Memory Methods

[ilikecubing]

Is there any use of letter pair images in things other than cubing? Like in any other memory challenges?

 

[ChickenWrap]

Ok, I understand the idea behind Roam rooms. How do you actually apply that to memorization though? I mean, if I have my room with say, 10 objects/locations, what do I do next?

 

[Ollie]

Is there any use of letter pair images in things other than cubing? Like in any other memory challenges?

Yes - random digits, memorizing a pack of cards, binary digits, historic dates, all can use letter pairs. Playing cards for example:

First letter = number of card (Ace = A, 2 = B, 3 = C etc. JQK remains the same.
Second letter = the first letter of the suit (SCHD)

6 of diamonds = FD = FreD

Memorize one image per card and you can memorize an entire deck with very little effort.

Ok, I understand the idea behind Roam rooms. How do you actually apply that to memorization though? I mean, if I have my room with say, 10 objects/locations, what do I do next?

For example, let's say you have 3 loci and in brackets is your memo:

1. Table (BXTRPO)

Imagine that on the table is a BoX, place on top of the box a TRay covered in POo.

2. Drawers (PLRSCH)

I PuLl out a RuSty CHicken out of the drawers.

3. Lamp (WGHDPMLA)

I can see a man in a WiG HiDing behind the lamp. I shake some PoM poms in his face and sing at him "LAaaaa!"

 

[ChickenWrap]

For example, let's say you have 3 loci and in brackets is your memo:

1. Table (BXTRPO)

Imagine that on the table is a BoX, place on top of the box a TRay covered in POo.

2. Drawers (PLRSCH)

I PuLl out a RuSty CHicken out of the drawers.

3. Lamp (WGHDPMLA)

I can see a man in a WiG HiDing behind the lamp. I shake some PoM poms in his face and sing at him "LAaaaa!"

I understand now. Would this be something I could/should use for single BLD, or should I just reserve that for multi BLD once I actually get a regular BLD success?

 

[TheOneOnTheLeft]

Loci methods are usually reserved for longer-term memorisation, ie big cubes BLD and multi. For 3BLD you don't need to remember the information for as long, so you don't need those sorts of memory methods. Most people stick to images and audio for 3BLD.

 

[TDM]

First letter = number of card (Ace = A, 2 = B, 3 = C etc. JQK remains the same.

What about 10? Would you use T for that, as you can't use J?

 

[A Leman]

What about 10? Would you use T for that, as you can't use J?

Everyone can makes their own scheme. I think Ollie does A-H,9=N,10=t,J,Q,K
I use a different scheme for numbers where [0123456789]=[otnmrfsdbg] and I use A,J,Q,K (I also use 0=C,k 9=J and 8=P 5=L sometimes for long digit events and catchphrases with more than 2 digits in a word)

so 6 of diamonds, Jack of spades, 8 of diamonds= sd js bd= A sandstorm pushes Jessie into a bed.

I am trying something different for cards now, but I think it is better to not mention it in this post because it is more work and certainly more confusing.

Letter pairs and images in general can also be used for passwords, phone numbers, addresses, birthdays, licence plate numbers, vocabulary and school work.

 

[Ollie]

Everyone can makes their own scheme. I think Ollie does A-H,9=N,10=t,J,Q,K
I use a different scheme for numbers where [0123456789]=[otnmrfsdbg] and I use A,J,Q,K (I also use 0=C,k 9=J and 8=P 5=L sometimes for long digit events and catchphrases with more than 2 digits in a word)

so 6 of diamonds, Jack of spades, 8 of diamonds= sd js bd= A sandstorm pushes Jessie into a bed.

I am trying something different for cards now, but I think it is better to not mention it in this post because it is more work and certainly more confusing.

Letter pairs and images in general can also be used for passwords, phone numbers, addresses, birthdays, licence plate numbers, vocabulary and school work.

correct GOOD MEMORY!

How is MS going atm? I think I'll have to make a comeback to 'practice' multi whilst I have no cubes

 

[A Leman]

correct GOOD MEMORY!

How is MS going atm? I think I'll have to make a comeback to 'practice' multi whilst I have no cubes

It's going. I have been doing only untimed endurance. The 3 things that I have been practicing is 12 decks of cards, 1000 digits in as long as it takes and reciting 2120 digits of Pi that I memorized in separate routes. For digits, I am putting a post-it note over the Memoriad timer on my laptop and I have realized how much more exhausting it is to recite a digit at a time for pi since it is ~4 times less compact in terms syllables. This practice is not fun at all and turns my brain to mush. How does Maskow do it? I'm weak.

