Mnemonic Role Research Articles

Application of mnemonics methods in modern education in the study of career-oriented disciplines for the preparation of pharmacists

In the era of rapid development of the pharmaceutical industry, information technology, the pharmacist finds himself in a situation where it is necessary to memorize and put into practice a very large amount of information. The method of mnemonics was formed in ancient Egypt. Today, the mnemonics method can be effective tools for improving the assimilation of complex information and its further reproduction.The purpose of this work was to study the role of mnemonics in the educational process for teaching career-oriented disciplines in the preparation of a pharmacist.Materials and methods of research. The methodological basis of this work is the principles of a systematic approach and a comprehensive analysis in the study of the features of using mnemonics for teaching career-oriented disciplines to students of the specialty "Pharmacy". The methods of scientific research, idealization, formalization, abstraction and modeling were used in the performance of the work.Results. Mnemonics provides deeper and more productive memorization of the material, which allows students to more successfully assimilate new knowledge and cope with educational tasks, which can significantly increase absolute and high-quality academic performance. Presenting the material in the form of tables and pictures, according to the results of a survey of students, yellow and blue are good colors for visual perception of information.Conclusion. Thus, the introduction of mnemonics in modern education is necessary and relevant, since it contributes to improving the level of student achievement, the development of their cognitive skills, as well as the formation of self-learning skills and increasing their confidence in their own capabilities.

Who recounts the Stalinist past? Mnemonic roles, acts of remembering and life-scripts in Russian families

This article asks why some memories of the Stalinist Gulag are shared while others are not. Considering remembering as a social act, we argue that who engages in acts of remembering, to whom, when and how helps explain what is remembered. The article draws on family memories shared by participants of 16 focus groups in four research sites in Russia. We find that mnemonic actors – most often grandmothers – remember victimhood in veiled ways, structured by life-scripts that focus on the positive: they couch the bad in the good of the Soviet past, particularly focusing on evasive action and near misses which highlight the stoicism and cunning of family members who narrowly avoided repression. We suppose these narratives emerge in families and are shared within the focus groups due to perceived social appropriateness. The study adds to the literature on entangled memory and argues for the use of focus groups as a method for exploring the social patterning of remembering.

Theta oscillations support active exploration in human spatial navigation

Active navigation seems to yield better spatial knowledge than passive navigation, but it is unclear how active decision-making influences learning and memory. Here, we examined the contributions of theta oscillations to memory-related exploration while testing theories about how they contribute to active learning. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we tested individuals on a maze-learning task in which they made discrete decisions about where to explore at each choice point in the maze. Half the participants were free to make active decisions at each choice point, and the other half passively explored by selecting a marked choice (matched to active exploration) at each intersection. Critically, all decisions were made when stationary, decoupling the active decision-making process from movement and speed factors, which is another prominent potential role for theta oscillations. Participants were then tested on their knowledge of the maze by traveling from object A to object B within the maze. Results show an advantage for active decision-making during learning and indicate that the active group had greater theta power during choice points in exploration, particularly in midfrontal channels. These findings demonstrate that active exploration is associated with theta oscillations during human spatial navigation, and that these oscillations are not exclusively related to movement or speed. Results demonstrating increased theta oscillations in prefrontal regions suggest communication with the hippocampus and integration of new information into memory. We also found evidence for alpha oscillations during active navigation, suggesting a role for attention as well. This study finds support for a general mnemonic role for theta oscillations during navigational learning.

The failures of functionalism (for memory)

In Memory: A Self-Referential Account, Fernández offers a functionalist account of the metaphysics of memory, which is portrayed as presenting significant advantages over causal and narrative theories of memory. In this paper, I present a series of challenges for Fernández’s functionalism. There are issues with both the particulars of the account and the use of functionalism more generally. First, in characterizing the mnemonic role of episodic remembering, Fernández fails to make clear how the mental image type that plays this role should be identified. Second, I argue that a functionalist approach, which appeals to the overall structure of the memory system and tendencies of mental state types, is ill-suited to the metaphysical question about episodic remembering that is of interest to the causal and narrative theorists with which Fernandez engages. Fernández’s self-referential account of memory has many other virtues, but functionalism is a poor fit for episodic remembering.

