Page 251 - A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

Chapter 11: More Memory Tips

1 Two sources of information related to metaphor in late-nineteenth-century physics are Cat 2001 and
Lützen 2005. For metaphor in chemistry and more broadly throughout science, see Rocke 2010, in
particular chap. 11. See also Gentner and Jeziorski 1993. Imagery and visualization are beyond the
scope of any single book—see, for example, the Journal of Mental Imagery.
2 As leading mathematical modeler Emanuel Derman notes: “Theories describe and deal with the world on
its own terms and must stand on their own two feet. Models stand on someone else’s feet. They are
metaphors that compare the object of their attention to something else that it resembles. Resemblance is
always partial, and so models necessarily simplify things and reduce the dimensions of the world. . . . In
a nutshell, theories tell you what something is; models tell you merely what something is like” (Derman
2011, p. 6).
3 Solomon 1994.
4 Rocke 2010, p. xvi.
5 Ibid., p. 287, citing Berichte der Durstigen Chemischen Gesellschaft (1886), p. 3536. This was a mock
issue of the nonexistent “durstigen” (thirsty) Chemical Society. The parody was sent to the subscribers
of the Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft and is virtually impossible to find today, since it
was actually a spurious issue.
6 Rawson and Dunlosky 2011.
7 Dunlosky et al. 2013; Roediger and Pyc 2012. In a review of student flash card use, Kathryn Wissman
and colleagues (2012, p. 568) observed: “students understand the benefits of practising to higher
criterion levels (amount of practice) but do not typically implement or understand the benefits of
practising with longer lags (timing of practice).”
8 Morris et al. 2005.
9 Baddeley et al. 2009, pp. 207–209.
10 In this book, you might think I’ve discussed all of the components of the SQ3R for study (sometimes
SQ4R—for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review and wRite). So you might ask why I haven’t
explored this method further in the text. The SQ3R was developed by psychologist Francis Pleasant
Robinson as a general study tool. Central to the study of math and science is problem solving—the
SQ3R approach simply doesn’t lend itself to this. I’m not the only one to notice. As physics professor
Ronald Aaron and his son Robin Aaron note in Improve Your Physics Grade, ”. . . one Psychology text
suggests studying by the SQ3R method. . . . For effective note taking in class it suggests the LISAN
approach. . . . Do you believe that such approaches can help you? Do you believe in Santa Claus? The
Easter Bunny?” (Aaron and Aaron 1984, p. 2).
11 Curiously, it appears very little work has been done in this area—what little is available seems to simply
affirm that writing things out by hand helps us assimilate information better than typing. See Rivard and
Straw 2000; Smoker et al. 2009; Velay and Longcamp 2012.
12 Cassilhas et al. 2012; Nagamatsu et al. 2013; van Praag et al. 1999.
13 Guida et al. 2012, p. 230; Leutner et al. 2009.
14 Levin et al. 1992 describes how students who use mnemonics outperform students who apply contextual
and free learning styles.
15 Guida et al. 2012 points out that training in memory techniques can speed up the process of acquiring
chunks and knowledge structures, thus helping people become experts more rapidly by allowing them to
use part of their long-term memory as working memory.
16 Baddeley et al. 2009, pp. 376–377, citing research by Helga and Tony Noice (2007).