How to memorise better?
Remembering better depends on what kind of memories you are making
Learning how to memorise better for exams depends a lot on the type of memories you’re making while learning. Ever read a Geography chapter and felt like you don’t remember anything from it? A maths formula you memorised yesterday but can’t seem to recollect it today? You’re not alone.
We generally like to think that after we read something, we’ll remember it, but scientists tell us that’s just not true unless we make extra efforts to study and memorise better.
Students learn something new from a different subject every single day. While few students have the ability to remember what they have learned in one or two go, many also depend on rote learning to recollect information correctly. While both methods lead to the same learning goal, learning the right way leads to better recollection and also better results.
How are memories formed?
Generally, our brain collects two types of memories:
- Memories formed by making a conscious effort
- Memories formed unconsciously by experiences
Memories formed by making a conscious effort are stored in the hippocampus. It’s what happens when you rote learn in your head, over and over again, to not forget it.
Memories formed unconsciously by experience get stored in the neocortex. Application of formulas and concepts while solving questions, this experience ends up here. Memories stored here are much stronger because each part of the memory is stored in a different section.
What type of memory is better for learning?
Recollecting formulas and applying them in the right context helps build a learning experience, where the brain stores information for each synapse in individual neurons.
More synapses in different locations mean better recall, and that’s why experiences are easier to remember.
Experts become experts after they have perfected their practise by repetition. They use this experience of what they have learned to build their memory. While cramming the hippocampus seems easier and low effort, learning by experience helps you remember for longer.
What is the forgetting curve?
According to research, in the hippocampus, most of the memory loss occurs early on, within the first 24 hours or so. Back in the late 1880s, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus tested human memory and developed the “forgetting curve,” which showed that unless you make a purposeful effort to retain the information you consume, you’re bound to lose it and lose it quickly. How much you’ll forget varies, depending on some factors, but each day more vanishes until most of it is gone.
With increased reliance on the internet for information, our front brain is always brimming with data and that can often lead to forgetting what you learnt. Learning by practice i.e. solving problems right after you have learned a particular concept helps with better understanding and correct recollection along with testing your memory in short intervals.
How to study to memorize better?
Below are 4 effective ways recommended by experts to help you recall better for exams:
- Write down by hand what you want to remember: When you try to recall it in a day or two, write down again what you remember, then compare it to your original notes and make corrections as needed.
- Quiz yourself on the information you just read: Come up with questions to ask, then assess what you answered
- Chunking data that needs to be remembered: Chunk up large pieces of information into smaller bits and put them into context, they’ll be much easier to recall.
- Learn by formulating experiences: While learning by practice and creating experiences is the most powerful way to remember, you can also create them in your head to observe a somewhat similar effect for theory subjects. E.g. walk down a route you know well in your mind and place objects or things you want to remember along the way.
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