Let’s find out what the Image Memory Technique is. Since primitive times, humans have lived in a sensory world, seeing the world with their eyes and hearing with their ears, and this form has evolved while being preserved. For this reason, our brain can be much more powerfully influenced by seeing images than by reading text. It is not surprising that visual elements have the most significant impact on humans.
1. What is the Image Memory Technique?
Let’s explore what the Image Memory Technique is and whether it can actually enhance memory through images.
1) Image Memory Technique
The Image Memory Technique is a method of remembering through images, not through written words. You may have heard that among human senses, vision is the most powerful in terms of receiving information.
In fact, humans receive information through the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste), with vision accounting for more than 80% of this.
Visual elements are the most intense form of human senses, and since primitive times, humans have used sight to utilize the most information for survival.
For these reasons, our brain recognizes vision as the most important, and the form of remembering and learning is also effectively influenced by vision.
2) Memory Champion Mattias Ribbing
Mattias Ribbing is a brain trainer from Sweden with several victories in memory competitions and is a memory master appointed by the World Memory Sports Council.
He says that brain training is similar to learning how to drive and talks about learning techniques to enhance memory.
Ribbing says that effective learning can be done through sound or touch, but in the realm of experts, visualization has the highest learning effect.
As a memory master who has won several competitions, Mattias Ribbing’s words carry high credibility, and his memorization method named ‘Mentalism’ has shown actual effectiveness and thus should be applied in real life.
2. Methods of the Image Memory Technique
The principle behind the Image Memory Technique is simple once you understand it. However, acquiring the skill requires consistent practice. Let’s look into the concept of the Image Memory Technique.
1) Visualization
If there is content that needs to be learned, try to visualize it in your mind. Visualization here refers to imagining and drawing a picture in your mind.
Example)
When you read a newspaper article about a robbery at a bank, you can imagine a thief running away from the bank in your mind.
Imagine what color shirt and pants the thief is wearing, who is chasing him, and what the thief’s face and features look like.
At first, it might be difficult and cumbersome to imagine content in your mind, but with consistent practice, you will gradually be able to imagine more concretely.
The process of visualization is a skill, like driving or using a new tool, and the more you practice, the more familiar and easier it becomes.
Tip) If you learn content through visualization, you can remember it longer and more intensely.
2) Association
Association, also known as mnemonics, is a method that makes it easier to recall memories by linking the content to be learned with personal cues that are easy to remember.
Example)
When reading a newspaper article about a thief committing a robbery at a bank, you can associate it with a personal image related to yourself.
If the thief in the newspaper has a hooked nose, and you know a friend with a hooked nose who has a habit of taking others’ belongings, you can link the thief in the newspaper to your friend.
Tip) In addition to visualizing the content to be learned, linking it to specific content you know as an image can make the memory more powerful.
3) Method of Loci
The Method of Loci, which originated in ancient Greece, is a mnemonic technique that involves associating items to be remembered with specific familiar locations, transforming them into a new form to be remembered.
The Greeks and Romans used this method to memorize lengthy speeches, by recalling specific familiar places and visualizing the learning content as images placed in those locations. The key here is that the specific place should be distinct from other places.
Example)
When reading a newspaper article about a robbery at a bank, you could visualize the thief running away from the bank inside your own room.
Tip) The Method of Loci involves placing the content to be learned in a specific known place and remembering it as an image.
4) Practice Methods
Mattias Ribbing suggests that the Image Memory Technique requires consistent practice.
The more detailed the image you can draw, the stronger the memory becomes, and three-dimensional images are reportedly more intense than one-dimensional ones.
Ribbing advises that whenever you listen to someone, visualize the image in your mind and practice holding onto that image. The more you focus on drawing the image concretely, the better you can remember it.
The memorization technique through visualization not only enhances memory but can also elevate your level in various areas such as everyday life, professional knowledge, and business.
Tip) Practice visualizing images every time you have a conversation with someone!
3. Author’s Thoughts
The author has disliked memorizing since childhood and never understood why unnecessary memorization was required, thus avoiding interest in subjects that weren’t principle-based.
Looking back, it seems that the aversion to memorization was partly due to a resistance to the task, but also due to a lack of understanding of memorization techniques. If proper memorization skills had been known from childhood, the comprehension of knowledge over time might have been different.
If you want to teach your children efficient study methods or enhance your expertise in your professional area, it’s advisable to actively utilize the Image Memory Technique.
Especially if you start using and applying the Image Memory Technique from a young age, it could be utilized like a professional skill, just as we gradually master using chopsticks.
I hope you all utilize the Image Memory Technique to achieve great results!
4. Conclusion and Q&A
We’ve explored the Image Memory Technique by memory master Mattias Ribbing. The more you visualize the learning content as images, the more intense and lasting the memory can be. Below, let’s check some frequently asked questions and key points.
1) What is the Image Memory Technique?
The Image Memory Technique is a method of memorizing not by rote memorization of text but by visualizing images in the mind.
Since primitive times, humans have used vision for survival, making it the most intense of the senses, and in fact, over 80% of sensory information is acquired through sight.
2) How do you use the Image Memory Technique?
It involves imagining the content you need to learn, turning it into pictures or videos in your mind.
You can strengthen the memory by linking the content to be learned with clues known only to you or by imagining the scenario occurring in a significant place for you.
3) Can you train the Image Memory Technique regularly?
When conversing with people, practicing imagining the situation as soon as you hear the story can gradually improve your skill level.
If you’re curious about the quick memorization techniques introduced by brain trainer Jim Kwik or want to learn how to maintain your brain effectively, consider reading the articles below for more information!
► References and Additional Reading Materials
[Book] “Game Changer” – Dave Asprey / Business Books Publishing
– Be the Titan Brain
