lecture 21 - improving memory Flashcards
(24 cards)
revision methods
highlighting
practice
mind maps
concept map
elaborating on ideas
summarising
making notes
reread
test/ practice questions
What do students do…..
From https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2017/8/16-1
graph in notes
popular ones - rereading, highlighting, underlining, cramming info - not that effective techniques
techniques students dont use as much can be more associated with better memory performance later on
Highlighting and underlining
One of the most frequently reported methods of studying.
Here examining just highlighting on its own (e.g. not note-
taking as well). Note – this is not a good strategy.
Fowler and Barker (1974, Exp 1)
UGs read articles (about 8000 words) e.g. from Science
Active-highlighting
group:
Highlight as much of
the text as they want.
Mark important material
Passive-highlighting
group:
Read text which had
been highlighted by
yoked ps in the AH grp
Control
group:
Simply read the
articles
All groups = 1 hour to study
Test = 1 week later 54 MCQs (allowed to review material
for 10 mins prior to test)
Result: Highlighting groups did not outperform controls.
But in more detail…
- Active group performance better on test items for which
the relevant text had been highlighted. - Benefit greater for active compared to passive group
(same info highlighted but did not select it). - Benefit to highlighted material accompanied by a small
cost to test questions probing info that had not been
highlighted.
Quality of the highlighting
- Suggestion of a negative relationship between amount of
text highlighted and performance. - the more text you highlight the worse the performance - More highlighting – less distinctive?
- Less processing to mark out big chunks of text?
“In most situations that have been examined and with most
participants, highlighting does little to boost performance.”
(Dunlosky et al., 2013; pg. 21)
what actually works - Weinstein, Madan and Sumeracki 2018 teaching the science of learning
they looked at the literature to see what techniques they should be promoting
- elaboration - asking and explaining why and how things work
- retrieval practice - bringing learned info to mind from LTM
- spaced practice - creating a study schedule that spread study activities out over time
- interleaving - switching between subjects when studying
- concrete examples - when studying abstract concepts trying to illustrate them by coming up with specific examples
- dual coding - combing words with visuals so having more cues for memory
elaboration overview
means explaining and describing ideas need many details
elaborate elaboration also involves making connections among things that your trying to learn and then enacting the material to your own experiences, memories and your daily life
elaboration strategy is when students use elements of what is to learned and expands the target info by relating other info to it eg integrating a phrase or making an analogy
when learning content you need to elaborate and make connections between the different ideas and explain how things link together
the connections take stress off our working memory because connections create efficiency in learning and memory
you start by describing how ideas ou are studying link to your own experiences and memories. dont overextend the elaborations
types of elaboration strategies
- analogies - simile, metaphor, conceit
- also draw relationships based on specific characterises that might be found in the stimulus material
elaborative interrogation - you ask yourself questions about how things work and then you produce answers. generally look at why, when, what and result of this. also helps you understand how to ideas are similar and different from one another and can improve your understanding of the material
Elaboration
- Connecting new information to pre-existing information.
- How might this work?
– Thinking about information at a deeper level (LOP). - means we will be able to remember it better later on - accessing the semantics leads to better memory
– Improvements in organisation. Making information more
integrated and organised with existing knowledge structures. - Very broad term, which can include a number of
techniques. There is a specific technique under this
heading which has relatively strong evidence….
Elaborative interrogation
- Prompting learners to generate an explanation for an
explicitly stated fact. - Typically involves asking students to answer “Why?” or
“How?” questions. - “Why would this fact be true of [X] and not [Y]?
- “How does that work?”
- The process of figuring out the answer, with some level
of uncertainty, can help learning - may start answering those questions using the materials eg textbooks, lecture notes but then eventually the answers should come from memory
these are called desirable difficulties we want students asking how does this happen, why does this happened and then answering those questions
when using this technique its important that you check your answers
plane example in notes
Pressley et al. (1987)
ptps given Series of sentences: e.g. “The hungry man got into the car”
Elaborative-
interrogation group: asking questions and answering those questions
“Why did that
particular man do
that?”
