See if you can answer them without looking at your notes. Then put your notes away and look at the questions you’ve written down. For example, if you’re studying JavaScript data types, you could write down the question “What are the 8 basic data types in JavaScript?“. To use the active recall technique while studying, you could create test questions as you take your notes. Re-reading your notes can help, but trying to recall the information from your own memory is far more effective for long-term memory. Here’s an example of the difference between active recall and passive recall: with passive recall, you’re just reviewing the information by repetitively looking at your notes. If we recover the words in the former way, we shall probably know them the next time if in the latter way, we shall very likely need the book once more.” I mean that in learning (by heart, for example), when we almost know the piece, it pays better to wait and recollect by an effort from within, than to look at the book again. In the book The Principles of Psychology, William James described it like this:Ī curious peculiarity of our memory is that things are impressed better by active than by passive repetition. When you try to recall information from your mind, it makes the information stick better than if you just passively read the information. The mental picture of the Allan wrench would remind you that his name is Alan.Īctive recall is the process of actively trying to retrieve information from your memory. When you see the person again, you would notice the feature that stands out the most to you, and then try to recall the mnemonic image that you created. Then use a mnemonic image (see above), to create a picture that represents their name.įor example, if you meet someone named Alan, you could picture an image of an Allen wrench (shown below), and imagine the wrench interacting with a feature on his face that stands out to you. One of the most common ways is to find a memorable feature on someone’s face. There are several ways to memorize names and faces. To learn more about them, see our tutorial on how to create mnemonic images. The link between the word and the image will help you recall the word or meaning later. You can link the mnemonic image with the thing you’re trying to remember in order to make it more memorable.įor most people it’s easier to remember mental pictures than words, so the linked mnemonic image helps the information stick in your brain more easily.įor example, if you need to remember that the Spanish word dormir means to sleep, you could picture a dorm room, because dorm sounds like dormir, and you can sleep in a dorm. You can also use the memory palace technique to make studying easier.Ĭheck out the method of loci page for an example of how to create your own memory palace in 5 minutes!Ī mnemonic image is a picture in your mind that represents a piece of information in the real world. If you’ve ever heard of people who can memorize thousands of digits of pi or shuffled decks of cards, it’s likely that they are using the memory palace technique. A memory palace is also known as a ” mind palace“. Made famous by the Sherlock TV show, the memory palace technique is one of the most important memory techniques. If you’re a beginner with memory improvement techniques, join our free online community and we’ll send you a complimentary ebook that shows you how to start training your brain like a memory champion.
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