Insights into enhancing learning revealed in basic research on memory encoding,
consolidation and retrieval
Lila Davachi
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
New York University
Emerging data in the field of basic memory processes has revealed (at least) three exciting
results that have the potential to be implemented and applied to enhance learning in an
educational setting.
Accomplishment 1: One of the hallmarks of conceptual learning is having a deep and
flexible relational representation of learned information. In other words, having a
representation of how information learned on one day or so, in one class setting, relates to
information learned at a different time point in a different context. Recent behavioral
(Duncan et al, 2012) and neuroimaging (Shohamy and Wagner, 2008; Zeithamova et al,
2012) studies have shed light on the mechanisms that facilitate integrative learning.
Specifically, integration across learning episodes is facilitated by the reactivation of
previously learned associations/information during new learning. Reactivation can occur
by dint of effortful retrieval of past representations during new learning but also,
importantly, can also occur automatically with appropriate cueing and context
reinstatement. In a recent paper published in Science (Duncan et al, 2012), we showed that
integration can even be facilitated by putting participants in ‘retrieval mode’ focusing
attention on past representations during new learning. Neuroimaging data has revealed
that reactivation during successful integration (1) can be tracked using multivariate
analysis approaches to identify which past representations are activated (Rissman et al
2010; Zeithamova et al, 2012; Kuhl et al, 2011; 2012) and (2) are supported by increased
processing within the hippocampus.
Challenge 1: A thorough understanding of how and when past representations become
reactivated is still unknown and whether they will also improve integration or, rather,
cause some interference needs further investigation. Further areas for consideration
include whether reactivation (1) is time-sensitive (2) is related to memory consolidation
and (3) can be modulated by contextual cues.
Accomplishment 2: One important way to enhance subsequent learning is to enhance
the retention of recently learned information. Sleep has long been known to be critical in
memory consolidation, particularly within the first night after new learning (review paper).
Beyond sleep, recent work suggests that intermittent rest periods may be beneficial for
memory retention. Recent neuroimaging results show that functional connectivity
between brain regions of interest during post-encoding (learning) awake rest periods
shows a relationship with long-term retention (Tambini et al 2010). Other recent work
has demonstrated that low-frequency correlations after an experience are related to
perceptuo-motor learning (Daselaar et al 2010; Baldassarre et al, 2012). Finally, resting
state connectivity in the human brain even before any new experiences has been related to
performance on a wide variety of cognitive measures.
Challenge 2: This exciting, yet novel, analytic approach allows for the identification of
large-scale brain networks that cohere, change with recent experience and predict
learning. Future work should identify whether the changes in low-frequency fluctuations
are, indeed, a signature of ongoing memory consolidation. Importantly, for education
purposes, there are many questions one could ask to assess application to a real-world
learning setting: Will memory improve if we simply allow students to rest during the day?
What counts as ‘rest’? Is it sufficient for a brain area to be ‘resting’ to allow for
consolidation of specialized representations?
Accomplishment 3. It has been known for some time that when learners are put in
control of the learning experience by being able to explore the learning environment, they
retain more information about that learning experience (Voss et al 2011; for review see
Gureckis and Markant, 2012). However, recent work has suggested that incidental
encoding of information may also be enhanced during active learning. If this is the case, it
suggests that relatively minor shifts in perceived or actual control given to learners may
enhance memory retention of task-specific, but also incidental, representations.
Challenge 3: It is imperative to identify WHY active learning improves retention and
memory and whether this changes with the type of learning assessed. It is possible that
exploration in and of itself enhances processing in key memory regions, such as the
hippocampus, which leads to better memory formation.
References
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