The art of memory as a resource to strengthen self-learning and critical thinking

Abstract

This article aims to propose the practice of the art of memory, in connection with critical thinking, as a strategy to foster self-directed learning. To this end, it offers a critical review of the role that memorization and orality have played in Western education, as well as their gradual displacement in favor of writing and, more recently, artificial intelligence. Drawing from a historical and theoretical perspective, the article analyzes how the art of memory has been largely disregarded in modern pedagogical practices, despite its cognitive potential. A didactic proposal is presented, structured around four phases that integrate critical thinking processes: (1) visualization, involving exercises that associate images with ideas to activate visual memory; (2) localization, which entails writing texts and selecting spatial images to function as mnemonic loci; (3) combination, in which students rehearse oral delivery of structured ideas using the selected images as cognitive anchors; and (4) implementation, culminating in a final oral presentation applying the art of memory. Each phase is accompanied by a metacognitive journal, allowing students to reflect on their learning process. The article concludes that this pedagogical approach can promote autonomous learning and reinforce higher-order cognitive skills, particularly in response to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence to traditional writing practices.