicero, as well as provide some simple but effective memorization techniques from mnemonics.

Causes of poor memory

Before moving on to the practical side, it is necessary to understand what lies in the root cause of poorly developed memory.

Note that each person's memory is different, and it is selective, i.e. for someone it will be easy to remember the multiplication table after reading it once, but at the same time the same person forgets the name of a friend almost immediately. Other people use visual memory effectively, but they hardly remember the simple rules of the Russian language. Why is this happening?

There are 5 reasons for memory impairment:

  1. Decreased or absent interest. This is the most popular reason. It is difficult to remember what is not interesting and does not cause a desire to develop in this area. In order to remember some information, you need to spend time and effort. If a person does not like poetry, then exercises for memorizing poetry will be tantamount to a feat.
  2. Low concentration, inattention, lack of attention management skills. Today, a huge stream of information pours every day on a person. In view of this, we delve into the data superficially, not understanding the essence and, at times, not trying to implement the information received in practice. And it becomes a habit. By the way, the simultaneous execution of several tasks also affects our productivity.
  3. Lack of memorization skills. A good memory is not given to us from birth, it is a skill that needs to be developed. Below will be presented techniques that will develop this ability.
  4. Low oxygen levels, vitamin deficiency, unhealthy diet. The conclusion suggests itself - take only healthy food, systematically engage in physical activity and walk in the fresh air.
  5. Depressive state. This has become the scourge of modern man. And with such a state of health, it is unlikely that it will turn out not only to remember new information, but also to reproduce the old one. Therefore, we recommend that you join an active life position and be able to experience such states.

Now you can go directly to the exercises for better memorization of information. Of course, we will present only some of the techniques that have gained popularity due to their effectiveness. However, we emphasize once again that each person is individual, therefore, you need to consciously and carefully answer the test questions and select a set of exercises. Only with this approach will the result be effective.

Walking through the "Roman Room", or the method of Cicero

Cicero's fame spread throughout ancient Rome and the world at the speed of light. His talent for public speaking is still held up as an example to his contemporaries. He had a unique talent - he performed in front of a huge audience, without using fairy tales, recordings and other materials. However, was it a gift or was it painstaking work to develop memorization skills?

It is his technique that we will consider in the following sections, since it is the most ancient method of remembering any information. If you master it, you can easily hold dates, numbers, words, phrases and other information. However, it is worth remembering that the main condition for achieving a result is systematic work, i.e. you need to do it every day.

The meaning of the technique

Memorization methods from Cicero have a specific meaning, which consists in creating a matrix of images that help to remember large amounts of data, and not just one fragment. The first thing to do is to form a system in which the images will be built.

Presentation on the topic: "Basics of the method of associations"

This system can be anything:

  • premises;
  • plot;
  • path;
  • familiar environment, etc.

If the work takes place with a room, then you should mentally recall all the objects that are in it. Preferably in an orderly manner. For example, clockwise or from one wall to another. You should not complicate the task when creating a system for associations, choose the room that you have studied well, then the next levels will not cause difficulties.

Some authors propose the creation of a radically new room, i.e. a person mentally creates a new home, makes a layout and arranges furniture. This will be the fruit of your imagination, which means that it will be easier for you to cope with the task.

Working with the "path" image system, you can form a variety of images, because this path has no end. In this case, as you move through the system, you need to sort out objects that will be encountered: huts, stones, people, flowers, shops, animals, etc.

As a system, you can choose absolutely any convenient place, an important condition is to correctly break down into separate images.

Before starting practice, you need to clearly define the scheme by which you will bypass the selected system. The movements should not be chaotic - you should arrange the traversing of the rooms so as not to spoil everything that has been "assembled" for so long.

An important point: choose a certain sequence of movement and assign to those objects that are in the system the key fragments of the speech of the speech or presentation.

After you have created the system, filled it with objects and set the keys, you should go around the system (room, road ...) several times and reproduce the specified criteria. The same must be done immediately before the presentation. Before each performance, Cicero also walked around the rooms and reproduced images.

