Enhancing Learning and Improving Memory

Repetition and rehearsal are also effective ways to keep new information in STM long enough for it to be stored in LTM. If you learn something and do not rehearse it you tend to forget around 50 to 75 percent of new learning within a 24-hour period. If you repeat it several different times over several days it tends to be retained. This distributed practice, which spaces out the repetition, is generally more effective that long study periods, known as massed practice, or “cramming” to students. However, cramming is better than not studying at all. It’s just that retention will be less over time. Repetitive practice can also result in overlearning which also improves long term recall. Overlearning can significantly reduce forgetting and errors. Performers practice their exercise or presentation several times a day for months or even years. A related issue is part versus whole learning. Is it better to break the material down into smaller pieces or is it better to try and learn all of it a one time? As a general rule part learning is superior to whole learning for several reasons. Part learning gets away from the problem of massed practice. Also part learning allows you to maintain interest. If the parts are easily differentiated, that is also an advantage. For example, the best way to become good at playing golf is not to play a lot of rounds but to practice the parts that make up the whole. Putting, irons and woods are the three major clubs and each requires a different skill. Once they have been mastered they you can combine them into the whole and play a round of golf. There are some disadvantages in that linking the parts together may, in some cases, require additional learning. If you were learning the lines of a poem or play then additional memorization would be required to put the whole thing together.
Closely related is the concept of knowledge of results or feedback. The more immediate the connection between your performance and its outcome the better it is to improve learning and memory. Unfortunately, many times a test is taken it may be several weeks before you obtain your grade, and even then you may not get specific feedback regarding which items were right or wrong. The practice tests at the end of each chapter provide immediate feedback concerning your performance. If you get the item correct that’s great. If not go back to the chapter and see why you missed that particular item. This approach will clarify misconceptions and also result in superior test performance and, of course, a well-deserved good grade.