Memorization

Albert Einstein: "Never memorize something that you can look up." Why would anyone want to memorize the periodic table?  I know where Hydrogen and Helium are. Carbon, Oxygen, and Nitrogen are in the air and are somewhere in the top right.  Iron, Gold, Silver, Lead - they are in the middle somewhere.  Iron is Fe, Gold and Silver are Au and Ag (which is which, I don't remember nor care), and Lead is Pb. I remember these cause they aren't based on English.  Atomic weights, number of protons, isotopes - all stuff to look up.  If you become a jeweler, you might want to memorize the properties of the metals used in jewelry - which will only be a dozen or so.   

https://youtu.be/rz4Dd1I_fX0If you find rhymes and songs best like many of us, there are several periodic table songs like this one 😆

I cannot visualize at all so when I was in college I used singing to memorize.  For example if you need to learn the periodic table I would take a popular melody or song and insert the elements.  By using the melody you memorize it differently.  You can then sing it back quietly (lol) when needed for a test.  Look up Schoolhouse Rock songs in youtube to find examples of this same process for kids in the 1970's.  

In most cases, I agree with Annika, continuous repetition is the way to go. But, as Isabel states, it can help to find a rhythm or a melody. Reading out loud, talking to yourself - I have memorized whole plays just by the sound. People don't forget earworms that quickly ;) Still, it is only another form of repetition.

I just obsessively write things down. Like you, I make lists. They don't help with memorizing because like you say, I can't "see" the list but it help tremendously with the word association. I try to pick key words to associate with whatever the subject is. Doesn't always work but it has helped

Instead of attempting to visualise, have you tried using hearing? Record that which you need to remember - that uses voice then ear - after which play recording while walking/ running and sync item with each step. (As a child, had skipping games to remember complex spellings. List maker? Put list close to where it will be needed. Full use of calendar which syncs between devices.

postIt took me years to accept that it’s almost all purely rote memorization. I use flash cards with words/questions on one side and the answers on the other. I read them Out-loud to myself over and over and over again. It always takes hours upon hours over many days. Through that I usually learned it well enough to pass a test no matter how large or small it was. 

I cannot memorize lists as a visual image. I have to learn the items on the list like vocabulary. Repeat, repeat, repeat. There is no other way for me. But I rather keep the list with me instead of memorizing it. Too exhausting otherwise.

I can't remember much. I don't memorize much.  However, I did get an Engineering degree and an Engineering License.  Engineering programs do not rely much on memorization. It is about how to memorize a process, and how to research.  Eventually, I start remembering some things, mostly random tidbits of stuff...  I just re-read, talk out loud, listen, and re-read in order to try to memorize. But, I've focused on education and career paths that are focused on learning, research, and process. 

Binging on acronyms before a test is a go to for short term memory 

I was basically unable to memorise poetry. I was good at languages because I had a good memory for facts. I amassed a French teacher by reciting the days of the week but not in the normal sequence!

Are you sure it's due to lack of visualisation? I find I had great memorisation abilities when I was younger - as I've gotten older (and I mean 30s), my memory has gotten quite bad. Just wanted to mention, because it might not be just the visual aspect. Anyway, what I used to do when I was young was lots of mnemonics, I could get some really complex ones going. For text I really just think it was route drilling over and over again. Luckily I never had to remember so many verbatim texts, I'm not really sure what's the need for that unless your an actor?