Study Tip #22 - SPEED AND TIMING TRICKS TO IMPROVE LEARNING
Introduction:
All activities take time. We often forget that it takes our brains time to move from one thought to another. If we try to learn faster than our brains can process information, we will run into trouble. If we go about as fast as our brain can go, we will learn more the first time, and we can eliminate wasting time for extra reviewing.
Sensory memory fade time:
When we look at something and shut our eyes and think about what we saw, we see a large-scale vivid image that lasts for 1 to 3 seconds. It fades rapidly. The next thing we see overlays the first image. (We have similar sensory memories for hearing and the other senses.) You may find it helpful to look at something now, shut your eyes, and notice these vivid memories.
- If we want to use sensory memories to learn something, we must act quickly.
- When you look away, shut your eyes immediately and focus your attention on the part of the visual image you want to notice. By doing that, you will move some memory into your working memory and you can process it longer.
Working memory fade time:
Working memory holds information we are thinking about consciously, both recent material from the world and from our long-term memory. While information is in working memory, we experience it as clear and easy to think about. If it fades before we learn it, we may never be able to retrieve it. How long does it last before fading? The traditional figure is 15 to 20 seconds.
- When you want to remember something, pay attention to it and it will stay available to you. If you pay attention to other ideas, it will fade.
- When you want to associate ideas to something in order to build a memory for it, do it within 15 to 20 seconds of taking it in.
- If you are testing yourself as to whether you have really learned something, do not test yourself right after looking at it or hearing it because it will still be in your working memory and fresh.
- Test yourself after letting it fade and after thinking of something else for a few seconds. Then ask your question and see if you can pull the answer from your long-term memory.
Association time:
Much of our learning occurs by associating a new stimulus to a familiar stimulus. We see a new word and then see that it means a certain thing that we are familiar with. We do it again several times: see new and see familiar. Then we are able to see the new word and recall what it means. How soon is it best that we follow the new word with the meaning? The answer from animal experiments is a fast 0.5 seconds, one-half a second.
- When using flash cards to learn, look at the new word and quickly turn it over to check the definition. Do not delay.
- When learning verbal information, take advantage of visual representations because they hold lots of information in the same picture. When you can translate a few sentences into a picture, your mind can see many things at nearly the same time.
- When you have to learn things verbally and the time takes a few seconds, be aware that you will need to practice longer.
- When you have to learn things by reading or listening and there is a time gap between the new and the familiar, hold the first one in your working memory by paying attention to it until the second one appears. Then your mind will treat the two as occurring close together.
Learning facts:
How long does it take to learn factual information?
- People can learn facts in 10 seconds or less.
- In contrast to meaningless facts, when facts are meaningful to people and they can put them into mental frameworks of information, then learning happens faster. Example: If you know football teams and rules and someone tells you a score, you will learn it fast.
- If facts are meaningless, learning goes much slower and takes much repetition. Examples: Learning symbols, new and foreign words, people's names, facts that are just there with no reason, numbers, dates. Expect to take need longer to learn meaningless information.
Learning skills:
How long does it take to learn a thinking skill or a physical skill? How long to build up your speed and accuracy?
- If we are judging the learning of a thinking skill by getting just minimally satisfactory speed and accuracy, one psychologist found it could take about 40 repetitions to learn.
- If we are judging any skill learning by true expertise, it can take months and years of practice.
- Plan to practice new thinking skills by doing problems many times over many days. If you learn skills slowly, know that slowness is normal.
Spaced learning vs. massed learning:
When you study material or practice a new skill you can either space it in many short sessions or a few long sessions of massed practice. Assuming you studied the same amount of time in total, which pattern of studying works best? Spaced learning.
- Space out your learning sessions so that you make multiple contacts with the same content a number of times. One research study used 2 sessions a day over 4 days.
- Use massed learning only for emergencies when close to a test.
Recency of contact:
Our memory for information is better if we have recently used it. The more recently, the better.
- Plan to review important material right before a test, if you can. Focus on the hardest material.
Limiting the damage of interference:
When people study a lot of information in one study session, interference gets worse when the items are fairly similar. The various bits can interfere with remembering each other. Examples: Reading about several English kings and their wars, learning many new similar concepts (kinds of mushrooms, kinds of social norms).
- Break up your study of topics with similar information by switching to another topic that is quite different. Read history, then turn to math.
- Choose a time of day when you can take a nap or sleep for the night right after studying. Do this trick when studying your hardest material.
- Explicitly notice similar concepts and test yourself on them until you can distinguish them.
Reading for meaning:
When we read, our brain needs a little bit of time to see a word, look up the meaning, and send the meaning to our working memory so that we are conscious of it. How long does one word take? It takes 0.3 – 0.6 seconds.
- When we read familiar words and ideas, we can get the meanings faster. But when we read new material, our brain needs longer to find the meanings and send them to us.
- We can have good days and bad days. Our mental speed will vary by what we've eaten and drunk, how much we've slept, how well or ill we are, and even by how old we are.
- When you read, pay attention to whether you are getting the meaning of words and phrases.
- If you are reading too fast, slow down until meanings come more clearly.
- When you reach the end of sentences, pause a little longer so that your brain can put together the whole meaning of the sentence.
Blank time:
When we read or think about information in little units and take a definite pause after a unit before we process the next unit, our understanding and memory will improve. How long should the pause be? One researcher found that blank times of one second worked best to help people learn a list of words. I don't know of other research on these lines. I expect that when reading a textbook, slightly longer pauses of 2-5 seconds after a paragraph would be helpful. This is a guess.
- When you want to seriously learn from a book, read in little cycles. Read and pause, read and pause.
Retrieval time of memories from long-term memory:
When you need to recall a concept, time passes between the time you "ask yourself" for the information and the time it pops up. When people recall familiar information, it can come to mind in a fraction of a second. We are so used to having our minds work this fast that it fools us when we don't recall something quickly and we give up too soon. But people searching for information can retrieve it over periods of several minutes to days.
- To retrieve an item, think about anything you know that is associated to the forgotten item. Focus attention on the associated items because that helps activate the buried memories. Allow time. Watch your thoughts as they lead to the memory you want.
- When recalling information on a test when time is short, spend a minute or so associating. Then move on to other questions. After a few minutes, check to see if your mind has returned the answer.
(File: 22-Speed and Timing Tricks.doc. Dan Hodges. 4/2004.)