Boost Your Memory—and Your GMAT Score Pt. 2

In the first part of this series, we explored the use of mnemonic devices and spaced repetition for supplementing your study strategy and making strides beyond your predicted GMAT score. Today, we’ll continue with some further memory enhancing techniques using associations and music.

Enhancing your GMAT score

The narrator of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time discovers the power of involuntary memory, as it’s often called, when he bites into a madeleine (a kind of French sponge cake) and is suddenly transported back to memories of his childhood. You’ve likely had similar experiences of nostalgia: a particular taste, smell, or melody instantaneously linking you to the distant past.

The human brain is peculiarly associative, and the slightest, most obscure detail is often enough to compel us to recall something from our youth as if it happened yesterday. Fortunately for you, harnessing this power of association can help you win big on Test Day. All of the complex, multifaceted content you need to know for the GMAT or GRE can be committed to memory by using some simple mnemonic tricks.

The Baker/baker effect

How do you use association to earn a higher GRE or GMAT score? One of the most common techniques is to employ visual or spatial cues that help consolidate and engrain specific information in your memory. The idea is simple: Associative learning is more effective than rote memorization simply because it makes a more significant impression.

This should intuitively make sense. We know that many people find it difficult to remember the name of somebody they’ve met only once unless there’s some other association attached to that name. In what Researchers call the Baker/baker effect, two groups of people are introduced to a man. One group is told that the man’s name is Baker and the other is told that the man is a baker. It turns out that the latter group is better at recalling the piece of information they’ve been given, since the idea of a baker calls to mind a network of associated sensations: the smell of fresh bread, the taste of pastries, the image of a bakery, etc.—more parts of the brain are engaged by the word ‘baker’ than by the proper name.

Memorization by association

Knowing that visual cues make a more lasting impression on your brain, you can use the technique of association to master either the GMAT or the GRE, depending on which entrance exam you’re taking. Let’s say, for example, you encounter the word ‘taciturn’ when reviewing your deck of vocabulary flashcards. You might then visualize somebody “turning” away from a conversation to remember that ‘taciturn’ means “inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation.”

Another approach is to grow your GMAT vocabulary and verbal skills by assigning definitions to an associative object or person. For example, you remember the definition of the word ‘garrulous’—which means “excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters”—because it reminds you of your particularly chatty Facebook friend Gary. Use whatever feels most natural for drawing associations that might clue you in on the meaning.

The method of loci

Associative learning can also help with short-term recollection, such as when you’re answering GMAT Reading Comprehension questions. Although the passage will remain on the screen while you answer the questions, knowing precisely where to find important information—key arguments, opinions, or positions articulated by the author—can save you time. Try plotting reference points in your short-term memory that will help you zero in on specifics demanded by the questions.

One approach, known as the method of loci, is to imagine the passage as a house, with each room in the house representing different parts of the text and specific objects in each room assigned to more granular details. Then, when it comes time to answer the Reading Comprehension questions, you can simply “walk through” the passage and you’ll have a clear map of where key points are located in relation to one another.

Name that tune

Visual and spatial associations aren’t the only effective way to supplement your memory. Music can be equally compelling, and you likely already have strong memory associations with your favorite songs. There’s something about music that hooks us—sometimes a bit too effectively, such as when you get a song stuck in your head.

That catchy aspect of music is precisely what you want to seize on when studying for the GMAT. You probably remember the ABC song from childhood. You may even still compulsively hum the melody when reciting the alphabet. Just as that song helped you learn your ABCs, memorizing GMAT content is easier when you set it to a simple, catchy tune.

Music and math

Let’s say you’re trying to learn the formula D = rt. Since familiar children’s songs have the simplest melodies and are easiest to remember, we’ll use ”Mary Had a Little Lamb.” To commit the formula to memory, all you have to do is sing it as a musical phrase: “Distance equals rate times time… rate times time… rate times time.”

Be sure to sing it repetitively and out loud during your study sessions (give your roommate fair warning). Then, when you need to use the formula on Test Day, you’ll find that the melody will immediately pop into your head, and along with it all the crucial information you need to know to solve the problem.

The best way to enhance your study strategy and improve your GMAT score is to use a combination of mnemonic devices, spaced repetition, associations, and musical memorization. Apply the different techniques where they make most sense to you, and get creative with inventing your own methods.

Now that you know more about how enhancing your memory can help enhance your score, get started testing your knowledge. Take our Score Predictor quiz (about 10 minutes!) to help you find out how you might do on the GMAT.

The post Boost Your Memory—and Your GMAT Score Pt. 2 appeared first on Business School Insider.