# The Complete Guide to Memory  ## Metadata - Author: [[Scott H Young]] - Full Title: The Complete Guide to Memory - Tags: - URL: https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/02/15/memory/ ## Highlights - **There are two basic kinds of memory – retrospective and prospective.** Whereas retrospective memory is about remembering what happened in the past, prospective memory is about reminding yourself to do something in the future ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sk1cpr646z0e7wrm67c92)) - One way to divide up retrospective memory is in the kinds of things it stores. A big difference here is between implicit and declarative memory. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4skf8jtddh41bzmd1y38mt)) -  ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4skvk8tmjg55q4pqf4qe9d)) - Implicit memory is essentially skill memory – the ability to do a task. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sm3yez1vn08arz6s507wz)) - Note: Implict memory is like tacit knowledge. Your tacit knowledge is largely affected by the culture you grow up in as it makes it more or less likely that you remember something. - Declarative memory, in contrast, is either memory for facts and meaning (semantic) or memory for events (episodic). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sq31492jt60kjbntjwjn6)) - Another way to examine memory is based on its duration. Visual memory is memory for visual stimuli that lasts for less than a second. Working memory (WM) manipulates and stores information for short periods of time. Talking with your colleagues, discussing a point at a meeting and planning your weekend would be entirely impossible without WM. In contrast, long-term memory (LTM) serves as a long-term storage of information ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sqq51kbyn34xwb75fk298)) - The Three Parts Underlying All Your Memories ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sre3r817sfx0satvhgkm1)) - To unravel this mystery, we need to break the act of remembering things into its atomic parts. Those parts are: ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4srrk347n4ag7t57fr1nzc)) - **Encoding**—the process of putting the information into your brain. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4srt8fc1c5fsmg8nm0w7ge)) - Note: Connect to my notes on encoding strength refusing the amount of time you need to spend rote memorizing. - **Storage**—the process of keeping the information in your brain. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4srw26krny6vcbx4kxvnhs)) - **Retrieval**—the process of getting the information out of your brain when you need it. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sry2h8rnqmed8fzvx0ebp)) - Note: Connect to new MOC I should create on methods of retrieval with spaced repetition, active recall, the testing effect, interleaved practice, drilling. Make it Stick, How We Learn, and Ultralearning. - the mere intention to learn something is not what makes you remember it later. What matters is what you do with the material, i.e. what specific strategies you use to process it, rather than how much you want to memorize it. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4t31gs2vs2dh95h83cjtv5)) - Note: This could be true, but the intention to learn deeply might make you choose a more active studying technique or make you more motivated to learn, which will increase your studying effec times. In addition, having a growth mindset while learning will make you learn more effectively and as well. - Scientists believe that one of the critical factors determining the success of encoding is the depth of processing. The deeper you process the to-be-learnt information, the more likely it is to stick ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4t5y90f8j8pxrhayzyafqx)) - Note: This agrees with encoding strength talked about by Justin Sung. The more you connect to outside information and relate subjects the deeper it will encode and liked slower you will forget it. - **structured information is much easier to encode to memory than disorganized information.**[[3](https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/02/15/memory/)] Therefore, it is extremely useful to impose a good structure on your notes. The structure can take many different shapes – hierarchical, flow-based, mind-mapping or anything else that you find useful. What matters is that the particular technique helps you organize the study material in an easy, clear and understandable way ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4te74kt8jyp99yqydpve0t)) - Note: It’s much easier to remember a list of words if they are grouped around a themed category. - To remember effectively, the processes used during practice need to correspond with the processes during use. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc504k4fk4rj6rjs2w219dde)) - **Think hard about how you will be tested on the information you need to remember**. Will it be multiple choice tests? Essay questions? Applied in real life problems ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc504b9fvab5db7ndxrp7kfk)) - **Research has show that our memories are state-dependent**. The more similar are our mental, physical and chemical states between encoding and retrieval, the more likely we are to successfully remember ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc508hz2cbqhykvv21qs3a4x)) - Note: This is why bi-polar people have vastly different tendencies to recall certain memories depending on if they are in a manic or high state. This implies it could be better to artificially time yourself while studying to simulate stressful test environments. - However, this is not always possible. An alternative approach is to study in various mental and physical states ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50cjxn6cmdrq6c7hdssxqp)) - Note: This gives your memory context independence. - Our brains seem to encode the context as a part of the memory trace as if taking a snapshot of everything that is around us at the moment of creating the memory. