Four Mnemonic Principles Mnemonic principles include associating thoughts to each other. This is accomplished by substitution of words, or exaggerated, out of proportion, or action associations. Simply put: set cues with sound-alike words or visually associate words using some outrageous exaggeration connecting the two. Visualize the picture out of proportion. A second principle revolves around the concreteness of the items being associated. Tangible objects are much easier to visualize than are intangibles. Picturing an apple in your "mind's eye" is not a difficult task but picturing "truth" is difficult. The tangibles are usually nouns. Concrete nouns are the easiest to visualize because most of them have been seen at one time or another; you know what they look like (eg. rose). Intangibles are usually words other than nouns

but do include abstract nouns (eg. liberty). They are concepts or ideas which are not as easily pictured. A third principle is -- the other principles can be automated. Learning the principles and using them leads to a point where no conscious effort is needed to apply them. A forth principle is the forced awareness resulting from actively observing your memory habits. You are becoming "mindful", actively perceiving your environment and observing the nature of your thoughts. Four principles of mnemonics are association, concreteness, automaticity, and forced awareness.