How to Use Free Recall to Learn More Effectively

People have some good questions about how to use free recall to study. Here, I try to answer them.
0:00 Is one recall mode better than another?
1:21 What should the recall interval be?
2:20 Do I need to master the material first?
2:43 Which is better, encoding or retrieval?
4:03 Is free recall just vomiting out words?
4:57 Some further thoughts
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REFERENCES
On the differences between different modes of recall, see the three references below:
Janczyk, M., Aßmann, M., & Grabowski, J. (2018). Oral versus written recall of long-term memory items: Replicating and extending the writing superiority effect across knowledge domains. The American Journal of Psychology, 131(3), 263-272. (Finding a written superiority effect)
Bekerian, D. A., & Dennett, J. L. (1990). Spoken and written recall of visual narratives. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 4(3), 175-187. (spoken superiority)
Sauerland, M., Krix, A. C., van Kan, N., Glunz, S., & Sak, A. (2014). Speaking is silver, writing is golden? The role of cognitive and social factors in written versus spoken witness accounts. Memory & Cognition, 42, 978-992. (favoring written, but not finding large differences; in the eyewitness area)
For a wonderful summary of how tests effect learning, check out: Roediger III, H. L., Putnam, A. L., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Ten Benefits of Testing and Their Applications to Educational Practice. In Psychology of Learning and Motivation (Vol. 55, pp. 1-36). Elsevier. doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-387...
On test expectancy effects (how expecting a test influences encoding), see: McDaniel, M. A., Blischak, D. M., & Challis, B. (1994). The effects of test expectancy on processing and memory of prose. Contemporary educational psychology, 19(2), 230-248.

[@Prince-op7lp]

Video request - make a video where you give very brief overview of all the tools in your tool box (study techniques)that are effective. So that we can pick the ones that we really like and then teach each of them to us

[@benjaminkeep]

Thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely make something like that.

[@luiscruz5556]

love this idea!! +1, please make this video!

[@Yeeeeeehaw]

​@@benjaminkeepYes please

[@raven_furax]

I discovered your channel a few days ago, I cannot overstate how glad I am that I did. As a philosophy student, I never gave a single thought as to how I learned things. I just did my readings and talked about it with some friends in my class… It took me a while to realise why I don't seem to learn as effectively as I did before: now that neither I nor my friends have much time to spend in conversation because of work, we can't free recall/self-explain/explain/elaborate our readings to each other… Thankfully, your videos gave me both an explanation and a solution! So thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and advice!

[@annycrepyy3264]

I am still getting use of the frustration when I forget something. Doing free recall and perceiving what I forget really make me fell better

[@alejndraalmirowitsch4897]

Personally, I use your method with Anki, so in essence I'm using Anki as a spaced repetition scheduler rather than a flashcard app. Basically I just put a very broad cue to my Anki cards without any answers (to avoid it becoming a factual, 1-on-1 flashcard). Personally, my mantra with free recall is 'active processing' rather than 'active recall' as the former imply that I need to really making sense of the materials I'm dealing with (again, to avoid it becoming a factual flashcard which don't really promote big picture understanding).

[@benjaminkeep]

That makes a lot of sense.

[@milkpuddle]

Never stop making these Dr.

[@johnmiller6696]

I am really grateful to you Dr. Keep. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for providing so much science backed information for free and make them easy to understand for us laymen

[@CaptainWumbo]

I watched a lot of your videos this last week. I really, really enjoyed them, and they gave me a lot of food for thought. Thank you for making so many thoughtful, entertaining and helpful videos, I hope your channel will garner the success it deserves.

[@PepeBr94]

Greetings from Brazil. Im very happy that I discovered this channel. High quality content and theory. You explain why the methods presented work with studies and than it makes perfect sense. Thanks for this content!

[@moejoe6422]

i recently discovered your channel!! it is so helpful i cant explain it enough. ive implemented this technique and seen my quiz grades improve thank u ❤

[@LucasOliveira-dw4zh]

Great video, initially I thought that free recall was only a remembering technique. After using it, I see it as valuable rounded learning tool.

[@mananparekh_]

This is great and I haven’t even finished the video

[@xiaojinyusaudiobookswebnov4951]

Have you still not finished it?

