The Best Knowledge Retention Skills

Does your memory feel a little bit hazy, especially when you need it most? Have you found yourself wishing you could remember just one detail for a quiz or test? Well, that's what happens when your brain doesn't fully encode all of the information you learned; that is, the information doesn't work its way into your long term memory. And as frustrating as this can be, there are a multitude of psychologically-proven methods to boost your retention, so let's get into it ⬇️

Chunking

One of the best ways you can remember content or information is my splitting it up into smaller, more manageable parts. This forces your brain to group like things together or associate one concept with another. It also helps with the serial position effect, which says that you're more likely to remember the first and/or last item in a list or collection––splitting content up creates more 'firsts' and 'lasts.'

Mnemonic devices

It's pretty likely that you've encountered a few mnemonics throughout your academic life, like PEMDAS (order of operations), ROY G. BIV (colors in a rainbow), or FANBOYS (coordinating conjunctions), to name a few. This tool creates a more readily available and understandable link between what you're learning and what you know. It's easier to think of an acronym or single word for a topic than remember multiple parts of the same topic, and on top of that, simply creating a mnemonic device helps your brain register what you're learning.

Spaced repetition

In case you haven't been up-to-date on Planning Goose's blog posts, a few weeks ago, we talked about the forgetting curve. But to simplify, more than half of the information you learn in a single day or class period will be forgotten within 24 hours. And by day 3, your retention drops to just 20%. So, to avoid this, you have to keep remembering. Spaced repetition is just that––learning and reviewing information multiple times before you need to recall it (like on a test). Find diverse ways to learn and keep content fresh, and then, you'll be less likely to forget it.

Testing

One way you can merge all of these practices together and put them to use is through questions. Your memory is enhanced after you retrieve information, not just simply reread it, which is exactly what a test forces you to do. Even more so, you could also set yourself up for recall, not just recognition with your question type: on a multiple choice test, you only have to recognize the right answer; on a short answer test, you have to truly think about what the right answer is––not just find it.

Interleaving

Maybe your studying is a little less exact and flows more freely. Then, you might want to try mixing around what you study. Instead of spending a few hours on each subject until completion, spend 30-45 minutes on a topic and then switch to a new one entirely. Similarly to chunking, this process creates more 'firsts' and 'lasts' that help you remember information, while also keeping you more engaged and less bored of material.

Your memory is a magical tool, but it can be tricky to take hold of it. These methods should help you retain more information and keep you sharp, whether in or out of school. And, don't forget that if you liked this, you can check out our other posts below or in the Blog page.