randomly chaotic and frequently mundane

when i was in college, psych 101 to be precise, we learned this trick for memorizing a list of 10 items. 1 person was asked to make a list of 10 things you’d find in a department store for us to commit to memory for a little quiz later.

i’ve never had a need to use the technique outside of that class… but 10 years later, i STILL remember that list!!!  so i thought i’d share the technique.  basically, you take a few moments to visualize the item in these situations:

1. run –  item running around a track
2. zoo — 2 monkeys playing with the item
3. tree — the item sitting at the top of the christmas tree
4. door — a door opening, and the item being there
5. hive — a swarm of bees flying around the item
6. sick — the item laying in a hospital bed
7. heaven — st. peter at the pearly gates wearing or holding the item
8. gate — railroad crossing gates down with the item on top of them
9. wine — a bottle of wine wearing or sitting on the item
10. den — a pair of lions pacing around the item

the list my class memorized was:

1. shoe
2. curtain rod
3. coffee maker
4. dress
5. wrench
6. rake
7. suit
8. towels
9. jacket
10. picture frame

it’s amazing what the mind can hold onto.  LOL

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 9:46 am and is filed under random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.