After a certain time, everyone who has used this technique will be able to activate their memory at the right time, resorting to a convenient matrix of images.

Usage example

Let's look at an illustrative example of how to use Cicero's method of memorizing information.

  1. Let's take ten words necessary for memorization (numbers, events, theses of the speech, foreign words). For example, these will be the following words: curtain, postcard, bird, sour cream, packaging, mouth, hair dryer, tambourine, book, speaker. You need to ask them for specific items of the selected system (for example, a room). Next, we proceed to the next level of the task.
  2. Take a sheet, pencil and write down all the objects in the room. It doesn't matter how many there are. The main thing is that they create “niches” for our matrix. In addition, you should remember their location and in what order they are located. An approximate list of items in the room: window, sofa, wardrobe, TV, pouf, floor lamp, armchair, whatnot, shelf, piano, stove, carpet and more.
  3. The third is the connection of words from item 2 with places with a list of theses for memorization.

Mnemonics for quick memorization

Memorization methods according to Cicero are good, but there are other methods of mnemonics:

  1. Rhyme data. The creation of a poetic form makes it easier to perceive information and, accordingly, to reproduce it.
  2. Create phrases from the initial letters of information.
  3. Bundle. This technique involves linking the received data with an effective image. For example, you need to memorize the names of those present at the meeting - imagine that each of them is the hero of some fairy tale. For a more detailed connection, give the characters some kind of adjective. For example, "puss in boots" is a huge puss in sneakers.
  4. Hooks. The essence of the method is to replace digital values ​​with objects. Let's say 0 is a pen, 2 is a cat, 3 is a ram, etc.

You won't know which method is right for you until you try it. Choose the best option and train every day.

Regardless of the technique you choose, it is important to grasp the essence of the method and apply it as often as possible. Mnemonic professionals shared the secrets of working according to the Cicero method:

  • You need to use only interesting connections, saturated with emotions. Remember that the mundane and uninteresting is quickly forgotten. Use paradox, satire and humor to create your own matrix.
  • Apply erotic imagery. It is no secret that these very images enter our brain especially brightly in the form of signals. By the way, marketers claim that advertising posters with a beautiful sexy girl are perceived and remembered better.
  • Change the characteristics of objects on the trail / room / terrain. For example, let the window be airy and the chair prickly.
  • Paradox the characteristics of objects. Don't put your pajamas in the closet, but tuck the closet into your pajamas.
  • All guidelines for yourself: carry the notebook in your pocket, tie the TV to your hand.
  • Change the shape and size of objects. As in the example with the closet and pajamas.

As a result, you should have the following mental path (story), as an example:

Opening the window, I noticed a CURTAIN stuck in the window sash. Next, I noticed the CARDS scattered on the couch, they were wet. There was an apricot sour cream on the cupboard, and a BIRD was sitting in it. On the TV was a PACKAGE, and in it was a puppy who was opening his MOUTH. A HAIRDRYER was tied to his paw, standing on the BUBNA. On the pouf stood a small BOOK with the image of a half-naked erotic brunette, at whose feet stood a DYNAMIC.

For successful reproduction according to the Cicero method, you should once again bypass the selected system and remove the aforementioned objects. Just? Of course. However, this requires a thoughtful study of the words that you have already memorized. Then, do it yourself without using the prompts. We believe that you will succeed!

Benefits of working with memory


The main advantages of the above methods are the simplicity and efficiency of the acquired information.

After a few practices, a person will be able to fully use the chosen scheme and improve his memory. Among other things, these techniques allow you to memorize information of any type in preparation for a presentation, lecture, training, seminar, and even during an international presentation.

If you already know the audience you need to speak to, then they can be a great matrix for creating images. At the same time, the ease is due to the fact that there is no need to memorize a large amount of associations, which can collapse due to the lack of some detail. For example, if it is necessary to recall a specific phrase, a person can easily reproduce it, remembering what he tied the hairdryer to, and, therefore, finish the thought.

Of course, there are other methods of memorizing in verse, numbers and dates, but we will talk about them in other sections of our cognitive and developmental portal.