Gender Differences in Remembering about Things to Do Depend on Partnership Status

Prospective memory, which is the ability to remember to do something in the future, is strongly linked to gender stereotypes. Women are expected to play a mnemonic role in romantic heterosexual couples and be successful in prospective memory tasks. Our purpose was to test whether stereotypical expectations manifest in gender differences in remembering to perform intended actions. Furthermore, we investigated whether these differences manifest only when participants are in a relationship with an other-gender partner which puts women under higher social pressure to be effective in prospective remembering. Forty Polish women (20 in relationship, 20 out of relationship) and 40 Polish men (18 in relationship, 22 out of relationship) were asked to send a SMS text to the experimenter every day for 7 consecutive days. As predicted, a female advantage in performance was found only for participants who were in a relationship, with no gender differences among those who were not. Of particular interest was that women who were in a relationship performed better compared to women without partners. In contrast, men performed worse if they were in a relationship compared to when they did not have a partner. Implications are discussed for how gender inequalities in prospective remembering can be tackled by educators in secondary schools and psychologists who conduct premarital workshops, as well as how they can be used by couple psychotherapists to deal with crises related to the division of labor in a couple.

Spatial Navigation.

The hippocampus is critical for spatial navigation. In this review, we focus on the role of the hippocampus in three basic strategies used for spatial navigation: path integration, stimulus-response association, and map-based navigation. First, the hippocampus is not required for path integration unless the path of path integration is too long and complex. The hippocampus provides mnemonic support when involved in the process of path integration. Second, the hippocampus's involvement in stimulus-response association is dependent on how the strategy is conducted. The hippocampus is not required for the habit form of stimulus-response association. Third, while the hippocampus is fully engaged in map-based navigation, the shared characteristics of place cells, grid cells, head direction cells, and other spatial encoding cells, which are detected in the hippocampus and associated areas, offer a possibility that there is a stand-alone allocentric space perception (or mental representation) of the environment outside and independent of the hippocampus, and the spatially specific firing patterns of these spatial encoding cells are the unfolding of the intermediate stages of the processing of this allocentric spatial information when conveyed into the hippocampus for information storage or retrieval. Furthermore, the presence of all the spatially specific firing patterns in the hippocampus and the related neural circuits during the path integration and map-based navigation support such a notion that in essence, path integration is the same allocentric space perception provided with only idiothetic inputs. Taken together, the hippocampus plays a general mnemonic role in spatial navigation.

From Iron Curtain to Green Belt: Considering Central Europe as a Mnemonic Ecosystem

Since its institutional formulation in the late 1980s, the idea of ecological restoration has been debated and refined. More recently, the concept of novel ecosystems has challenged scholars to consider how history, human activity, and dynamic systems intersect with restoration values. But what role do restoration projects have in layered landscapes where meanings are many and the past still hurts? We bring cultural questions around memory to bear on the concept of novel ecosystems and ask how conservation might need to shift in response. We focus here on the Iron Curtain borderlands of central Europe to suggest that the history, human impacts, and changes in these lands may be understood as mnemonic ecosystems. We argue that more fully considering the mnemonic role of restored landscapes encourages greater consideration of local people’s perspectives and concerns, improves conservation outcomes in the long-term, and sustains the landscape’s diverse functions.

An Investigation of the Role of Mnemonics in Higher Education

In this recent research study of teaching engineering graduates, I investigated student engagement levels in the classroom, with a specific interest in the importance and effectiveness of mnemonics in learning engineering subjects for all learners. I defined mnemonic instruction as a strategy that provides a visual or verbal prompt for students who may have difficulty in retaining information. It is a memory enhancing instructional strategy that involved teaching engineering students to link new information that is taught to information they already know. I investigated mnemonics effectiveness in my class room by means of using student interviews, an instructor survey, Pupil surveys and scholar and teacher journals. I discovered that mnemonics works for most of my students and has become a useful tool in my classroom. As a result of this research, I plan to continue to use mnemonics not only in my theory class, but also in the teaching of laboratory (Practical) sessions.

A Specific Role of Hippocampal NMDA Receptors and Arc Protein in Rapid Encoding of Novel Environmental Representations and a More General Long-Term Consolidation Function.

