Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink. Today, we are going to learn about 7 memory
tricks to learn anything faster. Now, let’s begin. 1. The Production Effect
Have you ever locked your car only to forget five minutes later whether you locked it or
not? Why do we have so much trouble remembering
such obvious things? Your memories are separated into two different
categories: implicit and explicit. Implicit memories are things you remember
unconsciously. You don’t recall brushing your teeth or
eating breakfast most mornings, because you do these activities without thinking. Explicit memories, on the other hand, are
things we consciously remember. When you study for a test, this information
is a lot easier to recall, because you’re making a conscious effort to learn. Habitual activities like locking your car
fall into your implicit memory. We do them so often, that it doesn’t make
sense to store each one as a conscious thought. Since you’re essentially doing it without
thinking, it’s hard to be 100% sure that it actually happened. This is where the production effect comes
into play. It converts an implicit memory into an explicit
memory by bringing your attention to your behavior. All you have to do is say what you’re doing
out loud. It’s incredibly simple and takes no extra
effort, but transforms your habitual recall. A 2010 study tested this exact phenomenon. They split participants up into two groups. One read words silently, while the other said
every word out loud. Sure enough, the second group recalled content
better than their counterparts, showing the huge impact that vocal production has on recall. By incorporating this simple but powerful
technique, you can start to instantly sharpen your memory. 2. The Power of Paper
Over the years, pencil and paper have fallen out of favor. In most colleges and even some high schools,
students are taking notes exclusively on computers. Typing lets you copy down more information
at a faster rate, but what if typing your notes is making it harder for you to learn? A 2014 study compared the test scores of students
who typed and wrote out their notes. The researchers guessed that the pencil and
paper students would perform better. Turns out, they were right. Pencil and paper students out-performed typing
students, because of how writing things out interacts with your brain. This older method forces you to spend less
time copying and more time processing. Many students can type as fast as their teachers
talk. Without realizing it, they do more transcribing
than actual learning. Because pencil and paper is slower, you have
to constantly condense and restructure new information. In other words, you get a deeper understanding
by writing less. Pencil and paper also gets rid of the most
detrimental key on the keyboard: delete. You need to be able to make mistakes while
you learn. When you type, it’s too easy to mindlessly
erase errors without understanding what was wrong. On paper, you’re forced to make physical
corrections. That way, you’re learning from your mistakes,
instead of pretending they never happened. 3. Context Cues
Context sharpens your memory, because it’s encoded alongside the information you’re
trying to remember. Let’s say you want to memorize a presentation
for work. While you’re practicing a really difficult
section, you start eating an apple. Your brain will naturally pair the apple and
that part of the presentation in your memory. The apple becomes a sort of cue that you can
use to retrieve more complication information. These contextual cues can take pretty much
any shape, but the most common is visual. Another study from 2010 examined the exact
role of visual context in memorization. The researchers gave each participant a set
of words to remember. Each word was paired with a certain type of
picture. Group 1 saw pictures of normal faces, while
group 2 saw pictures of scrambled faces. As the researchers predicted, visual context
significantly boosted recall. The first group, who saw pictures of normal
faces, had a much easier time remembering their list of words. In each of these examples, there’s been
a noticeable stimulus, but context cues will work either way. The uniqueness of cues like the apple or the
picture didn’t actually matter. So you don’t have to do a bunch of weird
stuff while you study just to improve your memory. Your brain encodes all types of context in
the same way, so all you have to do is be aware of your environment. 4. Spacing Effect
Every student has been told at some point not to cram right before a test… yet we’ve
all done it anyway. You’ve known about the test for weeks, but
try to re-learn an entire semester’s worth of information in 24 hours. How does this strategy usually play out? You end up only remembering a fraction of
what you studied. Your brain gets so overwhelmed and exhausted
that it can’t perform. According to the Director of the Cognition
and Education lab at Dartmouth College, our brain can only retain so much information
at one time. We need extended periods of practice to make
durable memories. Scientists call this the spacing effect, because