No cubing at all, but this practice will definitely cross over when I get back into cubing.

 

[DeeDubb]

Linguistic Audio Method - Proposal and request for suggestions

I'm not really sure if this is a new method, but I was working on a different approach to the audio method for edges a single 3BLD cube. I was following Noah's awesome guide, which he uses lettering systems for both edges and corners, but it seems to be less fitting for the audio shorter memory method, which creates a lot of weird combos that don't make good sounds together (q's and x's), and also letters with the same or similar sounds (k, c or c/s sometimes, various vowels have the same sounds in different environments). I was trying to think of possibly a better way involving focusing on sounds rather than letters.

So, basically here goes. My major was linguistics, so I understand a lot about the phonetics of English and other languages and phonology in general. I'm not very familiar with cognitive memory sciences, so that is where I need some help with this system, but I really think I'm on to something good.

Instead of focusing on letters for each edge, each side would be assigned a sound. The two sides that make up the edge would combine into a syllable. So, let's say the U face was given sound A and the F face was given sound B, then the syllable that would be created for UF would be A+B and the syllable that would be created for FU would be B+A.

The one mandatory requirement for making a syllable (in nearly every language in the world) is a vowel (or semivowel, but we don't need to get into that). This would mean that a consonant+consonant edge must not exist. Therefore, only two opposing sides can be assigned a consonant sound, while the other four sides must have vowel sounds.

Since we have four vowel edges, that means some syllables will consist of only vowels. This means that we must find a way to make distinctive vowel + vowel combinations. Most languages, including English, have many vowel+vowel combinations within a syllable. These are known as "glides" (such as 'ya' or 'wa') or diphthongs such as the vowel on 'house'. So, these should not be a problem as long as we select vowels that are far enough separated to prevent ambiguous pronunciation.

In phonetics, we sometimes talk about the 3 most basic vowels, which nearly every language possesses, and those are /i/ (like the vowel in "seek") /a/ (like the vowel in "rot" or "ah") and /u/ (like the vowel in "soon"). For top face, I definitely think /i/ is best, and for bottom face /u/ is best. These is because these two vowels can easily be combined with other vowels to create easy glide sounds. like /i/ + /o/ would make a "yo" sound. and /u/ + /a/ would make a "wa" sound.

Back or front face could get /a/, doesn't really matter. I assigned it to the back face. The front face, I gave another very common vowel sound, which is /o/ (like the vowel in "home". This creates a lot of easily pronounceable vowel+vowel combinations.

Now, what's left is left and right face. For these, I'm having trouble deciding the best possible consonants to use. The fact is, they could be any two consonants basically, as long as they don't sound to similar to each other. I actually started off just using /l/ for the left face and /r/ for the right face. I decided to try more distinct and different sounds, so I used /p/ for the left face and /k/ for the right face. This is something I would really like suggestions about.

So, here's the sound combinations by side:

U face: /i/ (like the vowel in "seek")

UF: /i/ + /o/ = "yo"
UB: /i/ + /a/ = "ya" (like the first part of "yawn")
UL: /i/ + /p/ = "eep"
UR: /i/ + /k/ = "eek"

Down Face: /u/ (like the vowel in "boo")

DF: /u/ + /o/ = "whoa"
DB: /u/ + /a/ = "wa" (like the first syllable of "water")
DL: /u/ + /p/ = "oop"
DR: /u/ + /k/ = "ook"

Front Face: /o/ (like the vowel in "home")

FU: /o/ + /i/ = "oi" (like the vowel in "poise" or "oink")
FD: /o/ + /u/ = "owe" (like the word "owe" or the letter "O") NOTE: this one will not be used with M2, because it is the buffer
FL: /o/ + /p/ = "ope" (like everything except the 'h' in "hope")
FR: /o/ + /k/ = "oak"

Back Face: /a/ (like the vowel in "rot" or "all")

BU: /a/ + /i/ = "aye" (like "aye aye captain")
BD: /a/ + /u/ = "ow" (like "ow, I hurt myself") NOTE: This is the only one that may sound similar to another, which is "ow" vs. "owe". However, as mentioned above, "owe" isn't used in M2
BL: /a/ + /p/ = "op" (like the first consonant of "operation", you can also say "app" like "application here, as it will not be confused with anything else)
BR: /a/ + /k/ = "auk" (like the first syllable of "awkward" or "October", you can also say "ack" here like the second syllable of "attack" as it won't be confused with anything else)

Left Face: /p/

LU: /p/ + /i/ = "Pee"
LD: /p/ + /u/ = "Poo" (not intentional I swear...)
LF: /p/ + /o/ = "Poe" (like Edgar Allen...)
LB: /p/ + /a/ = "Pa" (like "Ma and Pa")

Right Face: /k/

RU: /k/ + /i/ = "Kee"
RD: /k/ + /u/ = "Koo"
RF: /k/ + /o/ = "Ko" (like "Co-worker")
RB: /k/ + /a/ = "Ka" (like a bird saying "Caw" or the first part of "Caught")


These can easily blocked into pairs as my example solve will show.

