The Growing Room

The Loci system is a unique memory device that allows for an incredible rate of memorization and retention of “list style” items. The Loci system is a great tool to become familiar with because it is great for learning lists, it is a lot of fun and it is a building block for use of The Memory Palace System.

The Loci system originated in about 500 B.C. It is the most ancient of all the mnemonic systems known. A story relating to this mnemonic system is one told by Cicero about the poet Simonides who was invited to a dinner party to speak on behalf of the host. Simonides was told there was a messenger outside who needed to speak with him. While Simonides was outside the roof of the banquet hall collapsed and crushed all those inside rendering them unrecognizable. Simonides was able to identify each of the bodies by RECALLING where they sat around the table. From this he gathered that it was possible to improve memory through the association of mental pictures of ITEMS to the mental image of a LOCATION. Thus, we have the Loci system.

The Loci System works in the same way as a filing cabinet. Information to be memorized is organized in a special way so that it is simple to find when needed. With the loci system you create what i will call a “mental walk-way” that becomes your filing cabinet. As you walk along there are sections called “loci” that are used as points of interest to recall a specific item. The item that you want to recall is related to a loci so that when you get to each loci it reminds you of the item to be remembered.
The Loci system works as follows

Step 1: The first thing you have to do is to think of a place that you are VERY FAMILIAR with. I like to use my house because it is something that I can recall quickly, easily, and with great detail. Other suggestions for Places to use would be;

* A School you are familiar with
* The office where you work
* A golf course you know well
* Any other place that you are very familiar with

Step 2: Within this place decide how many loci you would like to use. I started with 10 and expanded from there. Here is an example of what I use. My house is the familiar place that I use so my 10 loci in order are:

* Mailbox
* Car in my driveway
* Basketball hoop
* Ladder in the garage
* Washer and dryer
* Kitchen table
* fireplace
* reading table
* couch in my brothers room
* the bed in my room

When you know what you want your loci to be take some time to familiarize yourself with them and imagine yourself walking from one to the next. Make sure that they are ordered in a way that it is easy to go right from one to the other. In my case it is easy for me to walk past my mailbox to the car and up the driveway to the basketball hoop etc..

Now that you have your path constructed and your “loci” in order you can now use this to REMEMBER and RETAIN any list of items!!!

Step 3: Once you have your “walk-way” and all your loci down, you can then relate a list of items to each loci on the walk. When you relate an item to a loci it is good to have them INTERACTING, and absurd. Studies show that interaction and absurdness lead to better recall. If the first item on my list was apples I would start at my mailbox (the first loci) and associate apples to the mailbox by having a bundle of apples swinging from the mailbox like a pendulum. Take a minute to try and remember this list of items
1. Apples 2. Oranges 3. Lettuce 4. Milk 5. Cereal 6. Ice Cream 7. Chicken 8. Bread 9. Crab legs 10. Cookies

Remembering this list of items becomes somewhat of a struggle, it is usually not interesting, and if you were able to remember it the retention rate of this information would not be high.

Now try to remember the same list by using the loci system. Here is an example of my associations:

1. Apples- Bundle of apples swinging like a pendulum from mailbox
2. Oranges- GIANT orange rolling over my car
3. Lettuce- Lettuce becomes a green basketball going through the hoop
4. Milk- Milk is poured on the top of the ladder and drips down like a waterfall
5. Cereal- a bunch of laundry machines would be the “cereal” in a giant bowl
6. Ice Cream- My kitchen table becomes an Ice Cream scooper that doesn’t fit into a tiny tin of ice cream
7. Chicken- Chickens keep on coming out of the fireplace but there feathers all burned off
8. Reading Table- All the books on the reading table are made out of moldy bread
9. Crab Legs- A Massive crab is sitting on my brothers couch cross legged with glasses on reading
10. Cookies- My pillows turn into cookies that are uncomfortable to sleep on in my bed

The associations that I use are absurd and detailed so that they will stick in my memory. Spend a few seconds seeing each of the associations that you make to solidify the image in your mind.

When your done, try and recall the list of items that was given before. It should be pretty easy to recall the items when taking an imaginary walk past all your loci.

You will probably find this task to be easy and entertaining.

The reason why this works is because you change a recall task into an “aided-recall” task because of the association to the loci. You are also using TWO memorization aids (visual, and audible) instead of the usual audible memorizing that most people tend to do.

A great Part of this system is that you can easily increase the number of items that you can memorize simply by adding more loci. You can add multiple loci to one room ( your refrigerator and your kitchen table). You can go as far as to use your whole neighborhood as a path full of loci! The better you are at initially recalling your loci path, the more effective this technique will be. Taking the time to solidify each loci on your imaginary walk-way will make the task of recall so much easier. If you want to see just how effective this system is, try remembering the list of items given earlier in reverse order!

The loci system is also great for remembering information for tests such as all the bones in your hand, or Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Wherever there is a task where you need to perform a recall task you can creatively use the loci system. Experiment with it for information that you need to learn! Find out the best ways that you can use it.

There are also beneficial side effects of the loci system

The loci system is great for increasing the organizational capabilities of your memory. If used enough, this will become somewhat of an unconscious process that your mind does and you will see great increases in your memory. I am speaking from personal experience with this system when i say that it will increase your memory.

So, play around with this system. Enjoy it! If you want, come up with some other creative twist for the system. The possibilities are endless!! I would love to hear back if anyone thinks up new ways you use this system. If there are any questions feel free to ask.

-Brett