Mind Mapping

Visual Memory
Another seemingly unrelated study on memory was also used in the formation of Mind Maps. In this study by Ralph Haber, 2560 photos were shown to subjects. Then subjects were shown 2560 pairs of photos and asked in each case to say which photo had been in the original group of 2560 and which had not.

The success rate at this test averaged between 85% and 95%, showing that humans have an almost photographic visual memory. In another study where 10,000 vivid pictures were used, a success rate of 99% was
recorded.

Originality
What happens if two people draw mini Mind Maps around the idea ‘shoe’. (A mini Mind Map is a Mind Map that only goes one level deep, i.e. it only has words that are directly related to the central idea). If each person comes up with seven related words, how many do you think would be duplicates between the two people? Studies have shown that the average is one word in common, and anything above two is very unusual.

Try this yourself, get a friend to write down the first seven things related to the word “shoe”, and do the same yourself, then compare the lists.

Result, Mind Maps
With these results and other research, Tony Buzan came up with a new method for taking notes. His new system was based on the idea of making the notes as brief as possible and also as interesting to the eye as possible. The surprising result was that Mind Maps can be used in many different ways other than just simple note taking.

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