Activation of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) has been proposed to be a key event responsible for the structural changes that occur in neurons during learning and memory formation. It has been extensively studied yet no consensus has been reached on its mnemonic role as both NMDAR dependent and independent forms of learning have been observed. We investigated the role that hippocampal NMDAR have in rapid spatial learning and memory across training environments. Hippocampal NMDAR was blocked via intra-hippocampal injection of the competitive antagonist CPP. Groups of rats were pre-trained on a spatial version of the Morris water task, and then mass reversal training under NMDAR blockade occurred in the same or different training environments as pre-training. We measured expression of Arc protein throughout the main hippocampal subfields, CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus, after mass-training. We observed that NMDAR blockade allowed for rapid spatial learning, but not consolidation, when the SUBJECTS used previously acquired environmental information. Interestingly, NMDAR blockade impaired rapid spatial learning when rats were mass-trained in a novel context. Arc protein expression in the dentate gyrus followed this pattern of NMDAR dependent spatial behavior, with high levels of expression observed after being trained in the new environment, and low levels when trained in the same environment. CPP significantly reduced Arc expression in the dentate gyrus. These results implicate dentate NMDAR in the acquisition of novel environmental information.

NGO Interventions in the Post-conflict Memoryscape. The Effect of Competing ‘Mnemonic Role Attributions’ on Reconciliation in Cambodia

ABSTRACTNon-governmental organisations (NGOs) are a constituent part of post-conflict Transitional Justice interventions and as such their projects shape but are also constrained by various narratives about the past. This article introduces the concept of mnemonic role attributions defined as the sum of how actors, their roles, their responsibility and their suffering are categorised as they are remembered regarding a certain period of time. The article analyses how different mnemonic role attributions that are propagated during interventions by Transitional Justice experts in civil society influence the potential for reconciliation in post-conflict Cambodia.

Parsing Hippocampal Theta Oscillations by Nested Spectral Components during Spatial Exploration and Memory-Guided Behavior

SummaryTheta oscillations reflect rhythmic inputs that continuously converge to the hippocampus during exploratory and memory-guided behavior. The theta-nested operations that organize hippocampal spiking could either occur regularly from one cycle to the next or be tuned on a cycle-by-cycle basis. To resolve this, we identified spectral components nested in individual theta cycles recorded from the mouse CA1 hippocampus. Our single-cycle profiling revealed theta spectral components associated with different firing modulations and distinguishable ensembles of principal cells. Moreover, novel co-firing patterns of principal cells in theta cycles nesting mid-gamma oscillations were the most strongly reactivated in subsequent offline sharp-wave/ripple events. Finally, theta-nested spectral components were differentially altered by behavioral stages of a memory task; the 80-Hz mid-gamma component was strengthened during learning, whereas the 22-Hz beta, 35-Hz slow gamma, and 54-Hz mid-gamma components increased during retrieval. We conclude that cycle-to-cycle variability of theta-nested spectral components allows parsing of theta oscillations into transient operating modes with complementary mnemonic roles.

Facilitating memory‐based lie detection in immediate and delayed interviewing: The role of mnemonics

SummaryWe experimentally investigated how different mnemonic techniques employed in an interview conducted immediately after an event affected truth tellers' and liars' responses when they were interviewed again after a 2‐week delay. We also compared how verbal accounts changed over time within truth tellers and liars, and how consistent both groups were. Participants (n = 143) were shown a mock intelligence operation video and instructed either to tell the truth or lie about its contents in two interviews, one of which was immediately after watching the video and the other after a 2‐week delay. In the immediate interview, they were asked to provide a free recall and then asked to provide further information via one of three mnemonics: context reinstatement, sketch, or event‐line. In the delayed interview, they were asked to provide only a free recall. Truth tellers reported more visual, spatial, temporal, and action details than did liars both immediately and after a delay. Truth tellers experienced more of a decline in reporting details after a delay than did liars, and this decline was affected by the mnemonic used. Truth tellers thus showed, more than liars, patterns of reporting indicative of genuine memory decay. Liars produced patterns of a “stability bias” instead. Truth tellers and liars were equally consistent between their immediate and delayed statements.

The increase in medial prefrontal glutamate/glutamine concentration during memory encoding is associated with better memory performance and stronger functional connectivity in the human medial prefrontal-thalamus-hippocampus network.