Scramble: B2 L2 U' R2 B2 U' F2 U2 B2 R2 D' B F2 D U2 F' L' D2 L' D' U2

RU/FL: eek-ope
DR/RF: ook-ko
DB/UF: wa-yo
UB/LB: ya-pa
RB/UL: ka-eep
DL = ook (+parity)

So, our memo sequence would be "eek-ope ook-ko wa-yo ya-pa ka-eep ook" (and remember parity)

After working with this system for a while, here's the pros and cons:

PROs
Absolutely 100% consistent, no ambiguity issues
Easily track number of moves by counting syllables
Very easy sounds, that nearly every language on the planet can utilize
You can easily remember flipped edges because they will have symmetry (i.e. "ook-koo" would be a flipped edge)
In M2, You can easily remember which setups need B or B' because they will be the only ones that start with consonants (since L/R are the only consonant faces)

CONs
Very little semantic association with these sounds (very few of these combinations make anything similar to English words)
This con is a big one. I had a lot of trouble retaining these sounds in my mind. I know audio method is just supposed to be sounds, but there is something about having similarity to actual words that makes them easier to retain.
EDIT:By only having one piece of information per syllable, we will have twice as many syllables to remember.


My ideas for possible improvement:

This one, I thought of while writing this up. Fully change the /a/ back face to /æ/ (which is the vowel in "Dan" "sand" and "apple") This will create a lot more sounds that are more similar to English words.

Instead of using 1 consonant for L and R, I could use a group of consonants for each side. For example, I could use voiceless consonants on one side /p/ /t/ /k/ /s/ and "ch" sound and voiced on the other side /b/ /d/ /g/ /z/ and "j" sound. This would allow for more creativity when making sound combos. So, "eep" isn't a word in English, but "eat" is. "oop" isn't very memorable but "ooze" is... etc.

Thank you for your time. If you guys can help come up with any other possible ways to perfect this system, I will gladly pursue it further. If it is unanimously thought of as worthless, then I will scrap it.

 

[TheOneOnTheLeft]

This seems like a really good idea to remove the ambiguities in audio, but what seems to me to be the biggest con is one that you missed. You're only encoding one target per syllable, and that's not likely to be efficient enough to make sufficiently short audio loops. Modern working memory models suggest we can hold about 7 "chunks" of information in our short term memory (it's actually more about the time it would take to say, but 7 syllables is a useful measure). By encoding two targets to a syllable, letter-pair based audio memorisation means it should be fairly easy to memo up to fourteen edge targets. With your system, this would be a lot harder, and this might be the reason you're having trouble remembering them.

If you can come up with a way to encode two targets per syllable while avoiding ambiguity, this could be really effective. Good luck with it, and hopefully some people more experienced in BLD than I am will weigh in. Ollie has a good post going over some of the neuroscience of memory which might be of some use to you moving forward.

 

[DeeDubb]

This seems like a really good idea to remove the ambiguities in audio, but what seems to me to be the biggest con is one that you missed. You're only encoding one target per syllable, and that's not likely to be efficient enough to make sufficiently short audio loops. Modern working memory models suggest we can hold about 7 "chunks" of information in our short term memory (it's actually more about the time it would take to say, but 7 syllables is a useful measure). By encoding two targets to a syllable, letter-pair based audio memorisation means it should be fairly easy to memo up to fourteen edge targets. With your system, this would be a lot harder, and this might be the reason you're having trouble remembering them.

If you can come up with a way to encode two targets per syllable while avoiding ambiguity, this could be really effective. Good luck with it, and hopefully some people more experienced in BLD than I am will weigh in. Ollie has a good post going over some of the neuroscience of memory which might be of some use to you moving forward.

Yes, you are correct. The string could be considerably longer because the syllable only codes to one value. I overlooked that. Thanks.

So, basically there are 24 pieces of information, we need to be able to remember up to around 14 of them within 7 or so syllables. Hmm, I will see what I can think of. I just know there has to be a better way than antiquated English orthography.