[@annycrepyy3264]

Its good because it gives you a baseline in every phase of the learning

[@RadicalPersonalFinance]

Thank you for asking more insight!

[@cr.ferlago]

I'm very glad to find your channel, because I had plenty of questions about how we learn and how to do it effectively. I'm a Law student from Spain, so you have been a great discovery! However, I have a question that worried me a lot, especially when I have to take exams. When you try to work for the public sector, for example, you have to memorize *literally* the text of the law. How could you encode and recall that information in an effective way? All the suggestions I get from the people who's preparing an exam like that is that you have to reread and do rote learning. Some of them get the job in the end (not everyone, of course; there's a limit on the vacancies), but they don't understand anything, they forget everything and, in my personal opinion, they waste a lot of time. I would be very grateful if you could answer or do a video talking about this. Thanks!

[@tullochgorum6323]

One way to handle the spacing issue is to use an SRS app to time the reviews. Say you're working through the chapters of a language course. When you've studied the chapter, add the chapter number into the SRS. It will pop up next time a review is due, And with a well-featured app like Anki it can adjust the intervals depending on how well you recalled the materials.

[@oliverjoelpeace]

Dr. Benjamin, I just love the fact that you presented the technique to us on a paper. And I have a doubt, If I’m learning some problems in maths (for exams) and I use the free recall technique, will I be able to remember those problems for a few months (until my exams like in 4 months) ? How many times would I need to do free recall so that I can remember everything I’ve studied until a few months?

[@natalia2392]

You are frickng awesome and I am so glad to have found you before my first year of college. Thank you so much!

[@ABC-jq7ve]

Just dropping in to say I love your vids!!

[@joaofrancisconogueira7755]

Thank you so much! Your vídeos are great.

[@joshberg7360]

I love your videos, but feel overwhelmed by all the info and choice to do something. I think it would be great if you did a longer video where you combine the proven most efficient study methods, so that more people would have a concise guide on how to act. For example Ali Abdaal has a study guide which is approximately 20 minutes long and has millions of views because of its practical content. I love your videos but would love them even more if i could really use them by getting concise practical proven tips!:) I am sorry for my bad english

[@joshberg7360]

For example a concise guide on the most efficient way to study a science book. Med students etc. could use this guide and your tips would maybe save someday a life more than otherwise through them!

[@ABC-jq7ve]

Agreed, that would be so great!

[@babblebro]

Also agree, some longer-form full guide on how to efficiently learn in general would be immensely helpful in contrast to sifting through various separate videos where its harder to create connections between them.

[@benjaminkeep]

Thanks for the suggestion - hear you loud and clear. I will work on some things that I think could help, but fair warning they will probably not be out right away.

[@joshberg7360]

@@benjaminkeep Thank you very much. I think it would really change learning and thus life for your viewers if you did:)

[@nicolastoledo3423]

Informações excelentes. Muito obrigado.

[@shrinathgarad3397]

Very helpful...learned something valuable...

[@raphaelkuppers9946]

I love this channel! Thank you for your work. I was capable to develop my desire to learn again thanks to your stuff. There is a question: Do you know anything scientific about improving your working memory? Maybe even ways people tried to improve it and failed?

[@benjaminkeep]

Look at the big brain training reference in the description to this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYrPXqGQrtR4jtU. You can also look up "Dual-N-Back" but that paper does a great job contextualizing why systems to generically improve working memory don't seem to work that well.

[@lucasalexandre7231]

Thank you for your videos!!!

[@agopessimist1335]

So glad I discovered your channel from your Justin Sung video! I have a quick question if you're willing to answer. I've been doing some experimenting, and I've just been completely confused concerning mind-mapping and how to use it, as well as things like grouping and how people use mind-maps to practice free recall (I'm a med school student so I'm also lost on how to use techniques like that for Biology-related subjects). If you haven't done a video on it yet, could you elaborate further on some of the reasons people use mind maps and how they're meant to be used when learning, as well as things people describe as "chunking"/"grouping? And if you do make a mind map, what do you do with it after you finish with it? Do you self-test yourself on it or is it just a drawing to help explain a big idea? I'm just so lost on how to use and make one, despite how much everyone seems to be praising it. Love your channel and thank you for making this video!