the space in between practice sessions is what gives our brain the chance to encode
and recover. To test this, researchers looked at two different
learning techniques: massed practice and distributed practice. Think of massed practice like cramming. After being exposed to a stimulus, you try
to retain all of that information by studying it immediately afterwards. And just like cramming, it doesn’t typically
work. Distributed practice is when you spread the
learning process out over several shorter sessions. By studying the same thing each time, you
actually absorb the information, so you can recall it whenever necessary. But why does spacing make such a big difference? The best explanation is called study-phase
retrieval theory. Each time you encounter a piece of information
that you’ve learned before, your brain tries to retrieve any encoded memories. When it successfully finds a memory, the information
becomes harder for you to forget. Distributed practice forces you to do this
repeatedly while creating necessary space in between. That way, you have time to remember something,
forget it, and then remember it again. Each time, the information becomes more pronounced. It becomes easier and faster to recall, because
it’s sitting closer to the surface of your memory. 5. Mental Stretches
Why do athletes always stretch or jog before practice? A good warm-up gives your muscles the flexibility
and strength to perform at their best. For most people, this is second nature. Obviously, you can’t just start sprinting
right off the bat… so why do you expect your brain to do the same thing? Like any muscle, your brain needs the right
warm up to maximize it’s potential. It can’t go from 0 to 100 instantly. You can’t transition from watching Netflix
to learning some complex concept. If you do, you’re going to feel hazy and
slow. You’re going to have a hard time absorbing
information, because your brain isn’t ready. You can use mental stretches to prepare your
brain to work, think, and encode memories efficiently. Mental stretches are low intensity games that
gradually get you brain up and running. Concentration is a great example. Not only is it quick and relatively fun, but
it also focuses on boosting your ability to retain information. Just make sure you aren’t going too hard
too fast. Mental stretches shouldn’t make you feel
cloudy or cluttered. If your warm-up is too intense, your brain
will start feeling fatigued way faster than normal. Always keep things fun and simple to see improvements
in your cognitive performance. 6. Interleaving
You can actually stimulate your memory by regularly alternating between different topics. Interleaving is the process of mixing multiple
subjects to enhance your ability to learn. You might, for example, start with math, transition
to English, and then finish with history, all in the same study session. On the surface, interleaving sounds pretty
inefficient. It’s exactly the opposite of blocking, which
is probably the most common learning technique out there. Blocking is when you dedicate an extended
period of time to only one subject. You might spend Monday on math, Tuesday on
English, and Wednesday on history. Blocking makes more sense to most people,
but interleaving is actually more effective. Rotating between topics forces your mind to
stay active and adaptable. When you only learn one thing at once, your
brain slacks off. It pays less attention, because things are
getting easier and more repetitive. By jumping from subject to subject, you force
your brain to completely shift gears each time. These smaller, hyper-efficient chunks are
easier to learn from, because they offer more of a unique challenge. But that isn’t even the best part of interleaving. This learning technique compels you to draw
broader connections in a way that blocking never will. You’re giving your brain the opportunity
to see the bigger picture. To not only understand what something is,
but also where it fits into the field as a whole. 7. Self-Testing
Self-testing is another effective way to boost your memory. Once you think you have something memorized,
you shouldn’t wait until your exam or presentation to test whether or not you studied enough. Put yourself to the test beforehand to get
an idea of how well you actually know the content. 9 times out of 10, you’ll discover you’re
not as prepared as you thought. Luckily, self-testing show you exactly where
you’re weakest. It tells you what you need to re-learn, but
only if you do it right. Your tests won’t do anything for you if
you let yourself cheat. For example, when you’re using flashcards,
don’t flip over the card before you answer. It’s tempting to make excuses like, “Oh,
that’s what I meant,” but you’re only hurting yourself. If you can’t get the right answer in this
low-stress situation, there’s no way you will when the pressure’s on. To make this doesn’t happen, try to write
down or say your answers out loud. It’s easier to let an incorrect answer slip
by when the test is in your head. Thank you for watching TopThink, and be sure
to subscribe, because more incredible content is on the way.