 

[DeeDubb]

Alright, so I came up with some minor changes to the current alphabet audio method until I can think of something better.

There are a few consonant sounds in English that aren't represented by a single letter:

"ch" sound like "chunky"
"sh" sound like "shy"
"th" sound like "this" (there's actually two "th" sounds, one voiced and one voiceless, like the difference between saying "either" and "ether", but you can use either to prevent confusion)

There are 3 really problematic consonants in the letter audio method, which are q, x, and (c or k)

So, if we change those 3 to sounds we don't currently have, it makes things easier.

X -> "sh" sound (this is easy to remember, because Chinese often use x for "sh" sounds, so you've probably heard this before from Chinese names)
C -> "ch" sound (easy to remember, because "ch" has a "c" in it)
Q -> "th" sound (not easy to remember, but would be easy with practice.

As for vowels, just try to use consistent pronunciation

A -> "Bat"
E -> "Bet"
I -> "Beat"
O -> "Boat"
U -> "Boot"

Unfortunately, vowel+vowel combinations will still be awkward. I+A will be tough to distinguish from Y+A, U+A is tough to distinguish from W+A. But at least it's better. I'll keep working on a more linguistic approach, but I think this is a pretty good adjustment to make to the current system.

 

[speedcxber]

Apologies for the fact that this has probably been covered elsewhere, but the masses of BLD info available are pretty difficult to rifle through and find exactly what I'm looking for.
I'm learning 3x3 BLD; I think the method I'm using is M2...
Im testing memorisation methods and I like the idea of assigning letters to pieces and then memorising the syllables, so what are some good systems of consonants/vowels that you guys use.
Also, how do you remember the orientations, and cycle breaks? Then, how do you deal with correctly permuted but incorrectly oriented pieces?
I can imagine these questions have endless answers but I feel like a noob all over again by trying to break into BLD, its not easy.
I'm currently practicing doing a cycle of 3 or 4 pieces, but struggling with orientations and cycle breaks. I've also tried memorising a last layer then solving that. Any suggestions for practice methods are also appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DeeDubb]

Apologies for the fact that this has probably been covered elsewhere, but the masses of BLD info available are pretty difficult to rifle through and find exactly what I'm looking for.
I'm learning 3x3 BLD; I think the method I'm using is M2...
Im testing memorisation methods and I like the idea of assigning letters to pieces and then memorising the syllables, so what are some good systems of consonants/vowels that you guys use.
Also, how do you remember the orientations, and cycle breaks? Then, how do you deal with correctly permuted but incorrectly oriented pieces?
I can imagine these questions have endless answers but I feel like a noob all over again by trying to break into BLD, its not easy.
I'm currently practicing doing a cycle of 3 or 4 pieces, but struggling with orientations and cycle breaks. I've also tried memorising a last layer then solving that. Any suggestions for practice methods are also appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

I learned from Noah's amazing tutorial. Definitely worth watching the whole thing.

http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?40921-Noah-s-Blindfolded-Tutorial

 

[goodatthis]

When I memorize, I feel like I make my letter pairs too condensed. For example, one cube of a Multi memo recently:

BCGKWFXM ACGJLSHNVE

BC (dads initials) GawKed at the WildFire eXaM
AC (moms initials) did a Good Job LoSing HoNey from the VEt

Is keeping memo concise like this a better or worse way to go? When I see some people's example memos, they seem much more spread out. Note that these were pretty good letters, I was able to tell a story and the corner and edge memo both started with my parents intitials lol, but there are some other memos that I have trouble with where I wind up having random words strung together, like the one below. (I generated them, so they might not make sense cube-wise))


FX GK HJ BW PW VL DM NI UC RX

Fox GaWked HiJo Black/White
PoW VLad DaMn NIle UCla medicine (RX)

 

[Ollie]

When I memorize, I feel like I make my letter pairs too condensed. For example, one cube of a Multi memo recently:

BCGKWFXM ACGJLSHNVE

BC (dads initials) GawKed at the WildFire eXaM
AC (moms initials) did a Good Job LoSing HoNey from the VEt

Is keeping memo concise like this a better or worse way to go? When I see some people's example memos, they seem much more spread out. Note that these were pretty good letters, I was able to tell a story and the corner and edge memo both started with my parents intitials lol, but there are some other memos that I have trouble with where I wind up having random words strung together, like the one below. (I generated them, so they might not make sense cube-wise))


FX GK HJ BW PW VL DM NI UC RX

Fox GaWked HiJo Black/White
PoW VLad DaMn NIle UCla medicine (RX)

I always preferred to keep it concise and squeeze as much information into one sentence/one room as possible, especially big blind. It's something you need to practice a bit as the trick is to not add too much detail that you're likely to forget stuff, but also not too short in order to not use too many rooms.