[@LucasOliveira-dw4zh]

I use mind mapping to understand relationships (big picture, dependencies and specifics) and as a visual cue to speed up retrieval and revision. You map the concept name and the relation to its relatives, then you try recalling what the concept and its family does.

[@benjaminkeep]

TBH, I need to do more research on mindmaps before I make a video about them. As a class of visualizations, I think they can be quite helpful, especially in understanding systems of hierarchy and causal relationships. But other kinds of visualizations are helpful too. There's a cognitive process called "chunking" where we group bits of information together into larger, more meaningful groups. One of the classic examples comes from memorizing lists of random numbers. As one person learned to memorize larger and larger lists of numbers, they started thinking about the numbers in terms of running times for sprints and marathons (because they ran those things and it was familiar to them). Thus, a number like 805 could become "eight hours and five minutes" or something (you're thinking in terms of "805" rather than "an eight, a zero, and a five"). The same thing happens when we learn other information. But I'm not 100% sure if people who talk about mindmaps are using the word "chunking" in the same way. The process of making the mindmap (or other visualization) is probably where most of the learning takes place. I would try to do this at first without reference material and then spend time using reference material to build a more complete map. After you have it, I would still keep it around. One option is to "re-study" or review it after a time. Just pull it out again to refresh your memory. Maybe that's something you could quickly do before a test or something. A more powerful option would be to try to recreate it and compare your recreation to the original.

[@Nelson-Cs]

I was wondering exactly the same thing, I would love to see a video of yours talking about mind mapping 😊

[@ZeddyZed]

@@benjaminkeep Interesting.. Replying to your comment: " A more powerful option would be to try to recreate it and compare your recreation to the original". How would you approach it if you were studying a more broad topic such as ocean? Would you try to break down the broad topic into smaller topic and create a mind map of the smaller topic and try to do free recall by recreating the mindmap of the smaller topic?

[@Dan-gs3kg]

@@ZeddyZed you could rationalise it in terms of interleaved repetition. When learning about the ocean there are many subjects, but maybe you only remember these things in certain contexts or after thinking of other subjects. You just need to demonstrate that what you recall actually resembles what you originally mapped out, and if there are glaring flaws or omissions. Maybe, by doing this, you find better connections for the forever map when reviewing the test map.

[@discipline189]

Hi Benjamin, I really enjoy watching your videos and I believe they have helped me tremendously in school so thank you so much for making these videos. I also really wanted to ask you a question about what your thoughts are on free recall vs cued recall and which of the two do you believe is the superior recall method?

[@benjaminkeep]

It depends on what you want to do. Free recall is usually considered to be the "stronger" method. It leads to more "target-target" organizational structures (with cued recall, which asks you to remember the "target" based on the "cue," you don't see the relationships between the targets). And, in general, that's what I advocate doing if you're interested in long-term learning. But if you're studying for a test that asks you simply to recall the targets based on the cues... well, cued recall practice is almost certainly going to be more more efficient for that.

[@Ash.Phoenix]

Thank you for the great video! One of my fears in utilising free recall further is that it feels scarier than flashcards - a fear of the blankness of paper vs. the safety net of flashcards. Do you have any advice on overcoming this, especially for content heavy subjects as a student? Thank you!

[@trancesex]

Thank you so much! You answered a lot of the questions I had after watching your other videos. :) Could you do a video on how you maximize your language studies, that addresses learning intonation/pitch-accents systems in languages like Chinese/Japanese? (more the ability to just receptively intuit/comprehend different pitch patterns on word-level and sentence-level) Thank you!💚

[@benjaminkeep]

A language learning video is in the works - maybe multiple - but they won't be out soon, I'm afraid. Just takes time for me to make these things. Many thanks for the suggestion!

[@doc-aj7842]

Thanks for making this ...

[@ledajoro6965]

Hello benjamin i love your videos! if you are interested in the idea of making a "tier-list" video of how good a learning method is ranging from "s" down to "f" would be a pretty interesting video at least for me. thanks for this awesome videos

[@benjaminkeep]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have something like that coming up, but it'll be.... long.