It happens that when you come to the store, you realize that you left at home a list of groceries that you had to buy. Once you have mastered the Dominic O'Brien Method, you can easily keep a list of everything you need in your head.

Let's take 10 arbitrary products for this example:

Apples - milk - cheese - butter - battery - chessboard - basketball - tennis rocket - mug - hanger

Many of you will be able to memorize 4-5 objects without much effort, a small part - 7-8.

A special exercise designed by Dominic O'Brien to improve memory will come to the rescue.

Try to remember how today went, how she was remembered, what happened yesterday, last week. What left the most vivid memories?

Take a pen and paper and write down everything that you remember for the past day, some of the things that you remember will surprise you with their presence in this seemingly ordinary day.

Here, an important role is played by the associations with which, this or that event, certain memories are associated with you, how vivid it was.

So, you went to the store to shop. Put each object in your mind at certain places along the route. For better memorization, give the image of objects a certain hypertrophy and brightness.

Over time, you will be able to remember what you need to buy on the way to the supermarket, because each item is clearly associated with specific associations.

  1. Memorization by the "cicero" method

The "Cicero" method is a memorization method associated with memory for places.

This method is also called the “place” method. The Greek poet Simonides (d. 469 BC) is considered its creator and the following story is told.

“Simonides was invited to a banquet of a rich man. When the guests were already sitting at the table, the poet was summoned on an important matter, and he immediately left the room. As soon as Simonides left, the room collapsed, and all the people in it died. To bury the dead, their relatives and friends asked the poet to identify the bodies. And Simonides remembered everyone sitting at the table in the place they occupied. "This gave him an excuse to discover the law that locally it is possible to recall the image of a famous person, and this led to the discovery of a way of memorizing." (G.I. Chelpanov, 1900)

So the discovery was made that our memory is closely related to the place. Indeed, when we meet a familiar person, we can remember his name only after we remember where we saw him. The same thing happens in a situation when we were busy with something, and we were suddenly distracted. We will be able to remember what we did or thought about only when we return to that place.

The method is named after the great orator Cicero because he was the first to describe and apply it to memorize his speeches. This method is still used today to memorize long speeches and large amounts of accurate information.

The essence of Cicero's method is to

    choose some well-known place or room;

    select objects (or places) in order, and it is important to immediately determine the sequence and accept once and for all one option for bypassing a room or place, for example, clockwise;

    it is better to choose bright and well-remembered items that are constantly in this place, for example, a closet. If the item regularly changes its location, then confusion is possible. For example, if you rearrange a vase to another place, then, “reading” the information, you can name it in the wrong order;

    you cannot use duplicate items, because the sequence may be out of order when you remember. For example, if you have two identical chairs in the room, then it is better to choose the first of them;

    connect the objects you have chosen in the room with the memorized information in pairs (we will tell you how to connect them later).

Useful Notes

    Before memorizing, it is advisable to walk around the place where you will memorize information.

    Prepare your seats and memorize the sequence of items. You will need this to memorize a large amount of information. It is desirable to have a system of 10 rooms, in each of which 10 items are allocated. Then you will be able to memorize 1000 units of information on this matrix! And this is a whole tutorial!

    One list, memorized by the "Cicero" method, is stored in memory for up to three days without repetition. If you want to preserve information for a long time, then never use this list to remember other information. Each previous list is "erased" under the influence of the next. If you need to memorize information only for a few days, then you can memorize today on one list, tomorrow on another, the day after tomorrow on the third, and two days later return to the first.

    A prerequisite is control recall

So, let's go around the familiar room clockwise. Now let's select the sequence of objects, i.e. 1 - door, 2 - bed, 3 - curtain, 4 - window, 5 - bookshelf.

Please note that there is a second window in the room, which is not suitable for memorization!

6 - desk, 7 - armchair

So, we have prepared a list of items that meets all of the above requirements.

Vasilyeva E.E. Vasiliev V.Yu. "SUPER MEMORY FOR ALL"

It bears the name of one of the great Roman politicians, who became famous for the fact that in the process of his outstanding speeches he never used records. At the same time, the speaker operated with many numbers, names, facts, and also quite often used quotations.

