key-word method

a mnemonic technique sometimes used in learning foreign-language vocabulary. If the native language is English, the key word would consist of an English word associated with the sound of a foreign word and linked to the foreign word’s meaning in a mental image. For example, the French word livre (“book”) may remind an English speaker of the sound of leaf; the key word leaf can then be connected to book in a mental image, such as visualizing a leaf in a book as a bookmark.

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Psychology term of the day

February 16th 2025

sun compass

the use of the sun as a directional stimulus in orientation and navigation. Because the sun appears to move across the sky during the day and has different trajectories in different seasons, a sun compass must be coupled with some form of time estimation. To head south at 9 a.m., one needs to keep the sun on the left, but at 3 p.m., one needs to keep the sun on the right. Studies of several species, ranging from bees to fish and birds, have demonstrated a time-compensated sun compass. For nocturnal species, there is evidence of a star compass.