‘Retraining’ Can Force Important Information Into Your Long-Term Memory

Do you want to learn the material you are learning—for example, really learn it? Then what you need to do is retrain it. One learning theory suggests that if you relearn, you will achieve automatism—or the ability to do something without thinking about it—and eventually retain more knowledge. Here is what retraining is and how to do it.

What is retraining?

You know something is serious when the American Psychological Association defines it , and in this case it is: according to the APA, overlearning is “a practice that continues after a person knows or performs a task as well as Maybe”. expected.” The APA states that the benefits here may include “increased learning resilience over time, or better retention and recall.”

Simply put, relearning involves learning something even if you think you know it. Don’t stop repeating or studying just because you’ve managed to remember something. Instead, keep digging deeper and deeper into your brain.

Herman Ebbinghaus, the researcher who introduced us to the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve , studied memory in the 1890s and found that memories diminish over time. (That’s basically the point of the forgetting curve.) According to him, relearning happens when you keep repeating what you’re repeating well past the point where you can remember it with 100% accuracy.

You see, remembering this takes effort. The goal of retraining is to achieve automaticity, effortlessly retrieve information from long-term memory , and free up space in working memory.

How do you relearn?

The next time you study, review the material you already know from start to finish. For example, when using the Leitner Method (which involves spaced repetition of flashcards, with the frequency of viewing each based on how well you did the last time you asked yourself questions), always review all the flashcards assigned to you in class. on a particular day, even if you feel like skipping them because you did everything right last time. Constantly repeating stuff you know well is the key to relearning and eventually auto-reproduction.

Schedule time in your week to review the material you have already learned. This can be as simple as rereading a chapter or your notes, or as difficult as taking practice tests or using flashcards. Constant repetition of familiar ideas will allow you to bury them deeper into your long-term memory.