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Day and Boarding school for ages 2 – 18.

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Psychology Student Essay: Secrets to Impeccable Memory

Have you ever wondered why you forget things so easily? Ever wondered why other people have a better memory than yours? If you have, then you can now get your answers! Discover the truth behind the mystery of the human memory and the secret to improving YOUR OWN memory!

But first, to improve your memory, you must understand its concept.

Memory is a complex system, which has been a focus of much scientific research. This has resulted in two theories of memory.

The first is when you memorize through rehearsal, which is called the Multi-store Model of Memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin. Memory has 3 stores. Firstly, the sensory store, where memory is held for less than a second. If you pay attention to it, then it is transferred to the short-term memory where it stays for around 10 seconds. If you continue the repetition of the words in short-term memory, then they will be transferred to long-term memory where they will last for an indefinite period of time.

The second suggests that you memorize through deep understanding, which is called the Levels of Processing theory. Famous Researchers Craik and Tulving have performed an experiment that clearly shows that our memory functions the best when the meanings of words and sentences are understood rather than just by observing their physical appearances or phonemic sounds.

Now we know that impeccable memory is not only about repeating the terms again and again or only understanding them. The secret to impeccable memory is that you must apply a combination of both of these, and then only will you be able to achieve success.

This might sound difficult but there are many simple ways in which you can improve your memory without it feeling like a tedious task.

1. Create associations.
When trying to remember anything new, try to form a mental image of it or relate it to something you already know. This way you will be able to remember it easily.

2. Divide and conquer!
When you have a lot of things to remember, divide them into smaller or similar groups so they are easier to remember. For example, if you have to remember the number 123498764567, it may seem difficult. But by dividing it {1234-9876-4567}, the task becomes much easier.

3. Using acronyms.
For example, the colors of the rainbow: VIBGYOR (violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red).

4. Get enough Zs.
Sleep is extremely important for your body to function properly.

5. And lastly, stop thinking you have a bad memory.

Everyone has the same memory ability. The only difference is how you utilize it. So make the most of your memory and reap the benefits of having an impeccable memory yourself!

By Thinley Choden, Y12 Psychology student

Friendly Competition or Bitter Rivalry? Psychology of the House System

Written by By Mo Suwanwela, Year 13 Psychology Student

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Mo, Year 13, applies ‘social identity theory’ to her experience of the four different Houses

Social identity theory describes a human need to belong to a group. The groups we belong to help us figure out who we are and fulfills our basic need for self-esteem. This theory can be applied to The Regent’s House System. In our House group we are able to achieve positive self-esteem, such as receiving House points, which contributes to our self-esteem, while at the same time we support each other and work together in events such as sports day and swimming gala where we express favoritism towards in-groups by cheering on our House and trying our best to beat the other Houses.

Social identity theory describes how we categorize people in groups, identify with the group we belong to, and compare our group to others. These processes are called categorization, identification, and social comparison. This also happens in our House system. Firstly, categorization is used to divide people into 4 groups: the blue sharks, yellow tigers, green crocodiles and red dragons. In House events people are put into these groups to work together; the identification aspect is in choosing to become a part of the group. This is highly evident when a house wins an event such as Sports Day, Loy Krathong or when there are pizzas involved, people are more likely to identify themselves with their House, for example by wearing House colours. Much like Cialdini’s experiment to investigate the tendency to associate one’s self publicly with successful others, in which students tended to wear the jersey of their university’s sports team after they won a big match, students want to associate themselves with their House colour more when we have beaten the other Houses. Social comparison, on the other hand, is the idea of separating in-group members to out-group members, the division between ‘us’ and ‘them’, and trying to be better than the other Houses. Students would cheer for participants within their own House even if they didn’t know any of the competitors.

Being separated into different House teams arguably creates prejudice and hostility between the Houses, which I have experienced first hand. My close friends and I are usually very supportive of each other when we play team sports together or are assigned to do challenging tasks, but when we are scattered across different Houses, everyone becomes more competitive, which is understandable. However as House events progresses throughout the year, the competition can take the best out of people. Although there were no sabotages or serious intent to hurt one another, friendly insults become more uncomfortable and starts to hold more meaning, and this can provoke more conflict in our friendship outside of the House group context. After events would be finished, students would compare themselves through the performance of their House for weeks on end and occasionally mentioning their win in an argument to prove any point they make and that they are superior to everyone else because of their status in the House ranking; but luckily like all things in school the rivalry will blow over and eventually everyone would be back to normal.

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