What strategy or method can be used to improve or strengthen memory?

Using mnemonics as a strategy to improve or strengthen memory is highly effective because it leverages associations to help encode and retrieve information. Mnemonics involve creating meaningful links between new information and existing knowledge, often through the use of acronyms, visualization, rhymes, or chunking. This method taps into the brain's natural tendencies to recall vivid images or familiar patterns, making it easier to remember complex information.

For instance, if you're trying to remember a list of items, creating a story or a catchy phrase that incorporates all the items can facilitate recall. By transforming abstract information into a more structured and familiar format, mnemonics enhance both the encoding phase, where the memory is formed, and the retrieval phase, where you access that memory later.

While other methods, such as free recall and elaborative rehearsal, also play roles in memory improvement, they focus on different techniques. Free recall tests how much information can be retrieved without prompts, serving as an assessment rather than a strategy for memory strengthening. Elaborative rehearsal, on the other hand, involves linking new information to already stored knowledge in a deeper way, which overlaps with the operational principles of mnemonics. Proactive interference refers to the phenomenon where old memories interfere with the storage of new