How the Proust Effect Can Help You Study

When you need to remember something important, it makes sense to look for hacks and tricks to maximize your memory. And there are many, but do they really work? One popular tip involves chewing a certain flavor of gum or spraying a certain flavor into the air while studying or working, and then using the same gum or flavor when it’s time to speak, such as when you’re reading a text or presenting material. you passed. The advice is based on the so-called Proust effect, and if you use it, your mileage may vary.

What is the Proust Effect ?

Marcel Proust, a 20th-century writer you may already be familiar with, was the person who coined the term “involuntary memory” to describe how a memory hits you because of a smell, taste, sound, or other sensory trigger. . As a reward for his efforts, he named this effect after himself.

This is a real thing that happens to the best of us: sensory stimuli, like walking past someone wearing the perfume your mom wore, can trigger vivid memories of the past in us. This phenomenon has generated a lot of research because it is deeply human, but also deeply physiological and scientific.

How do people use the Proust effect to study?

When you’re looking for study and memory tips, this comes up a lot. Kearny State University of Nebraska , for example, recommends using unfamiliar scents as a “brain enhancer” by spraying a different scent each time you study a unique subject. Before a test on this subject, spray the appropriate fragrance because, as they say, “it can help you remember information.”

Does the Proust effect really work for learning and remembering?

Here’s the thing: involuntary memories are more emotional than practical. Research shows that olfactory cues are much more effective in evoking emotional memories than visual cues. The smell of a spray or the taste of chewing gum may take you back to the time you studied, but it does not guarantee that you will remember the details of what you studied or make you feel the same way you felt when you did it. .

It’s like the idea of ​​dressing up in a special “study suit” when it’s time to tackle your books this way: scents can help you stand out and get in the zone, which can have a positive effect on your concentration and productivity, but they’re not a magic panacea to make you memorize whole passages of text.

Chewing strawberry gum when you’re studying chemistry and taking a chemistry test again is more likely to make you feel like you’re in your chemistry zone than anything else, which, again, can be helpful. However, to really remember what you’ve learned, be sure to double up on the moves using a learning technique such as alternation or the primacy effect .