The Peg Method

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What is the pegword method?

The pegword method is a mnemonic technique that relies on you knowing a 10-item rhyme to associate 10 numbers with 10 “peg” objects. 

Whenever you want to remember a list of items of your choice, you need to find a visual image to associate each item with the corresponding “peg” object.

Then whenever you want to remember the list, run through the rhyme, recall the “peg” objects and the visual images you’ve “hung” on your pegs. 

This is best illustrated with an example:

How to use the pegword method

The first step is to learn the rhyme to remember the peg words list. These ten objects form the “pegs” you can later “hang” whatever you want to remember on. 

The Pegword Method: you first need to learn the peg words list

Then, whenever you need learn a list of items, “peg” each item to the rhyme you just learned, by creating a visual image that combines the peg object with whatever object you’re trying to remember.

For example, if you were trying to remember a shopping list (apples, milk, eggs), you might think up the following images:

  1. An apple being shot out of a gun and splattering on the wall
  2. A carton of milk held in a shoe
  3. A load of eggs growing like fruit on a tree

Does the method work?

There is evidence that the pegword mnemonic can effectively enhance recall for some materials, especially concrete nouns. 

There are a number of drawbacks, though:

  1. Trying to remember too many pegword lists at once may cause you to get confused between the lists. (Psychologists call this “interference“).
  2. This technique isn’t much good for abstract concepts, or nouns that are not very visually distinct. It might be hard to learn a list of pharmaceutical drugs or mountains using this method, because your visual image for each item on the list will be quite similar.
  3. It’s only really good for up to ten items.
  4. The evidence of the benefits over the long-term (e.g. several months, or more) is mixed. You’ll almost certainly want to combine this technique with retrieval practice, as Adam Putnam discussed on the podcast.

Have fun with the pegword method, and good luck!

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