Spoiler: recent 5bld example

Wings: (MK RC PJ HX EU BN) (AF, WG, SD, QA) // While I'm MilKing a RaCecar in my new PyJamas, a witch (HX) brings me a bEaUtiful girl in a BiN. She starts fAFfing about with her WiG, making SaD QuAcking noises. // 20 targets, one room.
Midges: (JN AC DT GQ WL C) // JoN ACes a tennis ball into some DirTy magazine (GQ), but his WiLly mysteriously rises to the Ceiling // 11 targets, one room.
X-Centers: A(QI GR HM TN KU OW S) (BE) (DF) (LX) // Stephen Fry (QI) is GRowling, until he starts HuMming a TuNe "KUOWS!", a BEe drinking DuFf containing LaXatives // 13 targets + 3x2-cycles, two opposite ends of one long room.
+-Centers: A(IM VO QH KT LP J) (BR) C(HJ) (DW) // IMy reading VOgue, smearing jam (QH) on a KiTkat, smacking her LiPs and going "Jah!", a BRown Indian (HJ) telling me to "Don't Worry! You'll get world record on this solve" (no joke.) // various cycles, one room.

 

[DeeDubb]

Spoiler: recent 5bld example

Wings: (MK RC PJ HX EU BN) (AF, WG, SD, QA) // While I'm MilKing a RaCecar in my new PyJamas, a witch (HX) brings me a bEaUtiful girl in a BiN. She starts fAFfing about with her WiG, making SaD QuAcking noises. // 20 targets, one room.
Midges: (JN AC DT GQ WL C) // JoN ACes a tennis ball into some DirTy magazine (GQ), but his WiLly mysteriously rises to the Ceiling // 11 targets, one room.
X-Centers: A(QI GR HM TN KU OW S) (BE) (DF) (LX) // Stephen Fry (QI) is GRowling, until he starts HuMming a TuNe "KUOWS!", a BEe drinking DuFf containing LaXatives // 13 targets + 3x2-cycles, two opposite ends of one long room.
+-Centers: A(IM VO QH KT LP J) (BR) C(HJ) (DW) // IMy reading VOgue, smearing jam (QH) on a KiTkat, smacking her LiPs and going "Jah!", a BRown Indian (HJ) telling me to "Don't Worry! You'll get world record on this solve" (no joke.) // various cycles, one room.

Ollie, I have some questions about how you memo, and maybe it's things that you've just naturally developed, but I'm fascinated by how you can use targets as different parts of speech. While most of your targets are nouns, many are verbs, which I bolded above. I'm guessing your main memo on these is noun, but you will alternate to verbs when it's beneficial:

Milking (milk)
Faffing (actually I don't know what this means, I'm guessing it's Brit slang)
Growling (growl)
Humming (hum)

you also use adjectives which don't seem to have noun counterparts:
Sad
Brown
QuAcking noises (I'm guessing this is memo'd as a block, so quacking is treated as a noun in all of your memos, like the sound of a quack)


Are SD and BR always "Sad" and "Brown" to describe the next target?

Also, do you have a lot of memos that are flexible in their parts of speech?

 

[PJKCuber]

I really need to read this thread. Most of my 3BLD DNF's are from forgetting memo.

 

[Ollie]

Also, do you have a lot of memos that are flexible in their parts of speech?

Yes, as I usually have a choice of two or three words for each pair that I have accumulated from memorizing a lot. I still also try to make things up on the spot and try new words because sometimes they're effective and I can use them later on.

Using famous people (or friends) as letter pairs is useful because they usually have some sort of verb associated with them. DB is James Bond (like the Aston Martin DB9) so DB is either him or the verb to spy. But because I occasionally have to use audio or construct longer sentences it can also mean to dab something with something or it is "DuB" like dub step. I would say that this is possible to do with 80% of all my letter pairs.

For instance, SD is the word sad or Sid the Sloth (from Ice Age) while BR is brown or bruise, which can alternate between the noun form of bruise and to bruise something.

I usually make up filler words on the spot like beautiful for EU to make a sentence flow more easily too.

Also, faffing is slang to waste time but AF is also a model (like Abercrombie and Fitch) and the verb to model.