Memory Tricks Part 4: The Method of Loci

The method of Loci is one of the most famous mnemonic techniques for remembering. With this method you connect information with visual images of a map that is familiar to you.

For example, if you need to learn the digestive system, you can link the different phases of this system to your own house. You enter your house through the front door (mouth) and then enter the living room (esophagus). Then you walk to the kitchen (stomach) and walk up the stairs (small intestine) to the bedroom (large intestine). You finish on the toilet in the bathroom (anus). When you walk this map a few times in your head, you will see you easily remember all different phases.

Trick 1: Use the method of Loci for remembering different phases or objects in a specific order.

In the example above you have connected a room to every object. However, you can also do this the other way around by connecting an object to a place. This can be very easy when you are trying to remember a shopping list or a to-do list.

(1) Think of a route you often walk or drive. This can be the route to work or school, the rooms of your own house, the route you usually walk in the forest or garden, anything.

(2) Create key points within this route. For example, the rooms of your house, the traffic lights, the roundabout, the bakery or the big house on the corner.

(3) Connect every room or key point to an object you are trying to remember. The trick is to make really strange combinations, because the sillier it is, the more likely you are to remember it.

In this example we will use the rooms in a random house and we have to remember a grocery list with the following items: milk, shampoo, grapes and butter. You start within the kitchen where you see shampoo bubbles overflowing in the kitchen sink. When you walk to the living room you see grapes hanging from the chandelier and when you walk to the hallway, you see a fountain with milk. Finally, you want to run up the stairs, but you slip because it is completely smeared with butter.

Walk this route in your head a couple of times with these mental images. When you eventually are doing grocery shopping, you start walking the route again and you can easily remember every single item on your list.

The first time I heard about this method, I thought it was a silly thing and rather impossible. However, the truth is that it is a very easy and efficient way to learn things by heart. The first few times you apply it you will be surprised by all the things you can remember. Moreover, the more you use this method the better you will manage it.

Trick 2: Use the famous method of Loci for remember shopping lists or to-do lists.

With the method of Loci we have come to the end of the Memory Tricks series. Click here if you want to read previous parts:
• Memory Tricks Part 1: How chocolate and perfume can help you improve your grades
• Memory Tricks Part 2: The magic of numbers
• Memory Tricks Part 3: The power of mnemonics

I hope you have enjoyed the tricks and that they were helpful for you. If you have any questions regarding these tricks, please leave a comment and I will be glad to answer it.

Sunday, February 27, 2011 // Labels: Cognition, Memory Tricks // 5 comments //

5 comments to "Memory Tricks Part 4: The Method of Loci"

February 27, 2011 at 1:50 PM
Margot says:

Interesting tricks! But I don't want to make time to remember a shopping list by creating a route trhough my home. I prefer writing down a list of the things I need ;)
February 27, 2011 at 1:54 PM
Saskia Kanters says:

You are totally right Margot! Thanks for your comment. However, these tricks are meant more for emergency situations. When you for example are driving in the car and think of what you want to buy, but when you do not have any pen or paper. I do completely agree with you that it is a lot easier to just write down the things you want to buy ;)
June 9, 2013 at 5:15 PM
Anonymous says:

Lol Anus Hehe XD
June 9, 2013 at 5:16 PM
Bloofintene Kanters says:

Awks Lol @Anon
June 9, 2013 at 5:17 PM
Anonymous says:

Hows your (An>*<us) :B SASKIA KANTERS :P??