Explanation
provided group: told
“The hungry man got
into the car to go to
the restaurant” - explanation provided
Reading
group:
Simply read
each sentence
Final test: Cued to recall which man performed each action
e.g. “Who got in the car?”
Result: Elaborative-interrogation = 72%
Explanation provided = 37%
Reading group = 37%
evidence that asking those questions and answering those questions yourself can be beneficial on a later test
Issues for implementation
- adv of technique = Consistency of the prompt “Why?”, “How?”.
- Do students need to generate their own questions? does being given the questions by someone else have the same effect
- For more complex material what level do you direct the
“Why?” question at? - little details or big picture. what is the mos effective way - How often do you ask “Why?”. How long should students
persist in finding answers?
is elaborative interrogation the most effective use of your time as it takes a while so is another technique better?
Retrieval Practice
- Low-stakes or no-stakes practice. - not stressful eg peer wise
- E.g. practising recall, practice problems or questions
- A.K.A. the testing effect.
Roediger & Karpicke (2006)
Repeated study:
Passage read 4
times, no test.
Single test:
Passage read 3
times and then
students recall as
much as possible.
Repeated test:
Read once and
then recalled as
much as possible
on 3 occasions.
if you test very shortly afterwards eg 5 mins what you find is performance is generally pretty good and there is a slight benefit for more study vs the more tested
after a one week delay the more times you do testing the better your memory is compared to the study sessions
Average recall was 50% higher in the
repeated test condition compared to
repeated study. Robust effect.
students may not think that testing is as effective as after rereading the material a few times and then hide the text and try to recall it after a few times you get pretty good recall. but by testing immediately afterwards we are testing things in working memory or very STM and not testing LTM so this can lead to students thinking this is an effective technique
Why does practice testing
improve learning?
- Direct effect – the act of retrieval is thought to strengthen
memory e.g. Karpicke et al. (2014). - Smith et al. (2013):
- Covert retrieval – bring info to mind, do not produce.
- Overt retrieval – bring info to mind and overtly produce.
- Covert = Overt > Controls groups (no practice).
- overt and covert retrieval practices improves memory vs the control group with no practice - this even happened when feedback was not provided
- The act of retrieval (not feedback or restudy) benefits memory.
more effortful or demanding retrieval tasks like free recall tend to lead to a better test effect than easier tests like recognition
- Indirect effects – Weinstein et al. (2014) when you expect
to be tested better quality of encoding. Frequent testing
can also decrease mind-wandering, Szpunar et al. (2013).
Three reasons why retrieval
practice boosts memory
1- Use or lose it - we use what we know - we pull it out and think about it
2- Desirable difficulties - internal challenge to think back and remember
3 - Shifts metacognition - we get a better sense of what we know or what we don’t know
Implementation
- Demonstrated across an array of practise test formats:
free recall, short-answer, MCQs, comprehension… - Benefit depends to a certain extend upon how
successful retrieval is, if low need feedback eg going back to textbooks to look at answer - Need to balance success with difficulty of retrieval. - needs to have a certain amount of difficulty but shouldn’t be too hard either
- More testing the better (up to a point!).
- Better for the repeated tests to be spaced.
Weinstein et al. (2018). Teaching the
Science of Learning. Cognitive Research: Principles
and Implications, 3:2.
:
🧠 Summary: Teaching the Science of Learning
Core Thesis:
Although cognitive psychology has identified many evidence-based strategies that improve learning, these methods are rarely used in classrooms. This article reviews six highly supported cognitive strategies and explores how they can be effectively implemented in educational settings.
✅ The Six Key Learning Strategies:
- Spaced Practice
Definition: Spread out learning over time instead of cramming.
Why it works: Improves storage strength by reducing reliance on short-term retrieval strength (Bjork & Bjork’s new theory of disuse).
Evidence: Strong long-term memory benefits; ideal gaps depend on how long the information needs to be retained.
Classroom use: Revisit older topics in lessons and homework; help students schedule reviews across days or weeks. - Interleaving
Definition: Mix related topics during study sessions, rather than focusing on one type (blocking).
