Location, Location, Location! Demonstrating the Mnemonic Benefit of the Method of Loci

Abstract

Classroom demonstrations of empirically supported learning and memory strategies have the potential to boost students’ knowledge about their own memory and convince them to change the way they approach memory tasks in and beyond the classroom. Students in a Human Learning and Memory course learned about the Method of Loci (MoL) mnemonic technique, then created and used their own Memory Palaces based on campus locations to remember a grocery list. Pretest to posttest improvements in memory for the serially recalled list, along with significant increases in self-reported use of MoL in daily life, suggest that this activity may improve knowledge and application of this powerful memory strategy. More broadly, these types of activities can strengthen undergraduates’ metacognitive sophistication.