With the dawn of finals season rapidly encroaching, the stress of studying a semester’s worth of content is soon to begin. To avoid endless hours of studying on sleepless nights with the feeling of achieving absolutely nothing, it would be undoubtedly useful for students to gain insights from psychological research on effective study strategies. We might have all heard of active recall, but how does it actually even work?
Research by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) proposes a model of memory that suggests the popular strategies of highlighting, copying down notes word for word, and passively rereading is, to a certain extent, incompatible with the way our memory works (keeping in mind individual differences!). They suggest that we have three active memory storage systems: the sensory storage, short-term memory, and long-term memory. What is key here are the processes between the systems that students should have a better understanding of: to encode academic content from short-term memory to long-term memory, the process of rehearsal should be engaged in, which is what most students engage in various different ways. But what a lot of them do not do, is practice retrieving information from their long-term memory storage, which has the potential to harm them come exam time.
This is where active recall comes in. Active recall is a study method that encourages the practice of retrieving information from your memory. This could be in the form of flashcards, practice questions and exam papers, or blurting. Research by Karpicke and Blunt (2011) investigated whether retrieval practice is more effective as a learning strategy than elaborative studying and concept mapping. They studied 80 undergraduate students’ learning using science materials under four conditions:
Study-once: studied material in a single session
Repeated study: studied material in four consecutive sessions
Elaborative concept mapping: created concept maps about the material
Retrieval practice: studied material in a single session, did a free recall test, restudied the text, and recalled again (the amount of studying time was controlled to be the same in the concept mapping and retrieval practice condition)
What they found was that although a week later the recall between the latter two conditions were nearly identical after completing a test, an additional week later, the retrieval practice condition outperformed all of the other conditions (with all conditions outperforming the study once condition). This suggests that although both techniques were effective for encoding information into our memory, it is imperative to practice using the same memory processes that we would under exam-like conditions. This is especially applicable since there often is a time gap between when we start studying and when we actually take the exam (if we don’t end up cramming!).
Therefore, it might be worth pairing some active recall with your favorite study method to ensure a longer-term success. However, it is very important to consider individual differences; what works for others may not always work for you! Exploring different study techniques that will enhance you academically is greatly consequential.
Sources:
Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. (). eScholarship, University of California.
Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772-775.
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