[@merwanuchiha]

Thank you very much for this new video mister keep! I am studying medicine in germany. I really dont have time to write things down, the shedule is full from morning till evening. So after I watched this video, I understand that I can study successfully through an oral free recall technique too? Did I understand it right? Because I will give it then a try. Because at the end I think its testing the techniques and finding the parameters for yourself :)

[@devvv4616]

keep the videos coming. commenting for algorithm

[@stageconvention2298]

Thank you

[@wodes2044]

Hello Benjamin, I appreciate this channel and information that give you to us around studying and learning. Keep on making amazing information bringing out there. What do I need to be aware of when reading research papers when someone do not have a strong background in science but curious to learn and apply it? Deliberate practice, learning by yourself and active learning is the videos that I thought would be ideal for me to learn. I am a beginner artist and self taught aiming to improve my skills to become a professional. What videos in your channel or topics or books would you recommend me to look into? Please do ask me if you do not get confused. Sometimes my sentences does not make sense.

[@benjaminkeep]

Here's some recommended reading: benjaminkeep.com/?page_id=1326 Also check out the interleaved practice and desirable difficulties videos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4i3ipmwraeqhsk kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2jbn59oqd5-rbs

[@pedroewert143]

i like free recall before approaching topics to prime myself with prior knowledge - maybe a mindmap. if i want to test specific knowledge i just juste a texteditor write down questions, put in my answers - cross check with my notes and learn what i didnt know. I like aswell to elaborate in free recall - aswell often with mindmaps to cross check if i leave out subtopics. But often i ramble/freestyle around- so you have to have a specific instruction what you want to recall, in which way and whats the next subpoint you want to tackle, otherwise i start at topic 1, blabla, what else, oh i know this info of topic 5 and keep on rambling. So this is the trap, where you just recall the stuff you like and know. After that comes a step where freerecall gets combined with kind of semi-cued recall in anki - im allowed to read and answer the questions BUT NOT look at the answers. (Note which of the questions never come to mind). 3rd level then is full cued recall with anki where i can check immediatley and just use anki as we know it, with reading the answers and putting a question back a few minutes. (So im forced to work on stuff where i can neither recall the broader topic nor the facts)

[@hayopapayo1717]

thanks for the videos

[@anupamjoshi4051]

Hi Benjamin ! Can you please make a video about learning to solve MCQ type exams

[@lucthelazysquid20]

Coming here from your video with Justin Sung, thank you very much for sharing such great content, I not only hope, but am confident that your channel will get the recognition it deserves with time. I'd also like to ask a question. I saw your video about how forgetting doesn't work like we normally think, and I'd like to know, for someone who is studying multiple different disciplines (like drawing, music, finance and programming) at the same time, do you think it's safe for this person to go from a learning session from one discipline straight to the other (giving maybe a short interval inbetween), and not have the learning process (memory consolidation) be impaired by that? How much do you think someone should (if necessary) space multiple disciplines from one another so they don't interfere with one another? I apologise if there's a video on that specific subject, I did a quick search and didn't find it.

[@benjaminkeep]

Thanks for the support! It's a good question, but I don't have a great answer. There may be some interference with the memory consolidation. But you can also gain advantages from spacing out your practice in each discipline, which is effectively what you're doing (interleaving probably isn't really at work b/c the disciplines are too different; that effect seems driven partially by facilitating the ability to discriminate things). If possible, I would spend time at the end of the day going back over each thing you did. Whether this is spending 15 minutes playing the music you were working on from earlier, or doing some free recall, or a short drawing exercise, or even just reflecting to yourself - what did I get out of the finance class today, the drawing class, the music class, the programming class? I'll probably go deeper into memory stuff in future videos. But first I have to read more about it!

[@maryo1065]

Could you do a video specific to learning math? I really struggle with it

[@arturaras617]

I have to say that the sense making activity was the strongest boost in my learning progress. It feels that it was my last missing part in learning. What i do is the following: I make my flashcards for a physics chapter. Example: 160 pages i make about 250 flashcards. During the learning process i try to sum up every 10 15 flashcards in one, if it makes sense. And then i get the big picture. But this summary flashcard tels me only: Sum up the following topic: geometrical optics of 1 lense. The Answer are only keyworks connected into a sensful order. After 5 summary flashcards i make a bigger summary flashcard of these 5 smaller summary flash cards and so on. I feel the following improvment: 1. I get the big picture 2. I found shorter imagination posibilities which reduces the complexity of topics 3. I connect information between topics which are far away from each other in a book. 4. I really remember whole chapters of a book with ease. Thx for this insight. Would be happy if i knew this during my studies...