Why it works: Helps learners discriminate between concepts and apply the right strategy to the right problem.
Evidence: Improves problem-solving and inductive learning (e.g., math, art recognition).
Caution: Must be with related topics—interleaving unrelated subjects may confuse students. - Retrieval Practice
Definition: Actively recall information from memory, rather than re-reading or highlighting.
Why it works: Strengthens memory; aids long-term retention and transfer.
Effective forms: Low-stakes quizzes, free recall, flashcards, concept mapping from memory.
Important considerations: Balance difficulty and success; feedback helps when retrieval fails. - Elaboration (Elaborative Interrogation)
Definition: Explain and explore how/why concepts work.
Why it works: Promotes deeper processing and links to prior knowledge.
Practical method: Students ask and answer “why” and “how” questions.
Challenges: Takes time; poor answers can hurt learning; needs guidance to be effective. - Concrete Examples
Definition: Use specific, tangible examples to illustrate abstract ideas.
Why it works: Makes material easier to understand and remember; improves transfer when multiple varied examples are used.
Best practices: Ensure examples are aligned with concepts and diverse enough to support generalization.
Risk: Memorable examples can distract if not relevant; students may focus on surface features instead of abstract principles. - Dual Coding
Definition: Combine verbal and visual information (e.g., diagrams + text).
Why it works: Activates multiple cognitive systems, enhancing understanding and recall.
Distinct from learning styles: Supported by evidence, unlike the “meshing hypothesis.”
Best use: Use clear, relevant visuals to complement text—not replace it.
🏫 Practical Implications for Educators
Teacher awareness is low: Most teacher training textbooks don’t cover these strategies.
Implementation barriers: Lack of time, curriculum constraints, and unfamiliarity with cognitive psychology terminology.
What helps:
Use blog posts, templates, or tools like spaced practice planners.
Incorporate strategies in homework, quizzes, and daily routines.
Emphasize low-stakes testing and scaffold difficult techniques (like elaboration).
🔬 Research Needs
Clarify:
Best ways to implement strategies in real classrooms.
How strategies interact (e.g., combining retrieval with elaboration or spacing).
Investigate:
Optimal schedules for spacing.
How many concrete examples are ideal.
Whether dual coding helps across diverse content types.
🎯 Exam Takeaways
All six strategies are supported by decades of research.
They are often underused in practice.
The strategies work best when combined and adapted to specific learning goals.
Teachers and researchers need to work together to bridge the gap between lab findings and classroom application.
preparing for examinations
Students use numerous techniques to assist their learning and increase their ability to perform successfully on examinations. Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan, and Willingham (2013) discussed 10 such learning techniques with reference to the available research evidence. Some techniques were rated as low in usefulness. These included summarization (writing summaries of texts),
imagery for text (forming mental images of text materials), and rereading (restudying text material after an initial reading).
Other techniques were rated as of moderate usefulness. These included elaborative interrogation (generating explanations for stated facts), self-explanation (explaining how new information is related to known information), and interleaved practice (studying different kinds of material within a single study session). Of course, what is of most interest to you (and also of most theoretical interest) is to focus on the technique rated the most useful. This technique (the testing effect) is discussed first followed by a consideration of the second most useful technique (distributed practice). We conclude this section with a discussion of concept maps.
testing effects
Testing effect
Answer this question taken from research by Karpicke, Butler, and Roediger (2009). Imagine you are reading a textbook for an upcoming examination. After you have read the chapter once, would you rather:
A Go back and restudy either the entire chapter or certain parts of the chapter?
B Try to recall the material from the chapter (without the possibility of restudying the material)?
C Use some other study technique?
Karpicke et al. (2009) found 57% of students gave answer A, 21% gave answer C, and only 18% gave answer B. This pattern of responses makes sense on the intuitively appealing assumptions that learning occurs only while we are studying and that testing provides only an opportunity to assess how much we have learned. In fact, however, the least frequent answer (B) is actually the correct one! The reasons why that is the case are discussed below.
