Imagine You Are Briefly Presented With, and Asked to Memorize

Imagine you are briefly presented with, and asked to memorize, the following letters for an immediate recall test: Q, R, T, B, O, W, A. How would you go about remembering those items? (Make sure you use appropriate terminology.) Now, imagine that you are given the same memory task but asked to say the word "the" while the letters are being presented. How would this second condition influence your mental behavior? What effect would it have on your performance?