[@aaronherrera4400]

Could you make a video based on reading and using the free recall technique? I am stuck between using M3QR and Free Recall. I'm not too fond of free recall because it is way too time-consuming. How am I supposed to do these sessions constantly when other classes are going on. Also, for some reason I am thinking that free recall requires no highlighting and no note-taking with the textbook, I find this counterproductive. I would like to see in-depth analysis of how you would apply free recall for a college student.

[@Sethbeastalan]

Thanks so much for your vids! I'm learning a lot about how to learn, but everything seems to be focused on knowledge based skills, when it comes to practical application. What strategies do you recommend for execution based skills?

[@benjaminkeep]

I'm not quite sure the distinction you're trying to make - like the difference between learning a sport (execution-based) and learning history (knowledge-based)? Here's some stuff that's relevant for the former: What people get wrong about deliberate practice - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZO4gIxvntR8p9k The great cornhole experiment - kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6jCameIgdd1eZo A Simple Way to Learn Complex Skills - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXrCZJWHYqqKias What no one tells you about learning faster - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYPFZGWga8SjepY I learned mental math in 40 hours (part I) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3TMYZKqn7Scr7M

[@kategh4709]

if trying to remember something (i.e. free recall) is the one of the most effective ways to learn, what happens if you frequently mis-remember things, or remember the wrong things? is part of the process going back and verifying whether you remembered it correctly? or does that defeat the purpose of free recall? ps, im a psych major and i love your videos!! your videos are inspiring for me to pursue a career studying cognitive psych :)

[@masf7326]

Invaluable content as always! Question: Do you use Obsidian, Notion or any other PKM software? Knowing your thoughts about that topic would be interesting.

[@benjaminkeep]

I don't even know what PKM means, to be honest. I don't use Obsidian or Notion.

[@yasasliyanaratne3528]

Question: If I had a certain method of arranging my thoughts when using free recall, in other words saying I would go through the step by step logical process of remembering the information, when trying to recall a specific step or fact would I always have to run through the entire process in my head just to be able to isolate a certain fact that I am being tested on? I'm using free recall of bioscience content, so for example when learning an entire lecture presentation I try to think of the logical way of understanding the information given to me. I do this by mainly looking at each slide(s) and asking how this relates to the bigger picture and asking myself why this is important etc. So when doing free recall I am able to build a flowchart-ish directional process about the ideas I learnt, all of which are connected by the question "Why is this important" or "How do I go from A to B". My question is, if I wanted to dissect a certain portion of information from this process in my head (like when I have my exams in a couple of weeks), would I have to recall the entire step by step process just to analyse this one step, or is there another way? This question is mainly in the interest of recalling information quickly, which is quite important for test conditions where I have to pull out information quickly and continue with the paper. Thank you!!

[@justincain2702]

You've applied the free recall strategy to learning vocabulary, but I think this mostly makes sense when learning words related to a topic. This is because the topic can act as a cue to guide your free recall session. When learning unrelated words (for example whatever words come up in a tv show) it becomes much more difficult to recall them. I don't think this is a desirable difficulty because when actually speaking a language, you very rarely need to remember unrelated words without a trigger. Usually, there is context and a topic provided by speakers, along with pronunciation (or spelling for written content). It seems more efficient to implement cued recall for words learned from input unless you specify a topic you want to study; otherwise, the scope is just too broad. This is less of an issue in most fields because the pieces of knowledge are less arbitrary and understanding concepts is much more important than the raw memorization.

[@benjaminkeep]

Totally agreed that topic-oriented language recall is a good thing to do.

[@00_meghnath]

what about standardized tests like the lsat? i am terrible at them for some reason.

[@stancio8197]

I would really appreciate a video on how to learn maths

[@ArchPandara]

Dear Benjamin Keep, Thank you for your great efforts in changing the traditional paradigm of learning. If it could be possible, I would be grateful for your input and advice regarding free recall and complex materials. Naturally, it is comparatively much simpler to do free recall for vocabulary, since it is easy to delineate the number of vocabulary items which are to be recalled. But what about information dense materials such as textbook chapters, which can be long, span multiple intertwined topics and usually have to be read sequentially (this can refer to any technical material, I just default to textbooks)? Since textbooks tend to have non-essential information alongside essential information, the latter having a possibility of becoming greatly detailed, it is not always clear what exactly and how precisely something should be recalled. A person cannot memorise whole chapters, so obviously some part of information must be sacrificed and some be prioritised, the question is: what would be effective methods of doing so? Supposedly, a teacher or a tutor could be advantageous by giving guidance in manoeuvring this breadth of information with, for instance, focussed study questions, but let us assume that one is learning alone for the most part. Would it be effective for the learner themselves to make such study questions before studying? I can see the utility, but there is also the risk of not getting the "big picture" and creating questions that are ineffective (either too broad or too niche) and end up wasting time chasing the wrong answers without sufficient metacognition of it. Thence also comes the unsureness of knowing when exactly one should stop reading the textbook and proceed with the recall. Does one have to endure the difficulty of the informational load until the end of the chapter, or are there other ways to demarcate the point of stopping? Finally, is it valuable to create a summary of the chapter after the first reading and then continue to practice with recall from that summary, or is it better to engage predominantly with the text without such summaries? Can the proofread/corrected recall material then be used further as the basis of the next recall sessions, since one naturally does summarising during recall? I do understand that such questions might seem like splitting hairs, but to me the creation of of a learning schedule requires evening out such procedural uncertainties. Of course, one does adapt any learning strategy to their own convenience as the time goes, but it is difficult to even start the learning process for complex materials and allow oneself to arrive to such adaptations. Thank you for your consideration. I would be greatly honoured by your reply.

[@thefictionxwelive]

I am also curious about how to improve reading and recall of dense textbooks, as well as difficult journal articles.

[@technoworlddd]

Thanks

[@ZeddyZed]

Do you increase the time of how often you engage in free recall regardless if you remember every piece of information?

[@yhannisgeoshprudencio9768]

Unrelated to the topic of the video but you're blue eyes are really stunning! Cheers!

[@biscuitsofdeath]

Question? Could we use free recall for work meetings? If you're taking notes you're missing things, but what would be a good way to remember the important outcomes of a meeting without notetaking and using free recall. Is it a good idea or would this be an exception?

[@Sam-kv3iv]

How can i integrate this technique for essay type question for 7-10 marks especially for engineering subjects thats very theoretical like operating system and networking.

[@KidFictionOfficial]

Thanks Benjamin!! I'd love to know what you think about software systems for note talking like Obsidian (or Zettelkasten system). Seems like this stuff can be incorporated really well into that note taking system.

[@benjaminkeep]

I don't have strong opinions on it. I tend to focus on re-creating and re-organizing a lot and I find most note-taking systems, even those that try to emphasize exploration and re-organization, are too fixed for my taste. I also think people can spend way too much time adding and organizing their notes instead of just thinking about the problem. That said, I think these systems can be quite useful, depending on what you want to do. I use Zotero for reference management and use Scrivener for a modified Zettelkasten that I don't update very well. But mostly I open blank text files and pull together information there temporarily. Search is so fast and efficient that I tend not to bother organizing things. I also think people can mistake organized notes for an organized mind. I'm certainly willing to be convinced of their utility, though. 🙂

[@KidFictionOfficial]

​@@benjaminkeep You're absolutely right. I think Zettelkasten type systems have the opposite goal in mind: storing everything in hard copy so you don't have to remember it in the first place. After about a year working on Obsidian everyday I finally realised that its also quite handy keeping things in your brain too, so I'm looking to incorporate some of these cognitive practices into my system. I'm using a journaling practice in Obsidian to do a free recall session first thing every morning, and then periodically through the day if I'm doing a lot of reading. The cognitive load of organising and maintaining the system can be quite significant (not in a good way), so I'm trying to lean more into the writing side of things and let the organisation happen more organically.

[@patho977]

Thanks for clarifying your approach regarding free recall! What are your thoughts on using the popularized “Feynman technique” when using free recall? Also, do you think there is an advantage to using a different medium each time you try to free recall? For example, the first time with a blank sheet of paper, the next time with a mind map, the next time with a canvas app like miro and the next maybe creating a document where you type and organize information in a coherent text.