The classical model of the declarative memory system describes the hippocampus and its interactions with representational brain areas in posterior neocortex as being essential for the formation of long‐term episodic memories. However, new evidence suggests an extension of this classical model by assigning the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) a specific, yet not fully defined role in episodic memory. In this study, we utilized 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis to lend further support for the idea of a mnemonic role of the mPFC in humans. By using MRS, we measured mPFC γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate/glutamine (GLx) concentrations before and after volunteers memorized face–name association. We demonstrate that mPFC GLx but not GABA levels increased during the memory task, which appeared to be related to memory performance. Regarding functional connectivity, we used the subsequent memory paradigm and found that the GLx increase was associated with stronger mPFC connectivity to thalamus and hippocampus for associations subsequently recognized with high confidence as opposed to subsequently recognized with low confidence/forgotten. Taken together, we provide new evidence for an mPFC involvement in episodic memory by showing a memory‐related increase in mPFC excitatory neurotransmitter levels that was associated with better memory and stronger memory‐related functional connectivity in a medial prefrontal–thalamus–hippocampus network.

SMILING, LAUGHING AND JOKING IN PAPAL ROME: THOMAS OF MARLBOROUGH AND GERALD OF WALES AT THE COURT OF INNOCENT III (1198–1216)

This article examines textual descriptions of smiling, laughing and joking with the pope in thirteenth-century Rome. It focuses on two Anglo-Norman accounts of conducting litigation at the papal curia: Thomas of Marlborough's (d.1236) Chronicon abbatiae de Eveshamand Gerald of Wales's (c. 1146–1220×23)De jure et statu Menevensis ecclesiae. Both authors include several careful and prominent references to smiling, laughing and joking, and specifically in relation to Pope Innocent III. These passages have previously been read as straightforward examples of wit and friendship, but this study shows that the authors use these physiological expressions to convey complex and subtly different pictures of the papal curia. Above all, this article demonstrates how Thomas and Gerald's descriptions of humorous interactions with the pope play crucial narrative and mnemonic roles within their work.

Forget the Landscape: The Space of Rabbinic and Greco-Roman Mnemonics

Abstract This article investigates the notion of memorization in rabbinic and Roman spatial practices. The Greco-Roman mnemonic technique, in which space was a structuring device for the memorized ideas, words or images, has been extensively studied. Scholars have also demonstrated how such a technique was applied in rabbinic systems of memorization and the arrangement of oral traditions. Nevertheless, very little has been written about the role of mnemonics in the organization of space itself. In the first part of the article I use the comparison between the Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum (first to fifth centuries CE collection of illuminated manuals of land survey and urban planning) and tractate Eruvin to explore references to cities in the shape of Greek letters, which are almost identical in the two texts. The fact that a list of cities in the shape of letters was used in the Roman corpus as a mnemonic device for the memorization of urban layouts suggests that the rabbis corresponded with such methods in their spatial formulations of the Sabbath Boundary. In the second part of the article I investigate the rabbinic system of forgotten produce (shikheḥah) that maps fields in order to determine which crops were unintentionally left behind by the farmer and consequently belonged to the poor. As I demonstrate, many of the spatial and visual principles applied by the rabbis in this system echo the mnemonic principles described in the Roman work on memorization Rhetorica Ad Herennium. The primary purpose of the article, however, is not merely to illuminate an instance of cultural exchange, but rather to point to the profound link established by mnemonics between space, image and language. The mechanism of organizing words and ideas spatially and visually affected the ways in which space was perceived and was, itself, organized.

Mnemonic and attentional roles for states of attenuated alpha oscillations in perceptual working memory: a review.

Alpha oscillations are often reported to be amplified during working memory (WM) retention, serving to disengage sensory areas to protect internal representations from external interference. At the same time, contemporary views of WM postulate that sensory areas may often also be recruited for retention. I here review recent evidence that during such ‘perceptual’ WM, alpha oscillations in mnemonically relevant sensory areas are not amplified but attenuated instead. I will argue that such attenuated alpha states serve a mnemonic role and, further, that larger attenuation may support item‐specific attentional prioritisation within perceptual WM. In critically evaluating this role, I also consider (and argue against) four alternatives to a strictly mnemonic account of the available data that may also prove useful to consider in future research. Finally, I highlight key implications of these data for the study of WM and for our understanding of the functional roles of states of attenuated alpha oscillations in cognition.

