The order in which items are organized can affect how easy it is to learn them. This is known as the serial position effect. "Serial" simply means something in a line.

It turns out that items at the beginning and the end are easiest to remember, while the items in the middle are the hardest to remember. Also, the last few items are easier to remember than the first items.

So when studying any list or group of items, do this:

• If you are allowed to rearrange. If the items do not need to be in a certain order, arrange your list so the more complicated, less meaningful items are at the beginning and the end of the list. Put the simpler, more meaningful items in the middle.
• If you are not allowed to rearrange. If you can't change the order of the items, spend more time and effort studying the items in the middle.

So the next time you need to learn a list or group of something, such as a list of spelling words or material from a lecture, try rearranging the information or spending more time on the middle stuff!

--- Many thanks to Dr. Kenneth Higbee for explaining this concept in his great book, Your Memory: What It Is and How to Improve It.

For more tips and strategies for improving your memory, see my site

Memory-Improvement-Tips.com

Have a great week!

Douglas