Memory Teacher
Here we are - the last applied project of the semester!
Let’s start this on a sentimental note.
As the end of my undergrad is approaching, I am taking every moment I can to embrace how far I have come. 2 years of my life spent at Monmouth College — frantically trying to settle on a major that would not completely satisfy me. And now here, my third year at Loras College — about to graduate with a Bachelors in Psychology. But, I will not allow complacency to blind us me from all the great things that I have yet to do.
The Memory Teacher AP had us focus on innovative new ways to memorize information. With this being our last applied project, I tried to go off the books… (kinda). Rather than simply making some type of intervention, I wanted to educate, or in better words, prepare myself for what is next in my life.
To become a Chiropractor, there is a special program that you must attend. The schooling lasts [on average] around 3–4 years, depending on the natural science credits that you transfer in from your undergraduate. The school that I will be attending in December of 2022 is Palmer, located in Davenport IA. But what does this have to do with the applied project?
The image on the left is a sample schedule for first year students at Palmer. Majority of the classes required are centered around subjects including: anatomy, physiology, biology, physics, and chemistry. Studying Psychology has not quite prepared me for the challenges that I am about to face. To combat this feeling of unreadiness, I was able to discuss with some friends of mine that are current students at Palmer to create an intervention for memorizing course content.
Empirical Support
In looking for elements to create this intervention, I was able to find a variety of sources that offered concepts to build off of.
3 memory based strategies stood out to me during my search.
- Overlearning
Shibata et al. defined overlearning as the “Continuous training conducted after performance improvement has been maximized” (2017). This type of memory technique can be extremely beneficial when practiced correctly. Attending to something, even after learning it, is much different than overloading your brain with stimulus. In regards to the course material studied in Chiropractic school, overlearning can be profitable to the learner. To present yourself with information concurrently is not what overlearning is either. Let’s use an example → anatomical flash cards. Say that a student is testing themself for accuracy using flash cards that name a muscle, and must respond with its appropriate role and function within the body. Overlearning is the act in which once you have gone through the flash cards with no errors — you will continue to practice them.
Another source discusses the effects of overlearning on retention. Driskell & Willis (1992) found that overlearning is an effective means of enhancing retention, effective training procedure for both physical and cognitive tasks, and that the greater the degree of overlearning, the greater the resulting retention. It is worth noting that the overlearning should only be practiced when the learning setting demands it. What I mean by this is that overlearning is not needed every time something needs to be memorized/learned. When speaking to my friend, Brian, about whether or not he uses overlearning, he mentioned how it has become a subconscious practice while attending Chiropractic school. Because of the extensive material that is studied, overlearning can be quite valuable.
2. Repetition
This was the strategy that seemed the most straightforward and achievable. When I began diving into what repetition is and how it benefits memory, one thing was commonly associated with it in many articles that I skimmed through — spaced practice. Sound familiar? We really love recursive learning.
Repetition is done when you present yourself with stimulus over and over again. Contrasting from overlearning where you continue to learn through a plateau. Repetition “improves standard recall and recognition-memory” (Hintzman, 2010). But there are multiple sources that I could use to confirm that repetition is successful, but I again wanted to see its effects in real life. Brian, my friend at Palmer, told me that repetition is without a doubt the most relevant study technique that he uses. He mentioned the amount of credits that a student must take every trimester, and that he frequently does not have time to sit down and study for one class in particular for a long duration of time. With repetition, it is not the overall amount of studying that is conducted, but the amount of times that studying is visited, the revisited.
3. Organizational (Mapping)
I came across a unique little ‘brochure’ like article that discussed the memory strategies that I was using — except it did not include an in-depth explanation organizational strategies.
Organizational strategies allow us to build ‘map’ like structures of understanding. Almost identical to what a concept map is.
Organizational strategies are built around grouping related material together. For instance, let’s say that you are trying to study the spine. You would associate the Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar vertebrae with the structure of the spine. Perhaps there is more individual parts that need to be associated with the spine, then you would add those to the organizational map that you are creating. In doing this, you are building relationships between different concepts and material that are putting information together in you long term memory (LTM). After asking Brian if he has done anything remotely close to this, he enthusiastically told me this is all he does during class and lecture. Physically drawing on his iPad allows him to make these connections and makes them more accessible in his memory when being tested over them.
Intervention
If there is one thing that I have learned in all of my higher education, it is that learning is a very unique thing. For myself, I am an avid ‘hands on’ type of learner, but for others, not so much. I cannot simply read something once and recall it 4 weeks later when being assessed on it. It is a slow and time consuming process to put things in my brain, but I have adapted to it, because it is unique to me.
Proposing a ‘right’ way to study would be foolish because of this, but creating an intervention that offers multiple ways for students to study seems more appropriate. Below is something that seems elementary, but can be a good guide to success.
My advice to anyone studying voluminous material → outline any lesson prior to the start of it. This has helped me stay focused on the material that is specific to different courses. Next, try 1 of the 3 options, rather than trying all 3 at once. As I conversed with Brian, he told me that the amount of work at Chiropractic school can be overwhelming. To fight that, he does one thing at a time (which in reality is good advice for anything you do in life).
Overall, these 3 memory strategies can be useful as memorization techniques.
Conclusion
There are other techniques that can be used for memorization including: elaboration, mnemonics, rehearsal, etc. However, moving forward and beginning my journey to Chiropractic school, I believe that the 3 listed will help me tremendously. Thankfully, I have many people that I can reach out to and prepare myself for what is ahead. What we often forget is that much of what we want to do has been done before. It is important to ask questions and figure out what works (and what doesn’t). But nonetheless, excited for it to begin :)
References
Driskell, J. E., Willis, R. P., & Copper, C. (1992). Effect of overlearning on retention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(5), 615–622. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.77.5.615
Hintzman, D.L. How does repetition affect memory? Evidence from judgments of recency. Memory & Cognition, 38(1), 102–115 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.38.1.102
Shibata, K., Sasaki, Y., Bang, J. W., Walsh, E. G., Machizawa, M. G., Tamaki, M., Chang, L. H., & Watanabe, T. (2017). Overlearning hyperstabilizes a skill by rapidly making neurochemical processing inhibitory-dominant. Nature neuroscience, 20(3), 470–475. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4490
Van Blerkom, D.L. (2009). College Study Skills: Becoming a strategic learner.