According to some sources, Cicero's method was very successfully applied long before its official author. In particular, the famous ancient Greek poet Simonides actively and successfully practiced it.

This method is simple and effective at the same time. Its other name is the Roman room system. It is based on the fact that the key units that need to be remembered must be arranged in thoughts in a certain order, presenting a familiar room in the head. After such a procedure, it is enough just to restore this room in memory in order to restore everything that you have fixed in memory. Cicero, when he was busy preparing for a public speech, walked around the house and placed in his head the main key points of his speech in various places.

Before you start practicing memorization according to the Cicero method, decide how you plan to go around the room. Choose the sequence of locations where you plan to mentally place the key units. For some, a representation of the room in the head will suffice. However, for the first time it will not be superfluous to walk around the house, as the great speaker did. In this case, it is worth choosing a familiar room, for example, your personal account. You can give preference to the clockwise method of movement.

With experience, you will be able to tap into more and more items and locations, thereby expanding your ability to capture information. You can use absolutely any item. Let it be a sofa, TV, shelf, desk, computer and so on. You can move mentally from left to right and up and down. You don't have to be limited to just your room. Familiar routes and the like can be used for more efficient fixation in memory.

You need to associate the key points of the information you are trying to remember with certain objects through associations. Starting to practice this method, it will not be superfluous to have a set of room elements in your head. Thus, you will always have a "handy" set of so-called mental hooks, which you can hook on the right key points.

As an example, consider how you can easily remember a list of the following items: bicycle, backpack, bottle, plasticine. These elements will be placed sequentially according to the layout of the house. We'll start with the corridor. It is necessary to use non-standard connections so that its reproduction is not difficult even after a long time.

We place the bike on a hanger near the door, and it is in an inverted position. Such an association can easily be deposited in our head. Next comes the backpack, which weighs on the door, and a cat looks out of it. We put a sunflower flower in the bottle and place it on the nightstand. We completely seal the mirror located in the hallway with plasticine, thereby creating a non-standard association and fixing the last key element in our list. Thus, we have got a rather unusual associative array that we can easily reconstruct in our head.

It is very important to preliminarily determine those objects that will meet us on the way. Otherwise, there is a risk that you yourself will be looking for details that will be easier to associate with a specific keyword. As a result, memorization will be ineffective.

Of course, Cicero's method should be applied to tasks that are much more difficult. The above example only helps to understand how memorization of information... This method is productive in the process of fixing the text in memory, the plan for the day, the order of the necessary phone calls, and so on. Moreover, when the information is logically related data, and not just a collection of words, you can use the same room repeatedly. At the same time, the rows of key elements will not jumble, and you will be able to easily recover data on a specific topic.

To learn how to use this method, a few workouts are enough. This is its main advantage when comparing this technique with others. What's more, this technique can be used anywhere. And the room where you are can be an excellent starting point for memorizing information. You do not need to use the method of linked associations or the time-consuming reconstruction of the chain, as it is necessary with the method of successive associations. You just need to recall a familiar room or use where you are at a particular moment. It is enough to look at the room, while arranging keywords and linking them to some objects. Recovering information is also easy. It is enough to remember the situation. By using this method, you will be amazed at how easily and quickly even the most difficult material can be learned.

Cicero's method is unique mnemonic device that anyone can learn. Even if you do not consider yourself a person with a good memory, using this technique, you can easily surpass each of them.

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Chain method

The images are linked in an association in pairs. The sizes of the images are approximately the same in each pair. When you have formed a connection between the first and the second image, the first image is removed from consciousness by transferring attention to the second. After this, a relationship is formed between the second and third image, etc.

The Chain method is one of the simplest mnemonic techniques. Its essence lies in the pairwise connection of images. At the same time, the relative sizes of the images in each pair are the same - large, and the images themselves are bright and memorable. You form a connection between the first and the second image, and then remove the first image from consciousness by transferring your attention to the second. After this, a relationship is formed between the second and third image, etc. In each pair of images, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between the first and second image of the pair.

