Chapter 9
Defending
Your Memory
What is the biggest impediment
to academic success?
• Forgetting
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9|2
Proof of the power of forgetting
• 46 percent of a chapter assignment
forgotten in one day
• More than 90 percent of a lecture
forgotten in two weeks
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9|3
Working
memory is a way station
• All information passes through it first
• It has two entrances: One for things you
see, the other for things you say or hear
• Some is sent on to permanent storage in
long-term memory
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9|4
How are
memories made permanent?
• Rehearsal is what makes memories stick
• Rehearsing means repeating or rewriting
what you’ve read or heard
• It comes from a French word that means
“to plow again”
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9|5
Ways to fight
back against forgetfulness
•
•
•
•
Make an effort to remember
Set the size and shape of your memories
Work to strengthen memories
Give your memories time to jell.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9|6
You can’t
remember unless you try
• Pseudo forgetting: Failing to remember
something you never learned in the first
place
• Remembering for a reason: If your reason
to remember is meaningful, forgetting is
less likely.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9|7
Improving your
intention to remember
• Pay attention. Minimize distractions
and focus on remembering
• Get your facts straight. Incorrect
information is as easy to remember as
correct
• Make sure you understand: If you don’t
get it, you’re apt to forget it.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9|8
You can also
use motivation to forget
• Restaurant servers clear the table of
their memory once a party has left
• Albert Einstein kept rudimentary
information from clogging his brain
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9|9
G.A. Miller: The Magical
Number 7 and your memory
• The short-term memory is limited to
approximately seven items
• Those items may be clusters of
information though
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 10
Memory span
• Long words are harder to remember
than short ones
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 11
How to control the size
and shape of your memories
• Limit what you choose to learn
• Organize information efficiently
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 12
The more you try to remember,
the longer it takes... much longer
• Ebbinghaus found that it took 15 times
longer to remember 12 syllables than it
did to remember 6
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 13
How do you limit
what you try to remember?
• Condense and summarize:
• Choose only the main ideas and leave
the supporting materials behind
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 14
Patterns make
information manageable
• File folders in file cabinets and on
computers
• Chapters in books
• Groupings in social security and phone
numbers
• Shelves and sections in supermarkets
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 15
Patterns make information
easier to remember as well
• Cluster information around memorable
categories or headings
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 16
How to strengthen memories
• Make connections
• Use recitation
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 17
Connecting your memories
• Free-floating memories tend to drift away
• Memories with connections are apt to
remain
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 18
Two kinds of connections
• Logical
• Artificial
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 19
Making logical connections
• Build on your background
• Master the basic courses
• Consciously link what you learn to what you already
know
• Ask your instructor to explain a crucial linchpin point
• Strengthen memories with pictures
• Visualizing or drawing will use the right side of your
brain
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 20
Making artificial connections
• A connection doesn’t have to be logical,
just strong
• Loci method: Connects memories to
physical locations
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 21
Mnemonic devices
• Classic mnemonics
• Build-it-yourself mnemonics
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 22
Using recitation to rehearse
• Recitation is the most important activity
for strengthening memory
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 23
How to recite
•
•
•
•
Read a passage or a line in your notes
Repeat it from memory
Use your own words
Recite either out loud or on paper
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 24
Why recitation works
• It encourages participation
• It provides feedback
• It supplies motivation
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 25
Allowing memories to jell
• Information doesn’t instantly become
memories
• Consolidation is needed
• Memories must be moved from short-term
to long-term storage
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 26
Distributed practice
vs. massed practice
• Distributed practice: Short study periods
with regular breaks
• Massed practice: Continuous study, often
until a task is completed
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 27
The advantages
of distributed practice
•
•
•
•
Memory is allowed time for consolidation
Regular “breathers” discourage fatigue
Motivation is stronger in short time blocks
“Boring” subjects are easier to take in
small doses
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 28
When does massed
practice make sense?
• When great deals of information need
to be fit together or juggled
• Example: The first draft of a research
paper
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 29
Learning plateaus
• Progress isn’t constant or continuous
• “No progress” periods are discouraging
but not unusual
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
9 | 30