In this guest post, Thomas Jones, a Psychology student who spent some time working with us at the ThinkBuzan Headquarters, applies his know-how to Mind Mapping and the cognitive processes and theories behind the technique…

Mind mapping is one of the most powerful tools in anyone’s arsenal when it comes to remembering vast quantities of information; it provides the user with their own personal tree of knowledge on a subject of their choice.

Semantic Network Model

One of the ideas behind Mind Maps is Semantic Network Models (Collins & Quillian, 1969) which says that everyone has their own personal spider’s web, connecting everything they know about objects together, e.g. Red is connected to fire, blood, love. If one section of the networking models is activated, the surrounding links are activated. Our own personal experiences shape these connections and everybody’s semantic network models are different. Mind Mapping takes a certain subject and links everything a person knows about this subject together. This provides a vast quantity of information on one subject on a single page.

Read more

Tony Buzan’s… Most Important Graph in the World

Allow me to introduce to you the Recall During Learning graph. Or as Tony Buzan would call it, the Most Important Graph in the World…

This graph is the bedrock for all global memory systems, a basis for creative thinking, and the theoretical foundation of Mind Mapping. It can improve and aid a broad range of areas, including public speaking, teaching, self-management, and of course memory. In this blog post we will become intimately acquainted with the graph, stripping it down to its components so that you can utilise it in your day to day life.

Read more

Record Breaking

July saw three world records being smashed at the fifth annual UK Schools Memory Championships held in prestigious Keyworth Centre in London, proudly sponsored by ThinkBuzan.  The city of Sunderland dominated the top spots this year with five of the top ten competitors being from this area. The winner Mark Towers was the overall winner, recalling an amazing 155 words, 106 numbers, 21 fictional dates and 16 playing cards, giving him an overall score of 1448.  Mark was also the first ever male to win, another achievement!

The School Memory Championships are always an extremely popular event and this year was no exception! The event engages students in the sport of memory, developing their mental skills and encouraging advancement in their studies.

Read more

Popular men’s lifestyle magazine, Shortlist, came out today with an article featuring Tony Buzan.  Tony spoke with Shortlist about combating the age-old conundrum ‘Now where did I leave my keys…?’

Who better to help absent-minded men (and women) everywhere, than the man who literally wrote the book on memory?  Read on to get the tips…

Shortlist Magazine  – 3rd February 2011

Sick of that ‘where’s my wallet’ feeling?  We asked Tony Buzan, creator of Mind Maps and founder of the World Memory Championships (Thinkbuzan.com) to jog our minds.

“Put down your keys, wallet and phone in the same place every time,” he says.  “Give them a ‘memory home’.  It seems obvious, because it is, but you probably don’t do it.”

Senses are very important.  “When you put down the remote control, make sure you look at it.  Remember the feel of it and the sound it makes when you put it down.

“Work on your imagination and association skills,” he continues.  “Practise visualising objects and places, and make connections between them.  The more connections you make, the more routes to the memory you’ll have.”

Stick to the healthy body, healthy mind mantra.  “Keeping fit means more oxygen gets to your brain,” Buzan adds.  “Make a hobby of your memory.  If you train it well, it can improve as you get older.  There is no excuse for scratching your head, wondering where you left the car.”

http://magazine.shortlist.com/