The second image of the couple penetrates the first.

The second image of the pair is on top.

The second image of the couple is on the right.

Always form links in a well-defined system. If the association is horizontal, place the first image on the left.

If the association is vertical, place the first image at the bottom.

If the images, when combined, penetrate each other - place the second image in the first. When remembering, read the images in the same order.

For example, we need to remember a shopping list: loaf, milk, sausages, salt, newspaper, battery. Large, vividly imagine a fresh, crispy loaf with a carton of milk on top. Consider this connection for a moment or two, and then link the carton of milk to the second image of the chain: the bag is lined with sausages. You fix the connection and go to the salt. When you remember the first image - a loaf, "milk" will inevitably pop up in your memory, milk will recall the image of sausages and so on along the chain.

The chain method does not require prior memorization of the support image system; it can be used without preparation. However, this technique makes it difficult to memorize sequences with a repeating element. In addition, if you forget one link, the chain will break and you will not be able to remember the rest of the elements. Therefore, the role of the chain in modern mnemonics is rather auxiliary and training. But in everyday life (remembering a to-do list, a shopping list, the order of actions according to the instructions), the chain can be used very often.

When performing training exercises, you can memorize long sequences of images when long-term preservation of connections is not important. In this case, the number of images to be linked is practically unlimited - dozens and even hundreds of images can be linked.

Cicero's method

You and I regularly see the same visual images - objects in the apartment, objects on the street, along which we constantly return home, etc. These are the supporting images from which natural associations are formed. Since the connections between objects that we regularly see already exist in our brain, they do not need to be memorized. We remember them anyway. It is only necessary to fix well in memory a sequence of familiar images, that is, to repeat them many times. That is, the memorized units of information must be mentally arranged in a well-known room in a strictly defined order. And then it is enough to remember this room and reproduce the necessary information. This is the essence of the method of Cicero or the method of the Roman room.

This method is named after one of the most brilliant speakers in world history. Mark Thulius Cicero (106-43 BC) - statesman of the Roman Empire, famous for never using notes or tips in his public speeches. Cicero reproduced from memory many facts, dates, historical events and names. In order to memorize the prepared speech in a strictly verified sequence, Cicero broke his speech into parts and prepared each part in one of his many chambers. Immediately at his speech, Cicero mentally walked through his numerous chambers along a certain route, and this helped him to clearly remember the part of the speech that he was preparing there.

According to other sources, the roots of this method go back to Ancient Greece (the poet Simonides used this technique with success). Allegedly, Simonides accidentally got out alive from under the rubble of the roof, which collapsed on a large feasting company. The relatives of the victims asked Simonides to indicate in which part of the collapsed building to look for the bodies of loved ones. The poet, remembering, found that he was able to name almost all of them thanks to the familiar details of the room. He found this observation valuable and subsequently developed the idea. Thus, Cicero's method is the oldest memorization technique known to date.

We will learn how to select support images using the Cicero method using the following example: Consider your apartment (house). Determine the sequence of rooms for yourself. For example, memorize the rooms in the following order - corridor, bathroom, kitchen, large room, bedroom, balcony.

Then, you need to focus your attention on one room and mentally walk around it around the perimeter (and always in one direction - hour hand). Think of 10 objects in this room.

Now do the same in other rooms and select 10 images (for example, pieces of furniture) in each.

As a result, you will memorize a sequence of 50 objects. That is, you will fix the selected images in memory by repeated recall.

Here are some important rules of the Cicero method:

The visualizations you highlight should not be repeated. Only the names of objects can be repeated, and the images must be different.
You need to pull the connections that already exist in your brain. Therefore, highlight the images by remembering them. Try to choose such images so that five sub-images can be distinguished from them.
Try Cicero's method when preparing your speech or memorizing a text.
The sequence of working with the text is as follows:

Read the text and answer the question what it is about.
Divide the text into several semantic parts.
Memorize each part of the text in different rooms of your apartment or house, having clearly defined the order in which you follow them (entrance hall - bath - toilet - kitchen - living room - nursery - bedroom)
Reproduce the entire text aloud, taking into account the sequential presentation of the parts.

