Buzan on memory and shopping

Memory and shopping

Tony has developed a number of systems designed to help us improve our memories. He observes that our brains are divided into the left and right cortex. The left side is dedicated to tasks involving order, logic, words, lists, numbers and analysis, the right side deals with rhythm, imagination, daydreaming and colour. If we want to remember things we have to use the whole brain.

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By using our powers of imagination and association we give our brains something to key on, and this is the basis for Tony’s Rhyming number system: Suppose you want to buy the following 10 items in the supermarket: matches , honey, oranges, paper towels, washing powder, toothpaste, bananas, bread, shirts, cornflakes. Using the rhyming number system you first memorise the following "peg" words:

The next step is to make an imaginative link or association between the "peg" word and the thing you really want to remember. So for example if you want to buy matches you need to come up with an image that conveys a bun and matches in the same thought, it could be a bun on fire, to remember your second item, honey, you might think of your favourite shoe and then imagine it being filled full of honey, and so it goes on till you have a vivid image for all ten items.

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The more vivid and memorable or even absurd the image the easier it is to remember. Hear your burning bun crackle and spit, smell the smoke and flames. Taste the honey oozing out of your shoe.

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The Rhyming number system can be harnessed to any memory task and is only one of a number of techniques developed by Tony Buzan.

Take it further

Tony has published a large number of books, including Use your Head Use Your Memory, The Speedreading Book, The Mind Map Book and Master Your Memory.

Fancy taking your interest in psychology further? Why not discover how the Open University can let you explore this area in more detail?