The mnemonic techniques of the past, like mind maps, metaphors, and narrative theory, offer research students, especially doctoral candidates, another cognitive support. These techniques pre-date computers (and possibly literacy), so shift cognitive organization from the page or the computer screen to the mind. This article compares early memory theory and the process of research thinking. Three useful pointers to the thesis writer emerge from mnemonics: the use of concrete images to conceptualize the abstract; the use of mental architecture to conceive of structure; and recognition that the cognitive structuring process is ontologically significant. It is hoped that in an age of electronics a reminder of the capacity of the human mind to establish an architectural filing system may be encouraging to doctoral students engaged with structuring their theses.