Specific Mnemonic Techniques

The Pegword Method

One is buns
two is shoe
three is tree
four is door
five is hive

six is sticks
seven is heaven
eight is gate
nine is vine
ten is hen

Pegwords are substituted for the number to be remembered and associated with the other information. For instance, to remember that insects have six legs whereas spiders have eight legs, create a picture of insects on sticks and another picture of a spider on a gate. To remember Newton's first law of motion (objects at a rest tend to remain at rest unless acted on by another force), create a picture of a bun (pegword for one) resting. To remember that a garden rake is an example of a third-class lever, create a picture of a rake leaning against a tree (pegword for three, or third).

Pegwords can also be combined with keywords. To teach that crocoite is a mineral that is number 2 on the Mohs hardness scale, create a picture of crocodiles (keyword for crocoite) wearing shoes (pegword for 2). To remember that the mineral wolframite is hardness number 4, black in color, and used in making filaments for lightbulbs, create a picture of a black wolf (keyword for wolframite), looking in a door (pegword for 4), and turning on a lightbulb. Research has shown that elaborate strategies such as this are very effective, and that color, appropriately encoded, can also be easily remembered (Scruggs, Mastropieri, Levin, & Gaffney, 1985). That is, a picture of a black wolf is much more likely to be remembered than a picture of wolframite colored black.

Pegwords can also be extended beyond the number 10 (11 is lever, 12 is elf, etc.) For instance, to remember that the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote, create a picture of a woman dressed as a knight (19 = knighting)riding to a voting booth. To remember that James K. Polk was the 11th American president, create a picture of a polka-dotted (keyword for Polk) lever (pegword for 11). (Mastropieri, Scruggs, & Whedon, 1997).

Pegwords can also be extended beyond the number 19 by using, for example, twenty is twin-ty (twins), thirty is thirsty, forty is party, and fifty is "gifty," or gift-wrapped. For example to remember the math fact 7 x 8 = 56, create a picture and practice the pegword phrase, "heaven's (7) gate (8) holds gifty sticks" (pegword for 56). To remember that Taft was the 27th president, create a picture of a taffy (keyword for Taft), being pulled between twin heavens (pegword for 17).