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50fkc8s3pmdkz3r4dq96rp)) - Note: This is why some memories only spark when your in the same environment you formed them in. For example going to the kitchen to eat a giant glob of peanut butter only to forget why you went to the kitchen when in it. - Test yourself with different kinds of practice questions • what-questions • why-questions • how-questions ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50te25sfratp62t9gjvx78)) - Forgetting can be caused by two different processes. The first is a **failure of storage**—the information might be forgotten because our brain loses it over time. The second is a **failure of retrieval**—the information might be “in” there, but we can’t access it. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50vsewae7zajb925bsy523)) - The most basic explanation of forgetting has to do with the passage of time. Our memory traces are stored in living tissue, which inevitably changes over time ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50wdxzmr8cv729hshajw0v)) - Note: How do the axon tendrils change positioning on the dendrites over time and how does this effect learning? - In addition, there is another possible cause for the decay of our memories ... As new memories are formed, new neurons are produced in the hippocampus (the memory hub), which changes its structure and patterns of connections - Note: This means it might be a good idea to study old information with new so the new information doesn’t supersede the old information. - We recommend that you establish a schedule of revision of the old material (even a couple of minutes every day should suffice) that is interspersed with the study of the new material ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc511gn8fnv7kke39c1ybyhm)) - A cue is essentially anything (such as a physical object, situation, time period, word, question, concept, etc.) which is paired with a memory trace and which must be activated for the memory trace to be retrieved. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc514csc02p3ebhx5pnweph4)) - The disruption of memories by other memories which are paired to the same cues is called “interference”. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc5151xpxdt1a9kng3jd1eg3)) - selective practice testing substantially boosts performance for the practiced items but can also *worsen* the performance for the unpracticed items ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc516j306mh76x5wqadc11xa)) - Note: This is why differentiating between concepts in Flashcards or studying is so great so you don’t mix them up. You can do this in obsidian by having headings inside of your spaced repetition Flashcards which will indicate the flow in the Flashcards. - it is good practice to make different concepts as distinctive as possible ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51a572ckgtsnp9f55xa9fh)) - In general, the more you spread your sessions, the less overall time you will need ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51g0ne94j03rftwsg760dp)) - Scientists recommend that the spacing distance should be about 10-20% of the test delay.[[29](https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/02/15/memory/)] If your test is in 10 days, you will benefit most from studying once a day. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51gr041dbdrqey9gj4hzgh)) - Bear in mind that the spacing effect does not continue indefinitely. For example, ten 1-minute sessions will likely not be better than one 10-minute session ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51r6e5aj4tsdynh4rfrdha)) - Note: This is because context switching requires mental bandwith and fatigue. - Scientists believe that memories are retrieved through the process of ‘spreading activation’. Once a cue is activated in the brain, the activation spreads from the cue to the target memory ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51z3rsgqmk4j246fm6p5k6)) - Note: This implies the more cues you have for a memory the better you will be able to recall it. - **When you are forming an intention, it is very useful to imagine yourself doing the desired action in the desired context as vividly as possible**. For instance, visualize yourself passing the library, entering the building and returning the book ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc528r7bynnrhq5064hxfe4d)) - Simply imagining the context of encoding can be helpful to generate enough activation to successfully retrieve the memory trace ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc5299v5a639k6b5y386ef5h)) - Note: I read this article in the gym so imagining myself in the gym helps me remember it. ## New highlights added September 6, 2022 at 9:30 PM A wealth of research has shown that testing is more effective at improving retention and test performance than re-studying, even if no feedback is provided. This is called the ‘testing effect ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gca8189cwgn6dshxvaxz0sbf)) - Note: I’m order to feel the testing effect you have to undergo recall, not recognition. Recall is a form of active learning where you test yourself on something you can’t see. Recognition is a form of passive learning where you simply read over something you can see. The problem with recognition is it can often create the illusion of knowing because of the availability heuristic making you believe you understand familiar things. Re-reading is useful inasmuch as it is used together with practice testing. It is definitely a good idea to selectively re-study the concepts which you cannot recall. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gca86s26k3j9j4m5bn259775)) - Note: Recall obviously isn’t possible with concepts or ideas you can’t remember. Author:: [[Working Memory]] DateFinished:: URL:: https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/02/15/memory/ Rating:: Tags:: #📩 #🟥 # The Complete Guide to Memory  ## Highlights **There are two basic kinds of memory – retrospective and prospective.** Whereas retrospective memory is about remembering what happened in the past, prospective memory is about reminding yourself to do something in the future ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sk1cpr646z0e7wrm67c92)) One way to divide up retrospective memory is in the kinds of things it stores. A big difference here is between implicit and declarative memory. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4skf8jtddh41bzmd1y38mt))  ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4skvk8tmjg55q4pqf4qe9d)) Implicit memory is essentially skill memory – the ability to do a task. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sm3yez1vn08arz6s507wz)) - Note: Implict memory is like tacit knowledge. Your tacit knowledge is largely affected by the culture you grow up in as it makes it more or less likely that you remember something. Declarative memory, in contrast, is either memory for facts and meaning (semantic) or memory for events (episodic). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sq31492jt60kjbntjwjn6)) Another way to examine memory is based on its duration. Working memory (WM) manipulates and stores information for short periods of time. Talking with your colleagues, discussing a point at a meeting and planning your weekend would be entirely impossible without WM. In contrast, long-term memory (LTM) serves as a long-term storage of information ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sqq51kbyn34xwb75fk298)) The Three Parts Underlying All Your Memories ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sre3r817sfx0satvhgkm1)) To unravel this mystery, we need to break the act of remembering things into its atomic parts. Those parts are: ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4srrk347n4ag7t57fr1nzc)) **Encoding**—the process of putting the information into your brain. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4srt8fc1c5fsmg8nm0w7ge)) - Note: Connect to my notes on encoding strength refusing the amount of time you need to spend rote memorizing. **Storage**—the process of keeping the information in your brain. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4srw26krny6vcbx4kxvnhs)) **Retrieval**—the process of getting the information out of your brain when you need it. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4sry2h8rnqmed8fzvx0ebp)) - Note: Connect to new MOC I should create on methods of retrieval with spaced repetition, active recall, the testing effect, interleaved practice, drilling. Make it Stick, How We Learn, and Ultralearning. the mere intention to learn something is not what makes you remember it later. What matters is what you do with the material, i.e. what specific strategies you use to process it, rather than how much you want to memorize it. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4t31gs2vs2dh95h83cjtv5)) - Note: This could be true, but the intention to learn deeply might make you choose a more active studying technique or make you more motivated to learn, which will increase your studying effec times. In addition, having a growth mindset while learning will make you learn more effectively and as well. Scientists believe that one of the critical factors determining the success of encoding is the depth of processing. The deeper you process the to-be-learnt information, the more likely it is to stick ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4t5y90f8j8pxrhayzyafqx)) - Note: This agrees with encoding strength talked about by Justin Sung. The more you connect to outside information and relate subjects the deeper it will encode and liked slower you will forget it. **structured information is much easier to encode to memory than disorganized information.**[[3](https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/02/15/memory/)] Therefore, it is extremely useful to impose a good structure on your notes. The structure can take many different shapes – hierarchical, flow-based, mind-mapping or anything else that you find useful. What matters is that the particular technique helps you organize the study material in an easy, clear and understandable way ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc4te74kt8jyp99yqydpve0t)) - Note: It’s much easier to remember a list of words if they are grouped around a themed category. To remember effectively, the processes used during practice need to correspond with the processes during use. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc504k4fk4rj6rjs2w219dde)) **Think hard about how you will be tested on the information you need to remember**. Will it be multiple choice tests? Essay questions? Applied in real life problems ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc504b9fvab5db7ndxrp7kfk)) **Research has show that our memories are state-dependent**. The more similar are our mental, physical and chemical states between encoding and retrieval, the more likely we are to successfully remember ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc508hz2cbqhykvv21qs3a4x)) - Note: This is why bi-polar people have vastly different tendencies to recall certain memories depending on if they are in a manic or high state. This implies it could be better to artificially time yourself while studying to simulate stressful test environments. However, this is not always possible. An alternative approach is to study in various mental and physical states ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50cjxn6cmdrq6c7hdssxqp)) - Note: This gives your memory context independence. Our brains seem to encode the context as a part of the memory trace as if taking a snapshot of everything that is around us at the moment of creating the memory. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50fkc8s3pmdkz3r4dq96rp)) - Note: This is why some memories only spark when your in the same environment you formed them in. For example going to the kitchen to eat a giant glob of peanut butter only to forget why you went to the kitchen when in it. Test yourself with different kinds of practice questions • what-questions • why-questions • how-questions ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50te25sfratp62t9gjvx78)) Forgetting can be caused by two different processes. The first is a **failure of storage**—the information might be forgotten because our brain loses it over time. The second is a **failure of retrieval**—the information might be “in” there, but we can’t access it. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50vsewae7zajb925bsy523)) The most basic explanation of forgetting has to do with the passage of time. Our memory traces are stored in living tissue, which inevitably changes over time ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc50wdxzmr8cv729hshajw0v)) - Note: How do the axon tendrils change positioning on the dendrites over time and how does this effect learning? In addition, there is another possible cause for the decay of our memories ... As new memories are formed, new neurons are produced in the hippocampus (the memory hub), which changes its structure and patterns of connections - Note: This means it might be a good idea to study old information with new so the new information doesn’t supersede the old information. We recommend that you establish a schedule of revision of the old material (even a couple of minutes every day should suffice) that is interspersed with the study of the new material ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc511gn8fnv7kke39c1ybyhm)) A cue is essentially anything (such as a physical object, situation, time period, word, question, concept, etc.) which is paired with a memory trace and which must be activated for the memory trace to be retrieved. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc514csc02p3ebhx5pnweph4)) The disruption of memories by other memories which are paired to the same cues is called “interference”. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc5151xpxdt1a9kng3jd1eg3)) selective practice testing substantially boosts performance for the practiced items but can also *worsen* the performance for the unpracticed items ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc516j306mh76x5wqadc11xa)) - Note: This is why differentiating between concepts in Flashcards or studying is so great so you don’t mix them up. You can do this in obsidian by having headings inside of your spaced repetition Flashcards which will indicate the flow in the Flashcards. it is good practice to make different concepts as distinctive as possible ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51a572ckgtsnp9f55xa9fh)) In general, the more you spread your sessions, the less overall time you will need ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51g0ne94j03rftwsg760dp)) Scientists recommend that the spacing distance should be about 10-20% of the test delay.[[29](https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/02/15/memory/)] If your test is in 10 days, you will benefit most from studying once a day. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51gr041dbdrqey9gj4hzgh)) Bear in mind that the spacing effect does not continue indefinitely. For example, ten 1-minute sessions will likely not be better than one 10-minute session ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51r6e5aj4tsdynh4rfrdha)) - Note: This is because context switching requires mental bandwith and fatigue. Scientists believe that memories are retrieved through the process of ‘spreading activation’. Once a cue is activated in the brain, the activation spreads from the cue to the target memory ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc51z3rsgqmk4j246fm6p5k6)) - Note: This implies the more cues you have for a memory the better you will be able to recall it. **When you are forming an intention, it is very useful to imagine yourself doing the desired action in the desired context as vividly as possible**. For instance, visualize yourself passing the library, entering the building and returning the book ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc528r7bynnrhq5064hxfe4d)) Simply imagining the context of encoding can be helpful to generate enough activation to successfully retrieve the memory trace ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gc5299v5a639k6b5y386ef5h)) - Note: I read this article in the gym so imagining myself in the gym helps me remember it. A wealth of research has shown that testing is more effective at improving retention and test performance than re-studying, even if no feedback is provided. This is called the ‘testing effect ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gca8189cwgn6dshxvaxz0sbf)) - Note: I’m order to feel the testing effect you have to undergo recall, not recognition. Recall is a form of active learning where you test yourself on something you can’t see. Recognition is a form of passive learning where you simply read over something you can see. The problem with recognition is it can often create the illusion of knowing because of the availability heuristic making you believe you understand familiar things. Re-reading is useful inasmuch as it is used together with practice testing. It is definitely a good idea to selectively re-study the concepts which you cannot recall. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gca86s26k3j9j4m5bn259775)) - Note: Recall obviously isn’t possible with concepts or ideas you can’t remember.