In a previous post, I summarized the first Brain Rule. In this post, we’ll focus on the sixth – LONG TERM MEMORY – or you must remember to repeat.
We covered many important aspects of memory in the last post about SHORT TERM MEMORY. The most significant of which is the importance of repetition. The only real way to convert a memory from short-term to long-term is by repeating the information and strengthening that memory with additional, related information. But why?
Your body of knowledge is cumulative. In other words, each new thing that you learn has links to and builds upon related things that you have learned in the past. This phenomenon is really evident in math when you don’t really understand one problem solving technique and each subsequent lesson using that technique is completely foreign to you. Because the brain builds upon what it already knows (a process known as encoding), missing a critical fact can make it very difficult (if not impossible) to comprehend and remember other things dependent on that fact.
Interestingly, information is best remembered when it is “encoded” with as many existing facts as possible. The author uses a simple example of the word PIE. If you only remember the sequence of letters – “P”, “I”, “E”, then your comprehension of the word will be minimal. If you additionally remember a delicious chocolate cream pie that Gran made for Papa on his birthday, then your ability to remember the word PIE goes up considerably. Sure, the memory is now complicated by the inclusion of Gran, Papa and chocolate cream, but those associations will help you comprehend, retain and recall the information more easily. The more abstract the lesson, the more important these associations become and why repetition is so critical.
Each time information is processed, new associations and therefor a deeper understanding of the material is achieved. In the spirit of repetition, here is the process of studying recommended to maximize understanding, retention and recall:
- Read the materials before the lecture to initiate the learning process
- Attend the class lecture (advancing repeated materials to a deeper stage of memory)
- Review class notes, re-listen to the class lecture and re-read the materials immediately following the class (further advances the information learned into longer-term memory)
- Review the information again on regular basis (weekly) until it is committed to memory
