Back to the on-screen lesson ·
Hold on to a new name: say it back, turn it into a picture linked to the person, write it in the notebook and review it.
Paper packet. Every task here also exists on screen, where it is checked automatically; answers written on paper are not assessed by Nydus. When you are back at a device, enter your answers there.
You will hold on to a new name by saying it back, turning it into a picture linked to something you see about the person, writing it in your notebook afterward and reviewing it.
You have a notebook with a People and numbers section, a say-back habit and a way of spacing returns. This last lesson adds a way of holding a new name in the moment, before it reaches the notebook. Everyone in it is invented. The practice is optional and is not treatment or a test of memory; tell your own clinicians about anything new or changing.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Association | Linking something new to something you already know, so one calls up the other. |
| Picture word | A thing a name is or sounds like, that you could see or hold: Rose → a rose. |
| Visual imagery | Making a picture in your mind on purpose, as a memory aid. |
| Link feature | Something you can see about the person — hair, a jacket, a laugh — that the picture is tied to. |
| Internal strategy | A method done in your head, such as imagery, as opposed to an external aid such as a notebook. |
This lesson's main tool is in your head: a picture. But it leans on two aids. Your voice: saying the name back the moment you hear it. And the People and numbers section of the notebook from lesson 5, where each new name goes after the conversation, with its picture and one line about the person: Sandy (sand in her shoes) — 2B, has a gray cat. The picture helps in the moment; the page keeps the name when the picture fades.
Names slip because they mean nothing. In a well-known study, McWeeny and colleagues (1987) showed people faces with the same word as either a job or a surname: he is a baker or his name is Baker. The job was remembered far better. A job calls up pictures and facts; a surname calls up nothing.
The association method gives a name that meaning on purpose. Hear it clearly, and say it back: Nice to meet you, Rose. Make a picture word from what the name is or sounds like: Rose → a rose; Baker → a loaf of bread; Sandy → sand. Link the picture to something you can see about the person: a rose tucked behind her ear. Write the name and the picture in the notebook after the conversation. Then review it: in about a minute, before you leave, and the next day.
When you see the person again, the feature calls up the picture, and the picture calls up the name.
Another way: picture
Think of a coat hook with a label. The feature you notice is the hook; the picture is the coat that hangs on it; the name is written inside the coat.
Another way: steps
Visual imagery is one of the internal strategies the ACRM review (Cicerone and colleagues, 2019) supports for people with mild memory difficulties after brain injury, as part of memory strategy teaching that also includes external aids. In a small randomized trial, Kaschel and colleagues (2002) taught imagery over ten weeks to people with mild memory impairment after brain damage. Compared with a group who had the usual approaches, they recalled everyday material such as short stories and appointments better after a delay, and their relatives noticed fewer everyday memory problems; the difference was still there three months later.
The limits are real. Imagery takes effort and practice, and most people do not use it unless they have practiced it. Some names are hard to picture. For severe memory difficulties, the same review points to external aids, such as the notebook, rather than imagery. And the method helps with the names you use it on; it does not change memory in general.
A good picture is concrete (a thing you could hold), vivid (big, colorful, a little odd) and tied to the person (on them, in their hands, on their head). A loaf of bread under Mr. Baker's arm beats bread.
Some names are easy: Rose, Stone, Fisher. Some sound like a thing: Sandy (sand), Jay (a blue jay), Shelly (a shell). Some need a bigger stretch: Priya could be pie on a tray. If nothing comes in a few seconds, skip the picture. Say the name back, write it down afterward with one fact about the person, and let the reviews do the work.
And it is always fine to ask again. I'm sorry — tell me your name once more? is heard every day, and it is far better than a guessed name.
According to the Social Security Administration, Liam and Olivia were the most popular names given to babies born in the United States in 2023. Common names have a trap of their own: you may know three Olivias, so the picture must be tied to this Olivia. Uncommon names have the opposite problem: nothing familiar to hang them on.
Work through a fictional volunteer orientation. Tam meets eight people in an hour. She says each name back as she hears it. She makes pictures for five: Olivia → an olive on her lanyard; Chase → a dog chasing her bike; Mr. Stone; Ms. Hunter; Jay. For three names nothing comes, so she skips the picture. At the break she writes all eight in People and numbers, with one line each. Before leaving she reads the list once, and the next morning she tries each from the line alone. She gets six from memory, looks at the other two, and puts a review on the calendar for the day before the next shift.
"I'm just bad with names." Almost everyone finds names harder than jobs or facts, because names mean nothing. Giving them meaning is the method.
