Memory sport has its own vocabulary, and it can be baffling at first: PAO, loci, journeys, marking, the Millennium Standard. This glossary defines 51 terms in plain English, in alphabetical order, with a link to the guide, drill or tool where each one is explained properly. If a word in a guide or a competition report loses you, this is the page to check.
Quick Answer: The Terms You Will Meet First
- Locus / journey / memory palace: the places where you store images.
- PAO / Major System: systems that turn numbers and cards into images.
- Row: the scoring unit of a recall sheet.
- Millennium Standard: the target that is worth 1,000 championship points.
- WMSC: the council that publishes the rules.
Jump to a Letter
The Glossary
A
- Abstract Images
- An event in which you memorize rows of five meaningless shapes and then put each row back in order. Train it.
- Active recall
- Testing yourself from memory rather than rereading. It is the core of every drill and the most reliable way to learn. Active recall guide.
- Arbiter
- The official who marks recall sheets at a competition and enforces its rules.
- Association
- A link between a new item and something you already know, such as a place, a person or a story. Every memory technique is built from associations. Linking method.
B
- Binary Numbers
- An event in which you memorize long strings of 0s and 1s, scored in rows of 30. Train it.
- Blank (in binary)
- In the Binary event, an unwritten cell on the recall sheet is marked as if it were a zero. Binary guide.
C
- Card image
- The fixed picture you assign to each of the 52 playing cards so any card can be turned into an image instantly. PAO builder.
- Championship points
- Each event's raw score rescaled against its Millennium Standard so ten different scores can be added into one total. Calculator.
- Chunking
- Grouping items into units you can hold and encode as one, for example 415 555 0142 instead of ten digits. Chunking guide.
- Cloze deletion
- A flashcard that hides a word in a sentence for you to recall; used in spaced-repetition software. Spaced repetition guide.
- Complete row
- A full row of digits (40 in Numbers, 30 in Binary, 52 cards in Hour Cards) recalled with no mistakes; the unit that scores points.
- Consolidation
- The process, helped by sleep, by which a new memory becomes stable and long-lasting.
D
- Decision points
- A tie-breaker in some events: points for correct digits in rows that otherwise scored zero.
- Digit span
- The longest string of digits you can repeat back in order straight after hearing it, usually about six or seven for an untrained adult. How many digits.
- Discipline
- One of the standard events of memory sport; there are ten. Compare the events.
E
- Encoding
- Turning information into a form the brain can store, such as an image; the first stage of memory. Visualization.
F
- Forgetting curve
- The pattern in which memory fades quickly at first and then slowly; reviews flatten it. Spaced repetition.
H
- Historic Dates
- An event matching invented events to years between 1000 and 2099. Train it.
- Hour Cards
- The marathon cards event: memorize as many 52-card packs as you can in an hour. Scored pack by pack. Train it.
- Hour Numbers
- The marathon numbers event: as many random digits as you can in an hour, in rows of 40. Train it.
I
- Image
- The mental picture that stands for a piece of information. The best images are big, active, strange and sensory. Visualization.
- Interference
- Forgetting caused by similar memories competing; a reason to make images distinct.
J
- Journey
- Another word for a memory palace route: an ordered sequence of places you walk through in your mind. Method of loci.
L
- Leaderboard
- A ranking of athletes by score or championship points in each event. See leaderboards.
- Linking method
- Chaining items into a story so each leads to the next; no places needed. Linking method.
- Locus (plural loci)
- A single place along a memory palace route where one image is stored. Loci is Latin for places. Method of loci.
M
- Major System
- A phonetic system that turns digits into consonant sounds and then into words, so numbers become images. Major System.
- Marking
- The scoring of recall sheets by arbiters, row by row.
- Memory palace
- A familiar place in which you store images in order; also called a mind palace or the method of loci. Mind palace guide.
- Memory sport
- Competitive memorization events such as cards, numbers, words and faces, governed internationally by the World Memory Sports Council. Records.
- Method of loci
- The formal name for the memory palace technique; the oldest memory method, traditionally credited to Simonides of Ceos. Method of loci.
- Millennium Standard
- A target score for each event, set above the record, that is worth 1,000 championship points. Reviewed each January. Targets explained.
- Mnemonic
- Any memory aid that ties information to something easier to recall, such as an acronym or a rhyme. Memory techniques.
N
- Names and Faces
- An event in which you memorize names for faces and then recall them. Train it.
P
- PAO
- Person-Action-Object: a system giving each two-digit number (or card) a person, an action and an object so several items combine into one scene. PAO guide.
- Peg system
- A fixed list of hook images (for example 1 = bun, 2 = shoe) onto which new items are attached. Peg system.
- Personal best
- Your highest score in an event; the number that most training is measured against.
R
- Recall sheet
- The paper (or screen) on which you write what you remembered in the recall phase.
- Retrieval
- Bringing a stored memory back; the stage of memory that practice strengthens most.
- Round
- One timed attempt within a championship event. Some events run two or three attempts and count the best.
- Row
- The unit of a recall sheet: 40 digits, 30 binary digits, 5 images or one 52-card pack, depending on the event.
S
- Spaced repetition
- Reviewing at increasing intervals, just before you would forget. Spaced repetition.
- Speed Cards
- An event in which you memorize one shuffled deck as fast as you can. Scored 11180 / t^0.75 for a complete deck. Train it.
- Speed Numbers
- The five-minute numbers event, in rows of 40 digits. Train it.
- Spoken Numbers
- An event in which digits are read aloud at one per second and you recall them with no visuals; marked to your first mistake. Train it.
- Station
- Another word for a locus: one stop on a route where an image is placed.
T
- Taper
- Deliberately light training before a competition so you arrive rested. Training for the hour events.
- Trial
- One attempt in an event held more than once, where the better one counts.
V
- Visualization
- Forming a clear mental image; the skill underneath every technique. Visualization.
W
- WMSC
- The World Memory Sports Council, the body that publishes the rulebook and the Millennium Standards for memory sport.
- World Memory Championship
- The annual international competition of ten events; some formats run an hour of memorization. Records.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does PAO stand for in memory sport?
PAO stands for Person-Action-Object. Every two-digit number, or every playing card, is given a person, an action and an object, so three of them combine into one scene that stores six digits or three cards at once.
What is a locus in memory training?
A locus (plural loci) is a single place along a memory palace route where you store one image. The word is Latin for place, and the technique is called the method of loci.
What is the WMSC?
The World Memory Sports Council. It publishes the rulebook for memory sport and the Millennium Standards used to turn event scores into championship points.
What is the Millennium Standard?
A target score for each event, set above the world record, that is worth 1,000 championship points. It is reviewed each January and raised once three competitors have beaten it.
How many events are in memory sport?
Ten standard events: Speed Numbers, Hour Numbers, Binary Numbers, Spoken Numbers, Speed Cards, Hour Cards, Random Words, Abstract Images, Names and Faces and Historic Dates.
What is the difference between a memory palace and a mind palace?
None. Memory palace, mind palace, journey and method of loci all describe the same technique: storing images at places along a familiar route.
Related Guides
- Memory sport explained — how the championship and its events fit together.
- Memory Championship World Records — the benchmark for each event.
- Which Event to Start With — the ten events compared.
- Memory Techniques — the methods behind the vocabulary.
- Championship Points Calculator — the scoring in action.
- Memory championship disciplines: what each one tests — the formats and the skills they reward.
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