Your memory
by Kenneth L. Higbee · first published 1977
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Practical, thorough guide to how memory works and specific techniques to improve it; praised as more pragmatic than Moonwalking with Einstein and suited to readers wanting to learn real methods rather than hype.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…memory and learning works. Some parts are like learning how to program your brain. Your brain works well with certain data structures. I'd recommend this book for those interested: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Memory-How-Works-Improve/dp/1569...
on “Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector” ↗…this site then: http://foolsworkshop.com/reviews/ Also, a lot of stuff here: http://www.columbia.edu/~nvg1/Wickelgren/ But what may have influenced my life the most is this book: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Memory-How-Works-Improve/dp/15692... I for one am convinced that the next frontier is our mind. Information is free - it's your ability to digest it that's the bottleneck. Also, we don't really know a lot about…
on “I Have No Talent” ↗"Moonwalking" is a good book, and I encourage you to get it, however, it won't train you on much more than how to remember that one thing. The book isn't about "how to train your memory", rather, it is about how one guy trained his. A subtle, but important distinction. For something more instructional, I was recommended Higbee's, "Your Memory, How it Works and How to Improve It[1]".…
on “How to Train Your Brain to Remember Everything” ↗…activities. I would suggest you create your own decks with images you find or create yourself rather than downloading existing decks. Memorization is generally improved by this approach (see Higbee, Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It). I also like how Anki has spaced repetition built in nicely.
on “Ask HN: Flash Card App Idea...” ↗> I'd like to learn more, but there's so much hokum surrounding so called 'memory' techniques it's hard to know where to start. Check out the book "Your Memory: How it Works and How to Improve It" by Kenneth Higbee. It's written by a professor in psychology and he uses it in his classes. The book has the perfect blend between theory of how memory works and practical…
on “Practical and ethical implications of memory enhancement” ↗I like "Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It" by Higbee in addition to the Foer book. It is a little more pragmatic and thorough in description of the techniques discussed in "Moonwalking with Einstein."
on “Learn to remember everything: The memory palace technique” ↗…in the technical paper and then link them. Then you could pump those images into your SRS system for review. You can find info on the web about link methods and recall, or you can just grab Higbee's "Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It" from Amazon. I found old copies pretty easily in university libraries as well.
on “Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything” ↗…reading it). For a basic primer, I'd recommend this to get started with the memory palace technique: http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Memory-Palace And for a much more comprehensive instruction, Higbee's "Your Memory and How to Train It" was the most referred to me: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Y35JI0/ref=docs-os-doi_...
on “Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything” ↗…Waitzkin could be a good start for someone who wants to improve in this area. Of course, one could also learn how to make their study technique more effective so they don't need to spend 10 hours. See 'Your Memory: How It Works and How To Improve It' by Higbee for that.
on “Never mind talent: Practice, practice, practice” ↗Moonwalking with Einstein is a fun book. "Your Memory" by Higbee I read maybe 15-20 years ago and it's more on how to do this kind of stuff. I was able to memorize a deck of cards quite quickly at one point but these techniques require quite a bit of practice…
on “The Champion Who Memorized 80 Numbers in 13.5 Seconds” ↗…much research on specific methodologies (e.g. Cornell method), but it may also be the case that the methodology doesn’t matter at all, only that the strategies are employed. I recall that in the book Your Memory by Ken Higbee he said that various study/notetaking methods don't differ much and just combine strategies that are known to work. So he picked a popular system to recommend to readers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQ3R…
on “The Cornell Note-Taking System” ↗…have success retaining information by explaining it to another human being. This can lead to me rereading sections and keeps me engaged with the content. This is consistent with what I have read from "Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It" by K. Higbee.
on “Ask HN: How do you synthesize books that you read?” ↗Actually, I do - had to quickly glance through the book to confirm it though. The book is this: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Memory-How-Works-Improve/dp/15692...
on “Ask HN: What if I missed the good stuff in my undergraduate education?” ↗…Amazon), which I feel will give me a more informed position in politics. You'll have to pardon my belief that politics matter, and aren't a waste of time. The book I'm currently reading is Higbee's "Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It", which I believe will help me extend my mnemonic memory, which will allow me to remember the things that never stuck with rote memory (capitals of all the states,…
on “The Dangerous Effects of Reading” ↗…recognition would likely have shown no evidence of remembering. The savings decreased from 27 percent at age eight, to 8 percent at age fourteen, and to only 1 percent at age eighteen. Higbee, Kenneth L. Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It (p. 28). Da Capo Press. Kindle Edition. (citing 21 H. E. Burtt, "An Experimental Study of Early Childhood Memory: Final Report", Journal of Genetic Psychology 58 (1941):…
on “Our memory is better than experts thought” ↗