Demonstration of the method using the example of the fairy tale Kolobok

1) we will divide the plot of the tale into 6 semantic parts and represent each in the following way:
flour - a bun on the road - a hare - a wolf - a bear - a fox eats a bun
These images in mnemonics are called auxiliary. They encode information that we want to remember.
The image of a place that already exists in our memory and we know it very well is called a reference image in mnemonics.

2) In our imagination, we combine auxiliary images (flour, a bun on the road, a hare ...) with supporting ones (kitchen, living room, bath ...):
flour is in the kitchen;
the bun rolls along the road in the living room;
hare in the bathroom;
wolf in the toilet;
bear in the kitchen;
the fox is eating a bun on the balcony.

3) we repeat the fairy tale, using auxiliary images to remember the plot, and supporting images to remember the sequence of events.
Remembering, it is important to represent each image clearly, large. Do not think that this operation will take a lot of time. In order to set aside one pair of images in memory, a few seconds will be enough. The technique of Cicero is so simple that some experts even recommend teaching him to preschoolers.

The advantage of the Cicero method over, for example, the "Chain", in addition, is the following:
- the Cicero method uses images that are very familiar to us
- in the "Chain" technique, in order to get to some element of the sequence, it is necessary to sort out the entire sequence; in the Cicero method, one can move through the memorized material much more freely.
This method is also useful when memorizing long poems or poems. Try it in practice and you will see that it really works!

In a well-known room, you need to mentally arrange the memorized pieces of information, in our case, foreign words. Imagining a room, or several rooms, say, your apartment, you need to arrange the images in a certain order. Having fixed the location of these images, you can walk around the room and remember everything that is written there.

This method with a room system is great for memorizing dates, events, speech plans, and more. However, when memorizing foreign words, certain difficulties arise. For example, you can memorize a sequence of words in your own language without memorizing these words in a foreign language. This is the first thing. The second is the problem of "scattered" words throughout the apartment in no particular order. The third snag is how to remember the spelling of words (if necessary).

In the classroom, I introduce students to the essence of the method and invite them to memorize a pre-prepared list of words that I think they do not know. Their apartments are selected as a polygon. They draw themselves a rough plan of their house and remember the location of everything inside.

To solve the issue of the scatter of words around the apartment, we define our own part of speech for each room or corner of the room. It turns out that in one room there are only verbs, in the other only nouns, etc. This helps to immediately turn to the right room to search for the right words without going through the whole “apartment”. But within the room, you should move clockwise, and therefore arrange the images in the same way.

We solve difficulties with memorizing the pronunciation of a word with the help of phonetic associations. As far as possible, the association is selected so that there is some kind of action in it. It's easier to remember this way.

We memorize the spelling by trying to mentally write words on objects to which the images are attached, or by putting the spelling in a phonetic association. For example, a fifth grader, memorizing the English word “ master ”, Placed a poster with a picture of his father on the wall of the room. There is a corresponding inscription on the poster. There is also a good way to link to other words with a similar spelling that you already know well. This is especially true for the Chinese language, as it contains many words that sound the same. Hieroglyphs, of course, need to be taught in a different way :). For example, while studying the word "pearl" (zhenzhu), a student remembered it as "throwing a pearl in front of a true pig" (truth-zhen, pig-zhu). The image was glued to the box, in which the whole scene with the pig took place.

The same operations with words can be done not in a mental apartment, but in a mental city. Then you need to represent a well-known city, also highlighting its districts for the corresponding parts of speech. Moreover, its possibilities for storing images are endless, because there are many "apartments", shops, etc. in the city. It is important to learn how to connect images and associations with each other. This is much better remembered and much easier to remember.

At the first stage of mastering the method, we memorize only 15 words. As you get used to the method, it is planned to increase the number of memorized words to 25, 30, 35, etc. Memorizing 15 words while mastering the essence of the method takes about 15-20 minutes. Then repetition. I will try to describe the results through the trial period.