Spaced repetition serves as a memory enhancement technique. It is well established that distributing your study sessions yields better results than intensive cramming. By utilizing an app, you can customize your own spaced repetition timeline, enabling you to build strong memories for any subject matter you choose.
Michael Nielsen shares his positive experiences with spaced repetition on Twitter:
The adoption of spaced repetition memory systems has transformed my life in recent years. Here are a few insights I’ve discovered:
— Michael Nielsen (@michael_nielsen) January 28, 2018
He discusses how he selects content for his review system, identifies the optimal amount of information for each entry, and what understanding—beyond mere memory—can provide (insight into the process involving the memorized items). Nielsen expresses a great deal of enthusiasm regarding the advantages:
The most significant shift is that memory is no longer a random occurrence, left to luck. Instead, I can ensure I will recall something with minimal effort: it turns memory into a deliberate choice.
Numerous apps or programs can assist you in managing a spaced repetition system; however, Nielsen opted for Anki (ankiweb.net), which is open source and features both desktop and mobile applications that synchronize with each other—handy for adding information while at a computer and then reviewing it on your mobile while waiting in line for coffee or similar.
Exploring Anki, it appears to be quite beneficial, and I’ve come to realize I can leverage it to counter a cognitive bias we all experience: the tendency to overlook facts that contradict our beliefs.
Charles Darwin remarks on this in his autobiography:
“I had, also, during many years, followed a golden rule, namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory than favorable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted to answer.”
(Darwin, 1856/1958, p123).
I keep notebooks, and I share Darwin’s inclination to forget “unfavorable” facts, but I ponder whether my thinking could be enhanced by not just recording the facts but actually retaining them—through a spaced repetition system. I plan to give it a try.
Links & Footnotes:
Anki app (ankiweb.net)
Wikipedia on spaced repetition systems
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809–1882, edited by Nora Barlow. London: Collins
For further insights into the science, refer to this recent review for educators: Weinstein, Y., Madan, C. R., & Sumeracki, M. A. (2018). Teaching the science of learning. Cognitive research: principles and implications, 3(1), 2.
I observe that Anki-based spaced repetition also incorporates a dose of retrieval practice and interleaving (other effective learning methodologies).