Building a Memory Palace in the Cloud: Instructional Technologies and the Method of Loci (2012)

Undergraduate: Marla Sullivan

Faculty Advisor: Diane Kelly
Department: Information Science

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This study attempts to combine an ancient mnemonic technique, the method of loci, with modern instructional technologies to produce improved memory performance among students. Literature from the fields of education, applied cognitive psychology and information science was surveyed to inform the design of this project. An experiment was then conducted with 30 undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The participants were randomly assigned to three conditions: rote memorization, traditional method of loci and interactive method of loci. It was hypothesized that the third condition would exhibit superior memory performance as compared to the first two. The experiment was framed as an online course about the history of information science. Participants learned about the contributions of information science pioneers and studied these facts using experimental study guides. Afterward, participants completed a free-recall quiz, a matching quiz and an exit questionnaire, asking them to rate their enjoyment of the study guide. One-way ANOVA tests were used to analyze the results. No significant differences were found in recall and recognition performance or self-reported fun across conditions. These results suggest that, while the method of loci could be used as the basis for an external memory aid software application, further research and refinement to the method will be necessary before it would prove effective and enjoyable for student use.