"Unlock" your brain: the secrets of effective learning revealed

How to learn effectively? Science has already shown that it is important to retrieve information from memory at regular intervals. But this is only the beginning. A new study has revealed how to achieve even better learning results.

What science already knows

Human memory is highly complex and influenced by many factors, making it difficult to translate the findings of individual scientific studies directly into practical and universal learning advice. 

However, previous research shows that learning is most effective when material is retrieved from memory rather than simply read again.

It is also known that learning is more effective when study sessions are spread out over time, rather than, for example, cumulated over one evening before an exam.

Is it possible to learn more efficiently?

In a study published in the journal, Polish researchers set out to find out whether the memory process can be further enhanced. They found that it is possible.

According to the researchers, learning more efficiently requires what is known as variable learning, which involves introducing variety into our memory process.

Adding variety means learning about a phenomenon from different perspectives, in different contexts and in different ways.

Moreover, researchers argue that the process of knowledge retrieval must also be diverse. That is, it has to take place in response to different (rather than identical) questions or clues leading to the same correct answer.

The results of the experiments surprised the participants themselves

In their study, the researchers described a series of experiments in which participants were asked to learn foreign (Finnish) words.

The Finnish words were inserted into sentences in the participants' own language, for example, "Dad is sweeping the lattia" ("lattia" is Finnish for floor). 

During the study, each foreign word was presented several times, either in the same sentence form ('Daddy is sweeping the lattia' x5) or in different sentences (e.g. 'Daddy is sweeping the lattia'; 'The dog is lying down on the lattia'; 'The child is playing on the lattia'; 'There is a carpet on the lattia'; 'The cat is sliding on the lattia').

It has been found that foreign word translations are better remembered when participants are presented with different sentences rather than the same ones over and over again during the learning process.

The benefits of this method of knowledge acquisition were observed both immediately after the research phase and after 24 hours.

Interestingly, participants were convinced that it is easier for them to remember foreign words when they learn them using the same sentences over and over again. However, this did not match their actual test results. 

This is known as the metacognitive illusion - a mistaken belief in the effectiveness of certain learning conditions, which can ultimately lead to the selection of less effective ways of learning.