Repeat to Remember

One of the primary functions associated with the brain is memory, and this is a key function for students and educators. Knowing a little more about how the brain stores information may help you in your efforts to teach your children.

The brain has different types of memory systems that fall into two categories - those memories that involve conscious awareness and those that are voluntary.  Once you have learned how to ride a bike, recalling the skill at a later time does not generally require a conscious effort.  However, remembering a telephone number does require a conscious effort.  This type of memory is what we would call a declarative memory - involving something you declare - and it is the type about which researchers have learned the most.  Declarative memory involves encoding, storage, retrieval and even forgetting.

Most people believe that the brain is a lot like a recording device where learning is based on pushing the record button, and remember is similar to pushing the playback button.  But it really isn't that simple.  There are several types of encoding, which involve all of our senses, and their processing centers are scattered through the brain.  These include:

• Automatic encoding - which occurs unintentionally and is easily recalled because the memories seem bound in a cohesive, readily retrievable form
• Effortful processing - which requires conscious attention and deliberate effort, but the information does not tend to be bound together and requires a lot of repetition for effective retrieval
• Semantic encoding - which is focused on the definition of words
• Phonemic encoding - which involves the comparison between the sounds of words
• Structural encoding - which involves the visual inspection of shapes

What does this mean for your child's learning efforts?  Well, here are some guidelines for enhancing the encoding process, and thereby the memory retrieval.

First of all, the more elaborately we encode information at the moment of learning, the stronger the memory.  When information is presented in a way that incorporates multiple senses, that information will be encoded in various parts of the brain and produce a stronger opportunity for retrieval.  For example, when reading from a textbook, the student is receiving visual information for encoding.  Adding the student's voide reading the words - or at least the key sentences - out loud, provides auditory information for encoding, and taking notes or highlighting key information provides touch input that further expands the encoding.  Another example from the literature-based approach would involve reading a story that incorporates factual information within the context of a character's life and actions.  As the student connects emotionally with that character, the factual information becomes more personal in nature and is more elaborately encoded.  Ensuring that the student understands the meanings of words, and adding personal examples make the most of the brain's natural predilection for pattern matching.

Memories have different life spans.  Hermann Ebbinghaus has been credited with research that determined that people usually forget 90% of what they learn in a class within 30 days, with the majority of the forgetting occurring within the first few hours of class.  Isn't that encouraging?  However, he also found that simply repeating the information at timed intervals greatly increased the memory.  What does this mean to us as parent educators?  In order to help our children remember the information that are encoding, we must revisit that information regularly.  This can be done through discussion after material is read, by reviewing what has been learned about historical figures and events in our Book of Time, by making up songs or ditties with key information ... there are numerous ways to repeat information and extend the life of the memory.

Lastly, it is suggested that retrieval may be improved by replicating the conditions surrounding the initial encoding.  When a student has learned a particular portion of information in a special setting, returning to that setting will usually aid in the retrieval of the information.  You can recreate the sounds, the smells, the seating ... all to enhance your student's ability to retrieve information that has been encoded.

Repeat to remember, circle back to prior subject material and look at it again.  Your student will benefit greatly!

 Another post presenting information drawn from John Medina's Brain Rules.

Kelly