Transcript
Ever wonder if those fancy memory tricks to remember names actually work in a real-world environment? This study found that some do and some don't, and that simpler is better. We covered last time how, in a lab, these two memory techniques boosted recall by around 400%. But then the researchers wanted to know how that translated into a real-world environment. And this was a university, so real-world environment obviously means throw a party, which they did. But first, they split the attendees into three groups. One was told to just go out and mean as many people as possible and try to remember their names. semantic associations to remember those names. That's when if you meet someone named Rose Taylor, you try to visualize her with flowers on her dress so as to try and strengthen that memory encoding step. Then the third group was told that shortly after hearing each name, they should test themselves by attempting to recall it. Then, after a long interval, they should try once again to remember the name. And now and then, they should look around the room and try to recall the names of the people that they had met earlier, called retrieval practice. A day later, they were tested on people's names. The control Surprisingly, the imagery group did worse than that, recalling only 12, and the retrieval practice group managed 24. So what can we learn from this? Well, the association trick is hard. Think about it. You meet someone new, they're introducing themselves, and there you are mumbling. April. April. Sh showers! Uh, where did you say you were from again? This method really can work, but it takes a lot of practice to implement in a real-world environment, and they had just learned it. But retrieval practice is dead simple, and super effective. The only problem is, it's really can work. takes work, mental work, that I bet most of you won't want to bother with. And yet, it highlights one of the most important lessons in all of practical neuroscience. From memory to reading comprehension to skill learning, the more engaged your brain is with something, the harder it's working, the deeper and broader the connections that are being made. What should we cover next?
Additional notes
Replying to @Avisha - 🧬Science Made Simple Coming Soon: Hacking your reading! (Speed reading + retention) #science #memory #psychology #student #studying #study