Activate knowledge to prevent forgetting
Mind map
Source: Wikipedia
Every day we read all kinds of texts and we attain new information. Sadly, we forget much of it afterwards. An average person will forget 50% of the acquired information within the first hour after the completion of reading. After one day we remember only 10% of the content of the text. Of course, this holds true for an average person and an average text. If we consciously try remember something or pay more attention to the reading material then we will not forget that much, but still forgetting is a big problem which bothers you especially if you read for study reasons.
What can we do to decrease forgetting? We have to make changes to our reading process. We can improve in three different areas:
- Activities before reading. If we are more fresh and relaxed then we will remember the text better. Applying previewing techniques to the text will also help to increase comprehension.
- Activities during reading. We have to keep our thoughts concentrated to the text and avoid distractions. If we let out mind to wonder away from the text then we will memorize the content poorly and will forget it easily.
- Activities after reading. We can prevent forgetting by activating our knowledge.
If we want to store something in our memory for many years, then we have to activate the knowledge after reading and revise the text afterwards. For activating the knowledge we have to put it into some kind of application. There are several possibilities for doing that:
- Write down the keywords. After completion of the reading take a sheet of paper and take a few minutes to write down keywords, which associate with the text. For example these can be “market share”, “brand” and “advertising channel” if the text is about marketing
- Ask yourself questions about the text? What was the main idea? What did the author want to tell with the text? Which were the key facts?
- Discuss the text with others. If you have to retell the content to other people, then it will help you to store information in your brain. It is extremely efficient to discuss study material with other students, when you are studying for high school or university.
- Draw a mind map. It is a hand written diagram, which visually connects the keywords. You can see an example of a mind map on the picture in this post.
Besides knowledge activation you need to revise the text for remembering it well in the future. Revision is time consuming and I definitely will not suggest you to re-read all kinds of texts. You should revise only these texts, which are most important for you.
If the text is worth it then after you have activated knowledge then you should revise it on the following day. For revision you should not read all the text, but instead of that read through the keywords, answers to the questions or study the mind map, which you did before. In addition you can just quickly review the text. If you notice that you have forgotten some parts of the text then re-read these passages.
7 days after reading spend about 5 minutes thinking about the main points of the text, if you feel that you do not remember something then look the text through again. 2 month afterwards repeat that kind of a revision process.
That kind of revision process guarantees that you can remember the key issues of the text many years after reading it.
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My name is Kristjan-Olari Leping. I am a speed reading trainer. I have an associated professor position at the University of Tartu, am a policy analyst in a policy research center, I am a trainer and I am involved in many other business projects. 