Dual coding theory and practice

Classical dual coding theory involves simultaneous usage of visual and audio processing of information. It is practiced to improve our long-term memorization and creativity.

This is a basic article that concerns any learning activity. I thought I wrote it ages ago, and I then could not find the text. So I will write a new article explaining the same concept in a way more adapted to my current worldview.

The mystery of a human brain

It is well-known that musicians have a memory superior to the memory of people without musical training. Magicians and jugglers have superior perception and reading speed. Sportsmen often perform better in mathematical tasks. While science only started provide some clues to the brain mysteries, we can speculate based on the experiences of some people who practice memory training. I could add a hundred resources to support this post, this would spark a lively conversation but would hurt our focus on the learning experience itself. Instead, I ask you to trust me and your own personal experience, see what works for you and what doesn’t…

A picture is worth a thousand words

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Any good writer will try to create images in the head of the reader, and any good reader will do his best to visualize these images with maximal vitality and personal engagement. A fiction writer will use colorful and unforgetful descriptions that simply ignite your imagination and generate a true page turner. A scientist or a market expert will add tables, graphs and examples that will be sufficient for you to understand and remember the discovery or invention. And if you need to learn a legal or medical document, the grayish formulation will be spiced up by stories of true people fighting for their lives and their rights. Visualization is such a fast and powerful tool, that quite often we forget to use some other items in our toolbox.

The music of the text

By simply visualizing the images the author puts in our heads we miss a lot of details. The names of people and places, various numbers and formulas, the structure of the sentences and rare words chosen for a specific purpose generate a sort of strange music we create in our heads while reading. In some places, we recommend being especially sensitive to this music during the prereading stage (or re-reading if necessary), so that it will not slow down your visualization. It’s not that we cannot replace this music by well-chosen visualization or mnemonic device. Both PAO and Major/Dominic methods provide this opportunity. The thing is: when we use the audio representation of selected words with these mnemonic devices we amplify our capabilities. Our ability to remember sequences and our ability to remember images utilize different powers of our brains. When these powers combine, we get a superior result. Next time when you need to remember a name, try to do it several ways: sing it in your head or aloud, visually photograph the name as it appears in the text, visualize each part of the name as a symbol… Each experience will be different and each experience will be memorable.

Mixing colors and music

Some people go one step further. They are born, or they develop by practice an ability called synesthesia. Synesthesia is a mix of senses, quite often of letters or numbers and colors. People with synesthesia do not just read series of numbers, they see rainbows. They do not just read words, they see shapes. Having two different senses encoding the same information, we have more freedom to choose how we will process it, tools that are a competitive advantage. The proportion of famous people with synesthesia is extremely high. A different way to activate both brain parts is available to ambidextrous: if you use one hand to write and another to draw you will discover some strange connections and become more creative. The connectivity between the left and the right sides of the brain is associated with high IQ and creativity, and quite often with genius.

Body memory and gut feeling

Jugglers experience enhanced perception and reading speed. The mental agility needed to track multiple objects in space also sharpens memory. Similarly, when we read numerous symbols with our peripheral vision or juggle mental images in our mind’s eye, we engage in comparable mental exercises. However, the use of muscular control and memory brings additional benefits. We can recall the sensation of holding a pen while writing a word or the location where we encountered a life-changing idea. We also find pleasure in following complex processes with domino effects and develop an intuitive sense when something deviates from our expectations. It’s easier to remember something when it is amplified by its physical and emotional context.

Long-term memorization curse and cure

All these abilities come handy when we need to remember things for a long period of time, possibly our entire life. When we need to remember for several seconds or minutes we do not need dual coding. Any sort of memory sufficiently trained will work, and visual memory will probably work faster. When reading we can do quite well without dual coding. But what will we remember days and weeks after? If we do not utilize dual coding we will hardly remember everything the next day. When we finish reading we pause, and we can use the pause for many things. One of them is dual coding. Each sense by itself has some probability to remember. The combined probability of all senses is significantly higher, also due to the synergy between senses. The more neurons work in unison to remember something, the stronger that memory becomes. Trained memory masters use their entire brain to remember things: the visualization, the music, the logical, physical and emotional context, the subtle interplay between various senses. Each memory becomes rare and unique due to the effort involved in making the memory meaningful.

Dual coding cookbook

Now let us combine these ideas together into a sort of practical recipe:

1. During prereading (previewing the text) notice rare words, names, numbers.
2. For each unique object, try to visualize it and also to imagine its sound. To add sound to numbers use mnemonic devices like pegs/PAO/major system.
3. When reading, do not just visualize the meaning of the text, but also feel the rhythm of the text: the length of sentences, the structure of the paragraphs, the music of the words.
4. After reading think about what you just read. Maybe you will want to write or draw something. Maybe you will experience a moment of discovery and will want to remember the physical context of it: your body, the room where you sit, the time of the day.
5. Try to recall what you just read using various senses: recall from the visualization, recall from the audio perception, from the physical context.
6. If you have time and persistence, try synaesthesia, breathing or dexterity exercises you can find on this blog.  If you need further ideas, contact me [email protected] with specific requests.