Thought of the Day - Learning

I read an interesting article today on Wired, it was about a method to optimize your recall of information. If you are interested in learning facts for training/university or learning a foreign language i strongly suggest you check out the link at the bottom of the page.

The theory is that over time your chance of recalling something gets less and less but the optimum way to learn is to recall the information as long as possible away from when you last thought about it. In other words you first read a fact, then you wait until there is a 90% chance of remembering it before you test yourself again. Then after that test you wait a longer time until you get to a 90% chance of recall before you try to remember it again. You repeat the process until the time between remembering is so long that it is effectively embedded in your mind. The advantage of this method is that you don't just memorize the information for a few weeks or a month like you would with traditional cramming, it stays with you almost forever.

So if you are somewhat astute you will have spotted the obvious problem; how do you know how long to wait before retesting yourself? The duration depends on the person, the type of data you are trying to memorize and how many times you have recalled the information. As you can imagine this would be difficult to work out for one piece of information never mind the hundreds or thousands of pieces of information that you are likely to want to recall. Fortunately Piotr Wozniak has created some software that has an algorithm to automate all of this for you. You can input your own information or you can buy 'Libraries' of pre-compiled factoids.

Your next questions are bound to be; If this method is so great why have i not heard about it? Why is every language, law and medical student not issued with a copy of the software? Why is it not taught in every school? Unfortunately i can't answer those questions but i am sufficiently intrigued to put down the $45 to get the software.

Lastly the thing that i find the most interesting is that the method seems to have benefits beyond simple rote memorization. It is suggested that due to the random nature of the questions it can help you creatively too. Your brain has to be used to jumping between topics and the questions in a random order might help you to see linkages where you did not see any before.


Idea from: http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak