This exercise improved my memory by 500%
Summary
TLDRThis video script introduces 'active recall', a memory enhancement technique that promises to significantly improve retention without extensive memorization. The narrator shares personal experiences and insights from Cal Newport and Andrew Huberman, emphasizing the importance of understanding concepts rather than rote memorization. The script details how to practice active recall through self-teaching and suggests a 5-minute daily exercise to solidify new information into long-term memory. The goal is to transform studying habits, making learning more efficient and less about memorizing, but about truly understanding and recalling information.
Takeaways
- 📚 Active recall is a memory technique that can significantly enhance one's ability to remember information.
- 🧠 The method involves actively explaining newly learned information in one's own words, which aids in better understanding and retention.
- 👨🏫 Cal Newport, a best-selling author, introduced this technique during a podcast, emphasizing its effectiveness for students.
- 🎓 Active recall contrasts with traditional memorization by focusing on understanding and applying knowledge rather than just repeating facts.
- 🤔 The script illustrates active recall with an example about attention and its sub-processes, demonstrating how to apply the technique.
- 📈 The speaker's personal experience shows a transformation from a student with average memory to achieving top grades through active recall.
- 🕒 A 5-minute daily exercise is suggested to practice active recall, which involves explaining or teaching a concept to solidify memory.
- 🗣️ Speaking out loud while practicing active recall can be beneficial, as it simulates the act of teaching and reinforces learning.
- 🔁 The importance of repetition is highlighted; practicing active recall multiple times helps in locking new information into memory.
- 📈 The script suggests that with consistent practice, one can develop a pseudo-photographic memory, making it easier to recall information during tests or in daily life.
Q & A
What is the main issue the speaker was facing with their memory before discovering the new technique?
-The speaker was struggling with retaining information after reading a book or studying, experiencing a lack of retention and understanding.
What is the term for the memory-enhancing technique introduced by the speaker?
-The technique is called 'active recall'.
How does active recall differ from traditional memorization according to the script?
-Active recall involves explaining newly learned information in one's own words, focusing on understanding and retrieval, rather than simply memorizing facts.
Who are Cal Newport and Andrew Huberman, as mentioned in the script?
-Cal Newport is a best-selling author known for helping students excel in their studies, and Andrew Huberman is presumably a co-host or guest in the podcast the speaker was listening to.
What is the purpose of the 5-minute step-by-step exercise mentioned by the speaker?
-The exercise is designed to help double or triple one's ability to remember information by practicing active recall.
What does the speaker suggest as an example of using active recall?
-The speaker suggests explaining in one's own words what one has just learned, such as concepts from a book or details from a meeting.
What is the significance of understanding in the context of active recall as per the script?
-Understanding is crucial because it allows for easier retention of information. Active recall is about weaving new information into the existing fabric of understanding, making it easier to remember.
How does the speaker describe the transformation in their academic performance after adopting active recall?
-The speaker describes a miraculous transformation, going from a pretty good student to achieving top grades every quarter.
What is the speaker's recommendation for incorporating active recall into daily life?
-The speaker recommends setting aside at least 5 minutes daily to practice active recall, explaining new information as if teaching someone else.
What does the speaker claim about the effectiveness of active recall for memory improvement?
-The speaker claims that active recall can significantly improve memory, to the point where it feels like having a pseudo-photographic memory, and that it allows for quick learning without forgetting.
How does the speaker suggest one should approach the 5-minute active recall exercise?
-The speaker suggests setting a timer for 5 minutes and acting as if teaching someone about the topic, allowing the information to come naturally without forcing it.
Outlines
📚 Unlocking the Power of Active Recall 🔑
The speaker introduces a memory-enhancing technique called 'active recall' that can significantly improve one's ability to remember information without the need for extensive memorization. The method involves explaining newly learned information in one's own words, which helps in understanding and retaining the material better than traditional memorization. The speaker shares their personal experience with active recall, which transformed their academic performance and led to the authorship of a book. The paragraph also touches on the importance of attention in memory formation, discussing selective attention, sustained attention, and divided attention, and how these improve during adolescence.
🚀 Integrating Active Recall into Daily Routine 📅
The speaker provides a practical approach to incorporating active recall into daily life by setting aside five minutes for practicing the technique. They suggest using this time to recall and explain new information out loud, as if teaching someone else, which reinforces the learning process. The speaker emphasizes the importance of consistency in using active recall to build a robust memory. They also encourage viewers to practice active recall on the concept of active recall itself, to solidify the understanding of the technique. The paragraph concludes with a challenge for the audience to actively recall the content of the video to ensure retention.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Active Recall
💡Memory
💡Cal Newport
💡Photographic Memory
💡Selective Attention
💡Sustained Attention
💡Divided Attention
💡Understand vs. Memorize
💡Academic Success
💡Habit Formation
💡5-Minute Exercise
Highlights
The video introduces a method to enhance memory without long hours or memorization techniques, claiming it's almost like having a photographic memory.
The method is called 'active recall', which involves explaining learned information in your own words to improve memory.
Cal Newport, a best-selling author, shared his system for remembering what he learns, which includes the active recall technique.
Active recall is different from memorization as it focuses on understanding concepts rather than just recognizing information.
The speaker initially struggled with active recall but persisted due to Cal Newport's advice on its effectiveness in learning and retention.
Selective attention, sustained attention, and divided attention are key subprocesses of attention that contribute to human memory formation.
Selective attention is the ability to focus on a single task while ignoring distractions.
Sustained attention allows one to stay on task for extended periods.
Divided attention or multitasking is the ability to switch focus between tasks or stimuli, which also improves during adolescence.
The speaker experienced a significant improvement in academic performance after adopting active recall.
Active recall can lead to a 'pseudo photographic memory' where ideas come out fully formed during tests.
The speaker used active recall to learn and remember what active recall itself was, highlighting its effectiveness.
A 5-minute step-by-step exercise is provided to integrate active recall into daily life for better memory retention.
The exercise involves setting aside 5 minutes daily to recall and explain new information in your own words.
The speaker suggests using active recall while driving or any other activity to reinforce learning.
The video challenges viewers to practice active recall by explaining concepts from the video in their own words.
The speaker emphasizes that active recall is a skill that can be developed with daily practice, leading to better memory over time.
Transcripts
3 months ago I would read a book set it down and have no idea what I just read maybe that's you
maybe you feel like nothing sticks you study all night but blank on the test but what if
I told you I found a way to increase your memory and it doesn't take hours or fancy memorization
techniques it's almost like you have a pseudo photographic memory when you study this way if
you stick around till the end of this video I'll give you a 5 minute step-by-step exercise that's
proven to double or even triple your ability to remember or something this all started about
3 months ago when I was listening to a podcast with Cal Newport and Andrew huberman if you're
not familiar Cal Newport is a best-selling author and is known for helping students excel in their
studies the man is no joke so when he started laying out a system for how he remembers what
he learns I started paying closer attention this exercise is called active recall here's
some examples what outfit did you wear yesterday what did you discuss in your meeting what are some
Concepts that you learned from the last book that you read your ability to pull that information
out of your brain is active recall so how do we use active recall to double or even triple
our memory it's so simple you're probably going to think I'm an idiot for making a whole video
about this but people don't do it so here you go after you learn a piece of information stop and
explain what you just learned in your own words you can write it tell it to someone or just tell
it to yourself the Only Rule is that it must be in your own words notice how different this is
from memorization you see memorization is great for exact things but doesn't necessarily mean
that we understand it this is where I went totally wrong as a student I'd be studying for a test and
review the same information over and over and over trying to memorize it what I was actually doing
is building recognition not understanding the goal is not to memorize that 2 plus
2 = 4 but to figure out why so you can figure out the other equations so I found something in
an article and I'm going to read it to you and then I'm going to actively recall it so you can
see kind of what it actually looks like changes in attention have been described by many as the key
to changes in human memory however attention is not a unified function it is comprised of
subprocesses our ability to focus on a single task or stimulus while ignoring distracting information
is called selective attention there is a sharp Improvement in selective attention from age six
into adolescence sustained attention is the ability to stay on task for long periods of
time the ability to switch our Focus between tasks or external stimuli is called divided
attention or multitasking which also improves into adolescence so what that was basically saying is
that there are different kinds of attention what I first mentioned was that changes in attention
are a large part of the human memory and how it's formed the first thing it covered was uh selective
attention which is when we stay focused on a single task while ignoring other stimuli
around us the other types of attention that it talked about was uh sustained attention which is
very similar to selective attention except for sustained attention is simply focusing on one
single task for a very long period of time um and then um um multitasking or I forget what it called
it diverse attention or something like that um and this is when we we switch between tasks so we take
our attention and we split it up or we we shift it very quickly between different things and it
said that all three of these forms of attention increase into adolescence now I just gave that
back to you in my own words right if I was trying to learn this I would actively recall it twice cuz
the first time I did it like I was able to do it but there was some hiccups so depending on what it
is you might have to reread the information or Rec consume the information and do it again now when I
first started doing this I was clumsy and bad at it but I kept trying because of something that Cal
Newport says you learn very quickly and not only do you learn very quickly you don't forget it's
almost like you have a pseudo photographic memory when you study this way you sit down to do a test
and you're you're replicating like whole lines from like what you what you studied I the ideas
sort of come out fully formed and so I went from a pretty good student to 40 every single quarter
it was like this miraculous transformation it was active recall I did so well academically
that's why I ended up writing that book the first way I practiced this was actually by using active
recall to learn and remember what active recall was so if you're up for the challenge pause the
video and explain in your own words some of the things you've learned in this video this only
takes one or two times until the new information is locked into your memory because you're not just
putting information in in on its own as if you're memorizing it you're weaving it into the existing
fabric of your understanding unlike memorization to do this you have to understand the concept and
when you understand something it's 10 times easier to remember it so I want you to I want
you to think about active recall everything that I just explained came from a podcast 3 months ago
when I used this technique on that information twice also I did it while I was driving since
that time I've used this on specific information that I wanted to learn and remember and so I I'm
telling you these things because 3 months ago I know for a fact I could not have picked out
a podcast a book and two YouTube videos that I watched and tell you about them I couldn't have
done that it would have been impossible and so I'm showing you this to show you that an average
guy like me with a self-proclaimed terrible memory asking any of my friends can use a technique that
will improve it and if it works for me it can work for you so we've learned how active recall Works
how it's different from memorization and also how to do it but for something to become a habit we
have to learn when we're going to do something so let me give you a 5 minute step-by-step exercise
that I use to build this straight into my day so that I can selectively plant information that I
want to remember every day I set aside at least 5 minutes to spend on remembering something new I
live by myself so whenever I encounter something I usually just speak out loud like I'm teaching
someone now maybe I get to the end of my day and nothing really jumped out of me that I want to
remember even so I still take 5 minutes to recall something could be from my day or information that
I learned before that I want to make sure that I still know and like any ability using it every day
will help it grow now your time is valuable and if you leave this video and you don't remember what
you learned I'm going to feel like I wasted your time so what I would recommend is set a timer for
5 minutes and act like you're teaching someone about active recall often it starts with kind
of a slow Trickle and you remember one thing and then another thing and then another and
sometimes it's completely out of order but just Just Don't Force It just let it come to you and
explain it and recall it as it comes now if you do this I can guarantee you that tomorrow you
will be able to remember more from this video than any other video that you watch today.
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
How to Study Once and Remember Forever
Memorize Anything Faster and Easier: Powerful 4 Step Process
How I Fixed My Terrible Memory (when active recall doesn't work)
How To Remember Everything You Learn
Active Recall | Studying Effectively for GCSE's & A-level's
How to do free recall (AKA active recall) - Language learning demonstration
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