User:Zmemory/SPM

The School of Phenomenal Memory is an online school that teaches the Giordano Memorization System.

The system
The Giordano Memorization System is a modern memory-improvement system and can be used to memorize any type of information. It works by transforming information elements into visual pictures which can be easily memorized.

Information is converted into visual images following specific techniques, depending on the type of information. Numbers are converted using the following alpha-numeric system:

Using this code, any number can be turned into a word, and then into a visual image. For example, the number 25 is encoded as: 2/5 = THZ/FR.

A word would then be selected based of of the possible combination of the first and second consonants. The consonants chosen should respectively be the first two consonants of the word: THZ/FR = H/R = HaRe

Three-digit numbers are handled the same way. The number 457 is encoded in the following way: 4/5/7 = WVK/FR/SD = W/R/S = WiReS

When a suitable word isn't found, three digit numbers can be split into two words, and adjective and a noun. The first consonant of the adjective is used, and the first two consonants of the noun are used. For example, the number 444 could be encoded as: 4/4/4 = WVK/WVK/WVK = W/W/W = Wood WaVe.

Chain Method: The Chain Method is used to connect images directly to each other. A simple set of guidelines needs to be followed: Two images are visualized touching each other. To retain the correct order, the second image in the connection needs to be either on top of, on the right side of, or piercing, the first image. Both images must be visualized largely in the imagination. For example, a giant pen on top of a giant taxi would represent the connection taxi-pen. If those images were representing numbers, they would represent 26-61, following the alpha-numeric code.

Russian Doll Method: The Russian Doll method is similar to the Chain Method, except that the second image in the connection is visualized as connected to only a small part of the first image. In this case, the pen would be on top of the taxi sign. The user would 'zoom-in' on the taxi sign until it filled his imagination, and then imagine the pen, also large, on top of the sign.

Cicero Method: The Giordano Memorization System uses a 'mental storage system' which is based off of the method of loci, called the Cicero Method. Any physical location can be used, but locations that are familiar to the user work the best. Objects in a room are selected in clockwise order and visual images are connected in the user's mind to these 'support images'. The user then will visually 'walk' around the room in his mind and observe the selected support images, along with the data that was connected to them. Because of this, anything memorized with the Cicero Method can be recalled in perfect order, forward or backward.

History
The Giordano Memorization System began development in 1990 under the lead of Vladimir Alekseyevich Kozarenko. A team of researchers examined common and obscure mnemonic techniques to test which were most effective, developed new techniques, and integrated all of these into a comprehensive memorization system.