Hi you , fabulous therapist . Welcome to our podcast . This episode is part of our study smarter , not harder , series . My name is Linton and this is my super cool co host Stacy . How's life in the frozen northern tundra Stacy ?
Well , you know how I feel about the cold here in Michigan . You can always add layers , Linton , but when it's scorching hot in Florida , like where you are , there's only so much you can peel off before you get arrested .
That's true .
Well , speaking of hot and cold , we have got a sensuous episode here for you today about how you can use your senses as a powerful tool to enhance your learning and trigger your memory when you're studying for your licensure exam . Sound intriguing , yet , linton .
Yeah , it does . Tell me more .
All right . So the first thing that you need to know is that our brains are wired to remember things that we experienced primarily with our senses , and that's why 70 to 90% of our communication is totally nonverbal . And you've experienced this before . When you smell something and it immediately triggers a specific memory .
So , for example , this happened to me just a few days ago . I was out browsing around in the antique shop and I passed by this stand with these old perfume bottles And I took a whiff and just immediately it smelled exactly like my grandmother's house And I felt like I was just walking around in her house .
I could immediately visualize like where her bookcases were and where her Victorian lamps were , and I haven't been there in years and years . So it was like all these details could remember that I'd never be able to tell you about , if you just kind of asked me off the cuff to describe her house .
Hmm , well , something like that happened to me yesterday too . Remember the perfume white shoulders ? Well , i was in public Seems like I spent all my time there And this old lady walked by and I got a whiff of her perfume in . It immediately transported me back to Mrs Pinkerton's science class .
Mrs Pinkerton was my first crush , my first love Yes , you can imagine that . And I hadn't remembered her names in years . So all of a sudden , just the smell of the white shoulders evoked all these memories that I had totally forgotten . So let me see if I understand this correctly . Is it applies to students who are studying for their exam ?
If you pair any sense sort of like sight , smell , taste , touch , sound with a concept that you're trying to learn , it helps to reinforce the memory and makes it more likely to remember it in the future . Is that right ? Yep , exactly .
Yeah , and there's some really cool science about how it works too . We're not we're not making this up . I know it sounds a little hokey , but there is some scientific basis with this .
So smell , in particular , is a really strong memory trigger because your olfactory bulb , so basically your brain's smell center , is directly connected to the part of your brain that processes emotion and memory . Wow , i didn't know that .
That's pretty cool . It's not hocus pocus as far as I'm following . So if I'm studying for the exam and I'm learning about logotherapy for example , if I'm sucking on supeppermint candy , then I can use supeppermint candy as a trigger to remember logotherapy .
Yep , you've got it , Linton . And if you want to be really academic and tell your friends all about it , this phenomenon of memories triggered by senses is called the Proustian memory effect . Didn't you know you were getting a little history tidbit lesson in here today , did you , linton ?
No , I think you're making this up again .
No , this is real . So if you haven't heard of Proust , he was a French writer . My very poor invitation of French experienced this strange sense of deja vu when he ate a tea-soaked French cake and these vivid childhood memories came flooding back into his mind totally involuntarily .
Well , why do you know this Stacy ?
I'm a collector of all of these little tidbits .
Oh my gosh . Let me ask you this Can you amplify the effect a little bit more by pairing multiple senses together , to make the memory even that much more vivid ?
Yes , yeah , in fact , you can mix and match your senses to create an epic memory recall using sight , sound , smell , touch and or taste . Of course , it's really important to be realistic about what you're doing here , so don't expect that every single time you smell a peppermint candy you're suddenly going to be flooded with memories of logotherapy .
But what you can do is use this technique to help your brain start making these associations between the material that you're learning and the sensory cues . It's kind of like creating an emotional anchor in your memory bank .
It sounds like you can get really creative with this . What about touch ? I know people can carry around rocks or coins . Could you do something like that ? Would that help you remember information ?
Yeah , good question . So , as far as using tactile items like what you're describing to store information in your memory , there's this whole field of study that's called kinesthetic learning .
Of course there is .
Another field of science , yes , which is essentially the process of learning by physical movement , And this is really popular with med students , who use things like clay or string when they're creating models of body parts and organs that they're studying .
And there's also studies that show that if you write something down , you know , like note taking , which involves both tactile and visual senses you've got that combo of senses there then you're more likely to remember it . So , it's not not called rote memory for nothing .
Got it , Got it . So when you go in the take the exam , you could put a small rock or maybe a chicken liver in your pocket that you associated with some concept that you were studying right .
Well , a chicken liver might be pushing the envelope just a little bit . I'm pretty sure that your other fellow test takers are not going to appreciate that too much , though I'm sure they'll give you some space . But a rock seems harmless enough .
Okay , Well , it sounds crazy , but look , you may pass or fail this exam by one measly point , And I can assure you many people have failed by it with just one point . And so try this , maybe not with the chicken liver , but go ahead and try this . So what do you have to lose ? And Stace , what about ? I've just thought about an idea .
What about wearing the exact same clothes you've been wearing all the time you've been studying for the last three months for the exam ?
Well , here's an idea , especially if you live down in Florida , where you know you're sticky and sweaty .
Watch it .
Well , it might be a difference , but a pass is a pass .
Yeah , well , there you go Once again with those 50 cent words Stace . Well , that's a wrap for today's episode . We hope that you came away with some ideas of how you can customize these concepts and you can use your senses to pick up a few extra points on the exam . Well , until next time , remember it's in there . 1 .