Elaborative encoding

Elaborative encoding is a mnemonic that relates to-be-remembered information to pre-existing memories and knowledge. These connections can be made visually, spatially, semantically or acoustically. Multiple techniques, such as the method of loci, the link system, the peg word method, PAO (person, action, object), etc., are used to store information in long-term memory and make it easier to recall this information in the future. Many different forms and techniques of elaborative encoding in addition to the ones stated above are used by mnemonists at the World Memory Championships to remember large quantities of information pertaining to each event of the competition. Each year, competitors invent new techniques and improve previous ones that allow them to remember larger quantities of information faster, so competitors must train year-round to keep pace with the newest techniques and tricks of elaborative encoding.

New information and stimuli tend to be best remembered when they can be associated with old memories and experiences in order to enrich the new stimulus. The efficiency and success of encoding (and subsequent retrieval) is largely dependent upon the type of associations you choose to make. It is generally accepted that the more unusual and meaningful these elaborately encoded memories are, the more successful one will be in trying to retrieve them. Elaborative encoding is most successful when the individual makes active attempts to elaborate on incoming information. This type of encoding also helps learning, as it constructs a rich set of integrated memories. Several theories suggest that ability to recall information is heightened when physical and mental conditions match those experienced when the information was first encoded. For example, one will often be more successful in recalling a stimulus while chewing bubble gum if one were also chewing gum when one originally encoded the new stimulus. This has also been found to encompass drug- and alcohol-induced recollection; people who encoded memories in an intoxicated state were more successful at recalling them when in a similar state later on. Verbal elaboration has also been shown to strengthen mental connections and boost retrieval (see also rehearsal). Because the intensity and effectiveness of encoded connections varies from person to person, it is often difficult to study with consistent results.

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