Y163 - Tma01

The brain is a very complex organ, thought and memory being only two of its many important processes.   For some, due to illness, brain damage as well as many other reasons these actions can be badly effected. Yet by using techniques such as Mental Imaging or iconic thought - the forming of pictures in our mind to help in remembering; Concept Formation- categorization of objects into groups so that they are easier to recall; Schemas - a structure where people record experience, it can be possible with time, that people could vastly improve their thought patterns as well as improve their memory.

People have studied thinking patterns for many years, through this psychologists have recognised two kinds of thought; these are known as Semantic – thought based on words; Iconic – thought based on using images; and lastly comes Enactive – thought based on impressions of actions, (Spoors et al., 2007).
A good way of describing enactive thought is to visualise an act done often such as going on a journey etc, how many times have you asked someone for directions and the person while verbally telling you is giving hand directions at the same time?
When older, most peoples’ thought is semantic, (using words), yet, there is evidence to showing that recalling details can be improved by picturing mental images.
It helps if these images stand out, are colourful and maybe appear a bit strange rather than things that are part of our every day life. This should vastly help in prompting to remember things such as what to get when going to the shops and a to do list etc.
The Method of Loci is a Mnemonic, (Spoors et al., 2007),   way to assist with remembering by the learning of rhymes of instance as a spelling aid; i before e expect after c, another would be for when clocks need to be turned forward and back; Spring Forward, Fall Back.
This tool originated in Ancient Greece in year 500 bc, founded by a poet named Simonides. It works better if the person uses images they are...