"The picture is all I need." Pictures fade too. Write the name down after the conversation, and review it.
"Asking again is rude." Asking again is ordinary; calling someone by the wrong name is what people remember.
"This will make my memory better." It helps with the names you use it on. It is a method for a job, not a change to memory.
Hear the name and say it back.
Hi, I'm Tom Baker. → Nice to meet you, Tom Baker.
Saying it back checks what you heard and uses the name at once.
Turn the surname into a picture word.
Baker → a warm loaf of bread
A job-name becomes meaningful when you picture the job.
Link the picture to something you can see about him.
His white beard → flour dusted all over it
When you see the beard again, it calls up the flour, and the flour calls up Baker.
After the talk, write it in the notebook.
People: Tom Baker (flour in white beard) — 1A, walks a beagle.
The notebook keeps the name even if the picture fades.
Hear the name and ask again when unsure.
I'm Oksana. → Sorry — Oksana? → Yes, Oksana.
Unfamiliar names are easily misheard; asking costs two seconds.
Try for a picture for a few seconds.
Oksana → ox? → an ox beside her
Part of a name that sounds like a thing can be enough.
If no picture comes, skip it and add a fact.
Fact: runs the Tuesday knitting group
A true fact about the person is meaningful even without a picture.
Write it, then review it before you leave.
People: Oksana (ox?) — knitting group Tue. Reviewed at the door ✓
Writing and an early review do the work the picture could not.
Say her name back.
Nice to meet you, Shelly.
Say it back first, to check it and use it.
Make a picture word and link it to something you notice.
Shelly → a seashell, pinned to her big blue scarf
What the name sounds like, tied to what you can see.
What do you write after the talk, and when is the first review?
A fictional potluck. A woman says, over the noise, *Hi, I'm Rose — I live in 3C.* What is the best first move?
A fictional book club meets on Saturday, May 13, and again a week later. Nia meets four new members there. Her plan: review the names the next day, and again on the morning of the next meeting. Complete her worked plan.
Write the names and pictures in People and numbers after the meeting.
People: Holly (holly leaves) · Mr. Cook (chef's hat) · …
The notebook holds the names even if the pictures fade.
Put the first review on the calendar for the next day.
Calendar, May a: Book club names?
An early return catches the names before they fade, as in spaced retrieval.
Put the second review on the morning of the next meeting.
Calendar, May b: Book club names? (before going)
Reviewing just before you see them again means you can greet each person by name.
Four fictional neighbors. For each name, write the picture word — something the name is or sounds like, that you could see or hold.
| Picture word | |
|---|---|
| Rose | |
| Mr. Baker | |
| Sandy | |
| Mr. Fisher |
A trial. Study the four fictional neighbors with their pictures: **Rose** with a rose behind her ear; **Baker** with flour on his sleeves; **Sandy** with sand spilling from her shoes; **Fisher** with a fishing rod over his shoulder. After a short wait, write the four names. First-letter cues can be asked for, and a trial that uses them is recorded as supported.
Ask someone to read you the list, then cover it and write what you remember:
A fictional block party. You are introduced to Mr. Cook. Take the name all the way from hearing it to a review before you leave — without ever greeting anyone with a guessed name.
This task has no paper form; do it on a device.
A fictional first day volunteering at an animal shelter. You meet three people and notice one thing about each: **Mr. Stone** has broad shoulders; **Ms. Hunter** wears a green jacket; **Jay** whistles while he works. For each, write the picture word and the feature you link it to.
| Picture word | Linked to | |
|---|---|---|
| Mr. Stone | ||
| Ms. Hunter | ||
| Jay |
Lesson test: one question per skill, one attempt each, no hints. Your answers are checked when you submit.
A fictional neighborhood meeting. You meet **Holly**, **Mr. Cook** and **Robin**. Fill in each picture word, when the names go in the notebook, and when you first review them.
| Plan | |
|---|---|
| Picture for Holly | |
| Picture for Mr. Cook | |
| Picture for Robin | |
| When to write the names | |
| When to review them first |
Think of one person you met recently whose name you are unsure of, and plan to ask it again and write it in People and numbers. From memory, say the six steps from hearing a name to reviewing it, and when to skip the picture. This is optional practice alongside your own care, not treatment and not a test. If anything about your memory is new or changing, tell your own clinicians. You can stop at any point: close the page and the lesson reopens where you were.
12. Your turn: meeting Shelly at the library, step 3
People: Shelly (shell on blue scarf) — library desk. Review: in a minute, then before leaving.
Write after the conversation; review early, then again.