[@benjaminkeep]

Yes, self-explanations (as with the Feynman technique) are great ways to try to make sense of lots of different kinds of material. It's a really interesting idea to use different mediums for multiple free recall sessions! My prediction would be yes, that would create an advantage - a small advantage. That would certainly be consistent with what I know about contextual variation. Now I want to go do a study on that.... : )

[@patho977]

@@benjaminkeep thanks! Happy study time :)

[@michaellisinski2822]

Hey Benjamin, I'm not sure if you're still planning on replying to comments on this one, but if so I would love to know roughly how long you suggest spending on learning the 20 or so vocabulary words in your language example before recalling them. Should the initial study session be a quick overview for something like ten-fifteen minutes, or something more in-depth? While it isn't necessary to achieve mastery to start with, I'd love to know more about what level is best to attain before starting free recall.

[@squidwardart]

What's the effect of different music or coloured noise on learning

[@LuisMBaez-vk1bz]

Please upload videos more frequently

[@asanizeguy4119]

Hello! Thank you for the concise and tangible education on learning! I saw your response video to Justin Sung months ago and got reintroduced to you through the collaborative review the two of you did. Now I’ve watched almost all your videos! I was curious if you could provide some insight on how to read philosophical texts. I am taking a course where my professor expects perfect renditions of the arguments made by Marx, Smith, and Rousseau. However, I find the readings to be even more mind boggling than my textbooks, not only with the concepts but also the older English, unique terms, and changing dense language. Do you have any insight as to how I can precisely extract the arguments being made in philosophical texts?

[@benjaminkeep]

Appreciate the kind words! Here is what I might do: 1) Keep a running list of terms with meanings (as you understand them from the readings). These can be everyday words that philosophers use in a special way (Marx and Roussaeu may use the same word to mean different things; neither might correspond to our everyday usage). Update and revisit this as needed. 2) Map their arguments. There are lots of online apps that can help you do this (look for argument mapping software), or you can freehand it. I probably wouldn't recommend using paper, just because you'll probably be doing a lot of revising of these arguments. One resource to consider would be to map things on to Toulmin's argument model (claims, evidence, warrants, etc.). FWIW, I don't know that there are "perfect renditions" of arguments, as scholars still argue about what, precisely, these people were saying. There are reasonable interpretations that are well-supported and reasonable interpretations that are less well-supported, and completely unreasonable interpretations.

[@asanizeguy4119]

@@benjaminkeep Thank you so much for your advice! I love the suggestion to keep a sort of philosopher's dictionary. I also had no idea that there were online apps for argument mapping. I tried to do before on paper, but I ran into the difficulty when attempting to revise. I really appreciate you passing on the wisdom and look forward to your future content! And I would agree; my professor intends to push students and make us grapple with the literature. However, I feel he does us a disservice that in order to succeed in the course, I find myself relying more on his interpretation of the literature than the literature itself. That we are not graded on the substance of our interpretations but on the accuracy in reciting his.

[@Zn.04]

Can you please do a video fully covering encoding!

[@benjaminkeep]

Yes, that is in the works.

[@theGuyWhoLovesTech]

Hey, I have an idea, i see free recall is great but when i do do free recall i tend to overlook the super minor facts or an unable to recall the most minute facts, plus i sometimes notice that the concepts i recall are in random order, so i thought can i do it in a way that while studying (1) i first do free recall (i miss some concepts) (2)look at the book and see the things i forgot (3)close the book and do a recall again but this time i try to do like im explaining it to someone (like the feynman method) and try to put the things in the order (plus the facts i forgot previously) so that like even a five year old can understand, its not perfectly original but would this be a good study technique to apply to my stuff?- how can i add some judgements of learning and judgments of confidence to my studies? love to have any feedback thanks for the great video :)

[@aviananalyst404]

With foreign language vocabulary as an example. How do you track... what groups you learned a word in? Does it matter? It makes sense if you have a list of 20 words you're learning, but if you're studying a language it's more like you'd have 20 new words a day? and that seems manageable for the first two maybe three groupings, but on the fourth? And I'm sure I’m thinking about this wrong. because you want to know all the worlds, not the order u learned them or what words u learned them with. The one thing i can think is trying to do categories instead? like greetings, or colors, or verbs? and then when you finish ur color review you can decide 'i did pretty well. i want to do it again in a week' and then schedule a reminder to do that. but maybe there’s still something I’m missing? or something else you'd recommend for this problem?

