Sight
Most people use sight as their primary sense for daily functioning. However, according to research, sight is not the strongest sense when it comes to memories.
For blind people, who are unable to see, other senses will be amplified (strengthened)
Smell
Research has indicated smell to be the strongest memory-provoker. (McAleer, 1985.p.66) This might be because the receptors for these sensors go directly into the brain through the olfactory bulbs to the hippocampus, and require less processing than do the other senses.
Sight v. Smell
Even though nearly 100% of visual information can be retained over short periods of time, this drops to 50% within 3 months. Olfactory (smell) information, on the other hand, averages 80 percent recall after a brief time - and stays at 80% over at least a year. (McAleer, 1985.p.71)
Taste
Another strong sense when it comes to memory is taste. Family recipes, even if not used in years, will evoke memories of past home-cooking. Tasting this meal again will elicit many related memories.
Sound
Sound stimuli can provide needed cues in memory retrieval. If, for example, you listen to a certain type of music every time you studied history, for example, you would have a better chance of remembering the facts you learned if you were hearing the same music as when you learned them.
Words are often stored in our memory by how they sound (acoustic coding
) as well as by their semantic meaning (semantic coding
Saying vocabulary words aloud and/or reading aloud as you study may help to improve your memory of these words.
Music therapy for people with memory problems, particularly those with dementia, relies on strong associations made between musical patterns and memory formation and storage.(Music therapy)
Touch
Haptic memories
Educational implications
An approach using multiple senses in presenting or exploring new material increases the likelihood that students will be able to recall the material in the future. More pathways of locating the stored information will be formed in this approach. Also, individual students will have different strengths in receiving information through various senses. Some people prefer auditory or visual learning styles; others prefer a hands-on approach. Those with learning disabilities will also benefit from this multiple senses approach to education.
Lesson plan: Creative Writing exercise for exploring Memory of the Senses
Encourage students to write a short autobiographical story about their summer vacation memories. Instead of the traditional event reporting, require that they incorporate descriptive passages involving as many senses as possible to take advantage of memory associations.
