Rote Memorization Techniques

To discuss rote memorization we should first know something about memory and cognitive behavior. Cognitive behavior is the ability to acquire, organize, remember and use information gathered by the brain during our waking hours. If the cognitive behavior is acceptable we will be able to reason and judge properly by recognizing our surroundings. For years it was believed that the human IQ could not be changed. to make us more aware and smarter.  Research has found that it can be changed through proper training. This applies to rote memory also.

The use of certain techniques in remembering is the job of the entire brain rather than just a portion of it. We train our memories from the time we are old enough to see our environment. We then are either the ones that remember names and other than remember numbers. Assuming you are trying to remember the address of 1234 Lakeland. You will remember that 1234 are the first four numbers when we count and if you live near a body of water you will remember the Lake and the land surrounding it. Hence, the1234 Lakeland address. This is less complicated when we do it because we do it automatically and usually do not even think about it. This is called memory by association.

Rote memory is somewhat different. We have learned as chidden to recite certain nursery rhymes, not because we understood what the meant and organized them that way in our memory; but because the words followed a certain tempo or rhythm. Many people with eidetic memory use rote memory without knowing it. The person with eidetic memory can see something or read something and within minutes remember it all in vivd detail. This is because the detail was seen in a very organized manner of either tempo or rhythm. This method applies to both the written word, the visual sensation or in conversation.

To train to remember through rote memory, use memory association with a beat. Choose a paragraph in a story and read it with a certain beat in mind while you are reading. Close the book and try to remember what you read using that same beat.

There was a time when students were encouraged to use rote memory in their studies. The students just remembered what they read without using any reading comprehension. They learned the basics of their studies in order to pass tests which were usually written in the same manner as the studies. If you memorized your studies you could pass the test. Comprehension was not necessary. It helped if you should have to take part in a discussion but that too was not something that happened often. Today, the student does not learn lessons by rote memorization. Today, comprehension is necessary as most tests want a short essay about a particular subject.

The most common rote memorization techniques is to read or say something enough time so that you have memorized it word for word without error.