How Can the Use of Mental Images, Concepts and Schemas to Organise Our Thinking Help to Improve Our Memory.

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the different methods that we use to organise our thinking and how using these methods can develop memory and improve our ability to recollect information. The three methods under discussion in this essay are mental images, concepts and schemas.

A definition of a mental image is ‘thinking in pictures’. Various experiments have been conducted that support the fact that written or verbal information is far easier to remember if a mental image is formed. This process is also known as iconic thought. Using mental images or iconic thought helps to recall information as the process of creating an image in the mind causes both the image and its literal meaning to be set in our memory. Creating a mental image to learn written or verbal information has proven to be more effective than continuously repeating a word or phrase until learned and the more distinctive and vivid the image, the greater its chances of remaining fixed in the mind. For example Spoors et al (2007) suggest that to learn the French word for bin (la poubelle), you should form an image of a bell that smells. Raugh & Atkindon (1975) developed a method of using mental images to help improve memory that they called the ‘key word technique’. The experiment involved two groups of participants who were asked to learn a list of sixty Spanish words. One group was taught the ‘key word technique’ of using mental images to remember the words and the other group was not. When both groups were tested the group who used the ‘key word technique’ remembered more words than the group not taught the method. Another technique for improving memory by using mental images is mnemonics. A mnemonic can be any technique that enables someone to learn information, particularly lists and sequences. For example, in order to learn the spelling of ‘necessary’ using a mnemonic instead of repeating the letters of the word, you would learn the following phrase; Never Eat Cake Eat Salad Sandwiches And Remain Young.

The second method for improving memory that I will examine is concepts. A definition of a concept by Spoors et al (2007) is remembering by organising “information into various categories” and the creation of concepts is defined as “making a mental representation of a group of objects or events that share similar properties”. What separates concepts from mental images is the use of categories and characteristics to aid memory. Spoors et al (2007) uses the example of animals to define a concept that contains other sub-concepts with animals as a concept that can be divided into birds, fish, mammals etc. This aids memory by giving conditions to which an item belongs within a particular category. The example given by Spoors et al (2007) is of “a sparrow being a bird because it has feathers, wings a beak and can fly.” An example of using the concept method to improve memory is when creating a shopping list, categorised items by type i.e. tinned foods, frozen foods and bakery items. By grouping items together within a concept, they become easier to remember. Mandler (1976) conducted a study in which two groups were instructed to organise one hundred cards into groups. One of the groups was instructed to memorise the words on each card whilst sorting them. When both groups were later tested, the group that were told to sort the cards remembered fewer words than the group that were told to memorise whilst sorting.

As using concepts to enable memory relies on creating or defining categories it can lead to mistakes, known as ‘overgeneralisations’. An example used by Spoors et al (2007) is that “a child may have developed a concept for a dog as an animal with hair, a tail and four legs” but they could mistakenly categorise a cat, sheep or a horse as a dog because of these shared characteristics. Finally, I will consider how using schema helps improve memory and organise thinking. A schema is defined by Spoors et al as “a mental framework of knowledge developed as a result of experience”. The example they give is if a person applies concept formation to an occupation such as optician they create a series of associations known as the “optician schema”. The association of going to the optician includes sitting in the chair, the ophthalmologist tool, looking at the chart projector, trying on glasses, a dark room etc. By using schema to recall information that has been stored within the section of our memory relevant to a particular experience, memory can be improved. Schema makes information more vivid by attaching words to experience.

Spoors et al (2007) cites Jean Piaget who studied children for over 50 years to find out how they develop and use schemas. Piaget came to the conclusion that the mind is like a filing cabinet that contains a variety of schemas. The file labelled “going to the cinema” would have all the knowledge and different associations about a trip to the cinema (e.g. buying the ticket, sitting in the dark, eating popcorn, watching the film). By activating the schema it improves our memory of that particular experience. Similarly, Bransford & Johnson (1972) conducted an experiment where participants were read a passage about washing clothes and were asked to recall it as accurately as possible. The participants who were given the tile, which provided the schema, found the passage and the information it contained easier to recall.

To conclude, there are a variety of different ways in which our mind organises thoughts to improve memory. By using the method of mental images we create pictures to help us recall information and remember it more clearly. Concepts develops this method further by sorting information into categories whereas schemas help us to combine lots of smaller pieces of information and build a picture, improving our memory related to a particular experience. As discussed, a wide range of studies have shown that by organising our thinking and using these methods and their associated learning techniques, memory will improve.