AS Psychology Memory: Strategies for memory improvement

When it comes to recalling strategies for memory improvement, remember AIROME:

A - Attention: If you pay close attention to something, you are more likely to remember it.

I -  Avoiding Interference: Interference can take the form of either Retroactive or Proactive interference.

• Retroactive interference involves new information interfering with old information. E.g. The first topic in psychology you studied was Attachment, but you are currently studying memory. In a mock psychology test you are asked a question on attachment, but your newly learnt information of memory gets mixed up with your knowledge of attachment.
• Proactive interference is the opposite. It involves old information interfering with newly learnt information. So continuing with the example above, in a mock psychology test you are asked a question on memory, but can only remember information relating to attachment. Your prior knowledge of attachment has interfered with your recall of memory.

McGeoch & MacDonald found that forgetting increases as a result of the similarity of the interfering material. Or, in English, you are more likely to forget if you are learning 2 similar things. E.g. Revising 2 similar subjects could result in them interfering with each other.

R - Use of Rehearsal: Maintenance rehearsal is associated mainly with Short Term Memory. Elaborate rehearsal is associated with memory improvement. Try not to get them mixed up. This involves making information meaningful by linking it with existing information, thus creating more pathways in the brain for the information to be accessed from, making recall easier.

O - Organisation: It has been found that organising information into…