The phenomenon investigated by Karpicke et al. (2009) is known as the testing effect: “Receiving tests on recently learned items often enhances long-term memory for those items relative to restudying them” (Cho, Neely, Crocco, & Vitrano, 2017, p. 1211).
findings
The testing effect is surprisingly robust. Rowland (2014) carried out a meta-analysis: 81% of the findings were positive and overall the testing effect was moderately strong. A possible limitation of that meta-analysis is that it was based predominantly on laboratory studies. Accordingly, Schwieren, Barenberg, and Dutke (2017) reported a meta-analysis based solely on research conducted in the context of learning and teaching psychology. Reassuringly, the overall magnitude of the testing effect was comparable in such real-life contexts.
theoretical accounts
Theoretical Accounts of the Testing Effect
There are two main theoretical explanations for the testing effect (Rowland, 2014):
- Retrieval Effort Theories
Emphasize that greater retrieval difficulty during learning leads to a stronger testing effect.
Dual-memory theory (Rickard & Pan, 2018):
Restudy only strengthens the initial memory trace.
Effortful retrieval strengthens the original trace and forms a second memory trace.
Thus, testing improves memory more than restudy due to the creation of two memory traces.
However, this only applies when feedback is given—without feedback, incorrect items won’t form a second trace.
Support:
Endres & Renkl (2015): Testing effect disappeared when mental effort was statistically controlled.
More effortful retrieval tasks (e.g., free recall) lead to stronger testing effects than easier ones (e.g., recognition). - Bifurcation Model (Kornell, Bjork & Garcia, 2011)
Items successfully retrieved are strengthened more than restudied ones.
Items not retrieved (and without feedback) are not strengthened at all, unlike restudied items which gain some benefit.
This can lead to a reversal of the testing effect—restudy can outperform testing for items that are initially not recalled.
Support:
Pastötter & Bäuml (2016): After retrieval or restudy practice, participants took a delayed memory test.
For items not recalled, those from the retrieval group were weaker than those from the restudy group, as predicted by the bifurcation model.
conclusions
The testing effect is generally strong and has been obtained almost regardless of the nature of the
to-be-learned material. The dual-memory theory provides a plausible explanation of the testing effect. However, more research is required to identify the conditions in which testing leads to the formation of a second memory trace differing from the memory trace formed during initial study. The bifurcation model explains the reversed testing effect but does not clearly specify the underlying processes or mechanisms.
distributed practice
Distributed Practice
✅ What is it?
Distributed practice refers to spacing out learning over time, rather than cramming.
It leads to better long-term retention than massed practice (cramming).
📚 Evidence for the Effect
Dunlosky et al. (2013): Found distributed practice to be the 2nd most effective learning strategy.
Cepeda et al. (2006): Reviewed 254 studies:
Recall after spaced study: 47%
Recall after massed study: 37%
Kim et al. (2019): Confirmed the effect in real-world workplace training, not just labs.
Works across age groups (children to older adults) and with various learning materials.
❓ Why Don’t Students Use It More?
Massed practice gives good short-term results (e.g., for tests right after studying).
Students often misinterpret short-term success as a sign of long-term effectiveness.
⏱️ What’s the Optimal Spacing Interval?
Cepeda et al. (2008):
Optimal spacing = 10–20% of the total retention interval.
Example: If your exam is in 7 days, study sessions should be spaced 12–24 hours apart.
🧠 Why Does It Work?
1. Deficient Processing Theory (Gerbier & Koenig, 2015):
Massed practice leads to superficial processing (material feels familiar).
Spaced study requires deeper processing due to longer intervals and forgetting.
2. Link to the Testing Effect:
Effortful retrieval (after spacing) boosts memory.
The effort required when retrieving after a delay may enhance learning, just as in the testing effect.
3. Multiple Factors Likely Involved:
The large effect size suggests a combination of mechanisms, not just one (Dunlosky et al., 2013).
🎯 High-Yield Takeaways
Distributed practice is highly effective across contexts and ages.
Optimal spacing enhances both encoding and retrieval.
Likely works due to deeper processing and retrieval effort, overlapping with the testing effect.