An evaluation of the effectiveness of a computer‐assisted reading intervention

BackgroundA cost‐effective method to address reading delays is to use computer‐assisted learning, but these techniques are not always effective.MethodsWe evaluated a commercially available computer system that uses visual mnemonics, in a randomised controlled trial with 78 English‐speaking children (mean age 7 years) who their schools identified as needing reading support. School‐based individual tutorials usually took place 2–3 times/week. Only the experimental group received the intervention in the first 10 months; thereafter, both the experimental and control groups received the intervention for 6 months.ResultsAfter 10 months, the experimental group had significantly higher standardised scores than the waiting list control group of decoding, phonological awareness, naming speed, phonological short‐term memory and executive loaded working memory.ConclusionsThe computer‐assisted intervention was effective, and this suggests that this medium can be used for reading interventions with English‐speaking children.What is already known about this topic There are comparatively few randomised controlled trial evaluations of computer‐based reading interventions. Meta‐analyses report small positive effect sizes for such interventions with English‐speaking children. The use of visual mnemonics to improve reading has rarely been investigated. What this paper adds The findings suggest that computer‐based interventions for English‐speaking, struggling readers can be effective. The effects extended beyond the targeted abilities, and a longer intervention was more effective than a shorter one. Apart from spelling, the mean reading and reading related standardised scores for children at the end of the intervention were above or just below 100. Implications for theory, policy or practice Computer‐based interventions can be used to support English‐speaking, struggling readers, and their effects can go beyond targeted abilities. The use of visual mnemonics and the development of the intervention programme over a number of years could have contributed to this success. The role of visual mnemonics as a help for struggling readers deserves further investigation.

Dissociable roles for histone acetyltransferases p300 and PCAF in hippocampus and perirhinal cortex-mediated object memory.

The importance of histone acetylation for certain types of memory is now well established. However, the specific contributions of the various histone acetyltransferases to distinct memory functions remain to be determined; therefore, we employed selective histone acetyltransferase protein inhibitors and short-interference RNAs to evaluate the roles of CREB-binding protein (CBP), E1A-binding protein (p300) and p300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF) in hippocampus and perirhinal cortex (PRh)-mediated object memory. Rats were tested for short- (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) in the object-in-place task, which relies on the hippocampus and PRh for spatial memory and object identity processing, respectively. Selective inhibition of these histone acetyltransferases by small-interfering RNA and pharmacological inhibitors targeting the HAT domain produced dissociable effects. In the hippocampus, CBP or p300 inhibition impaired long-term but not short-term object memory, while inhibition of PCAF impaired memory at both delays. In PRh, HAT inhibition did not impair STM, and only CBP and PCAF inhibition disrupted LTM; p300 inhibition had no effects. Messenger RNA analyses revealed findings consistent with the pattern of behavioral effects, as all three enzymes were upregulated in the hippocampus (dentate gyrus) following learning, whereas only CBP and PCAF were upregulated in PRh. These results demonstrate, for the first time, the necessity of histone acetyltransferase activity for PRh-mediated object memory and indicate that the specific mnemonic roles of distinctive histone acetyltransferases can be dissociated according to specific brain regions and memory timeframe.

Cholinergic manipulations bidirectionally regulate object memory destabilization.

Consolidated memories can become destabilized and open to modification upon retrieval. Destabilization is most reliably prompted when novel information is present during memory reactivation. We hypothesized that the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) plays an important role in novelty-induced memory destabilization because of its established involvement in new learning. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of cholinergic manipulations in rats using an object recognition paradigm that requires reactivation novelty to destabilize object memories. The muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine, systemically or infused directly into the perirhinal cortex, blocked this novelty-induced memory destabilization. Conversely, systemic oxotremorine or carbachol, muscarinic receptor agonists, administered systemically or intraperirhinally, respectively, mimicked the destabilizing effect of novel information during reactivation. These bidirectional effects suggest a crucial influence of ACh on memory destabilization and the updating functions of reconsolidation. This is a hitherto unappreciated mnemonic role for ACh with implications for its potential involvement in cognitive flexibility and the dynamic process of long-term memory storage.

Mnemonics in the Mouseion

Purpose– Mnemonics was a tool in classification and information seeking processes in pre-print libraries. The purpose of this paper is to study the role of spatial mnemonics in Hellenistic libraries, including the one in Alexandria.Design/methodology/approach– Since library- and information science has not explored this subject in depth, philology, rhetoric, book-history and archeology constitute the core literature. From this literature, the role of mnemonics in the libraries is discussed.Findings– A new description of the practice of classification and retrieval in Hellenistic libraries, based on spatial mnemonics.Originality/value– This paper is a new analysis of spatial mnemonics in the Hellenistic libraries. As will become clear, they blend easily and logically with each other.