The University of Waterloo has done some interesting research about how we can help ourselves remember better. Of course, they did this to help their students be more successful. But we can use this information to remember better too.
An example:
Here is the problem, using the example of a student attending a 1-hour lecture:
At the end of the hour: you know 100% of whatever you learned in that hour
Day 2: you will have lost 50 to 80% of what you learned (that is, if you don’t think about it, use it or re-read it)
Day 7: you will have forgotten up to 90% of what you learned
Day 30: you likely remember only 2 to 3% of the original material
If information is not used or retrieved from our memory in some way, the brain decides it is not important and dumps it to make “room” for other more necessary or useful information.
We can change this! Reprocessing the information reinforces its importance to our subconscious mind. Essentially, doing something (anything!) with the information we are trying to learn strengthens brain cell connections that store and retrieve this information. Information can also be retrieved (or remembered) more quickly with repeated reinforcement.
Here is a formula University of Waterloo suggests:
Spending 10 minutes within 24 hours of first learning an hour of information restores memory to almost 100%; 5 minutes seven days later reactivates the same information; and 2 to 4 minutes 30 days later is all your brain needs to say “yes, I remember”. Without any review of the material, though, you would need 40 to 50 minutes to read and re-learn everything after 30 days.
This is why the University of Waterloo recommends that their students spend 30 minutes each day reviewing the previous day's lessons and 1.5 to 2 hours each weekend and reviewing material that was learned 7 days before and 30 days before.
This works well for the student example, where most students take notes or study from textbooks and these provide a source for review. But what about us “post grads” who just want to remember what we read or learn?
Helping our "mid-life" brain to remember...
The answer is to find a way to reinforce the knowledge you think is important to remember and not just let your brain decide subconsciously. This could be done by making a note to re-read an article or book with the information you want to remember, by discussing it afterward with someone, or by writing notes so you can re-read it later (as I do when I blog).
Another way is to reinforce memory is to use the information in some way. Even playing a game with the information can work to strengthen the memory. I use this technique daily to help remember Spanish vocabulary, using the free online game Duolingo. It’s amazing how 15 minutes a day is helping me to learn and remember words in another language!
Teaching someone else is also an excellent way to learn and retain information. Explaining it helps you really understand the subject plus you need to retrieve a high a percentage of the information in order to teach it well. I often do this with my hubby…explaining what I’ve read helps me to organize my thoughts around a subject. I think it drives him crazy sometimes though – he isn’t always interested in the same topics I am. He sometimes says, “Just pretend I’m listening…” But that works too. Just saying it out loud helps to organize and store the information in your brain.
More information is retained in your memory when you use more senses so reading, seeing images or video, hearing, and using the information all help, as opposed to simply reading. Handwriting notes rather than typing has also been shown to help memory for this same reason: using more senses. Using a pen or pencil, rather than a keyboard, also makes you slow down a bit and think about what you’re writing, since you don’t have a back-space key!
And when you want to forget?
On the other hand, if you want to forget something the worst thing you can do is focus on it. Deal with a negative or unpleasant event as best you can then put it out of your thoughts and focus on something positive and pleasant. You always remember what you focus on most.
Reference:
Campus Wellness--Waterloo University
