Rehearsal I

By the topic of the article, the ringer might have gone into your mind about today’s discussion. But before going into the discussion, I would like to put forth a set of questions. I need you to answer them seriously and with extreme care. The questions are as follows:

• What is your name?
• What is the name of your school?
• What is the name of your toothpaste?
• What deodorant do you use?

The first thing that comes into your mind might be like this:

“What rubbish!” or “what part of this question set needs to be answered seriously?”

And you might instantly burst into laughter. But what if I say these questions will be included to your exam papers?

Nothing more needs to be said! Had these questions been from your exam papers, you would have scored 100 %. This article will not ensure that these questions will be included into your exam papers. Rather, in this article, I would draw your attention to critical analysis of the above questionnaire and the result you have got.

When was the last time you recited your name to remember it?

This is nonsense. Your name is given to you when you are a kid then after you just remember it. And you never forget your name, unless your name is Thomas Edison. The same is the case for the name of your school/college.

Again, how many times do you come across your tooth paste?

May be twice a day? And how many times do you go through its name?

Rarely. Yet you manage to remember its name and you never forget. The same is the case for your deodorant.

But why is that we never tend to forget our name, the name of our schools, the toothpaste and the deodorant we use. We even do not confuse our name with others or the name of our toothpastes and deodorants. Why?

I have got my explanation. Though you have wasted you time rote learning your name, you have responded to it whenever the word that correspond to your name has been called. So you never need to learn your name. Similar is the case for your schools name.

Whenever you use your toothpaste and deodorant although you never read its name to remember it, you thoroughly come across it, its color and shape and other details. Your regular interface to these details causes a pattern to be created in your memory which holds the object.

This regular interface of the things and the details regarding the things that causes permanent clip of the object to be recorded into the memory is called rehearsal. Rehearsal is the process in which the thing to be remembered is presented over and over until it is embedded into your long term memory.

In the next article I shall present you with the different methods of rehearsal applied around the world and a tested schedule for the rehearsal that will create a pattern for your long term memory.