[@joshuanganga6477]

Always enjoy the insight provided by the videos but in regards to more abstract subjects such as university math, I've struggled to implement free recall. How would you suggest the best way to go about this?

[@benjaminkeep]

It's possible that university math is not a good candidate for free recall. I would certainly prioritize problem-solving in that domain. Occasional free recall still might be helpful. Forgive me if this is a bit naive of a formulation - I didn't go hard into proofs and higher-level mathematics - but organizing problems and proof techniques would probably be a good thing to do. You could try listing all the proof techniques you have some familiarity with. Then try to come up with example problems where those proof techniques were appropriate (problems from class, famous problems, etc.). Try to figure out what is "hard" about them - some problems lead themselves straightforwardly to a proof by contradiction. For others, maybe a proof by contradiction could work but something about the formulation of the problem makes it hard to see. Why? What about those little tricks that everyone's telling me about - the one's that an instructor tells you one time during lecture and you hear nowhere else? You can think of free recall in this case as a way of updating your mental toolbox - techniques, tips, ways of parsing the problem, etc. Another technique that I suspect might be helpful in university math might be to take two proofs and compare them side-by-side. Which you might be able to partially do with free recall + some extra resource.

[@joshuanganga6477]

@@benjaminkeep this sounds quite juicy from a meta cognitive standpoint. Appreciate the feedback

[@tonyleiva2532]

May I ask you what do you mean by doing this technique while reading or listening to a podcast? Because i dont know what if you are saying that you use it for helping you do those things or you actually do it because you like "save time"? Thank you for all your videos. I'm really interested in what you talk about, and you have such a clear way of explaining things!

[@benjaminkeep]

Maybe your question is an example of where I DIDN'T explain things clearly. 😅 I'm not doing free recall at the same time I'm reading or listening; I'm listening to a podcast, then doing free recall afterwards. Or reading a section of a book, then doing free recall afterwards.

[@jakieteves6956]

Hey, I'm a big fan of yours, and I'm a student, what is the best way of studying, is it encoding, then retrieval practice, after that you apply spaced repetition for more effective learning, what study techniques you would use in that process, i just really want to learn large chunks of information everyday, pls answer😢

[@benjaminkeep]

There is no "best" - there is "best matched to your learning goals". The best I can say in the abstract is to experiment with encoding practices and test yourself frequently in meaningful contexts.

[@100Malte]

Hey Benjamin, thanks for all of your content, every single video I have watched is incredibly valuable. You have made me really curious about your views on language learning (acquisition?) and the input theory. In a couple of videos you have mentioned learning Chinese vocabulary by using free recall. I am wondering how that is compatible with the input theory or if you subscribe to another theory of language acquisition (skill building, output?) and what your reasons are. I would love to see you make a video about that. For me the idea that languages are acquired when a message is understood and when there is motivation to repeat this, just appears to be so logical in comparison to the idea that we improve by speaking or by learning vocabulary and grammar. However this could be due to me not having access to the relevant journals and due the input theory being overrepresented on google and KZbin, mainly by Krashens talks himself. I mean there is even a video with him and Chomsky and they don’t appear to disagree.

[@benjaminkeep]

There are language learning videos in the work on my end and one collab video + a podcast interview on language learning coming soon! I wanted to read more of the language learning literature before I started spouting random opinions about it. My brief view is: comprehensible input is necessary but not sufficient for language competence. Output and negotiation of meaning is also critical. The free recall to learn vocab thing is more of a flashcard upgrade. I think learning words this way can be useful, but more to get a good grounding so that you can read and listen to material more deeply + have conversations about the topic more fluently (in other words, as I think I mention at the end of that video, the idea is that you'll be putting these into use relatively quickly with your conversation or reading). Anyhow. Much more to say - I'm organizing my scripts now and then it's recording -> editing -> publishing.

[@100Malte]

@@benjaminkeep Thank you so much for responding. Can’t wait for your video and for your arguments.

[@David-ri2uc]

Hello Benjamin. Thank you for your videos, have been following your channel lately, and it has helped me. May i ask: how do you apply active recall while reading? specially reviewing classes that have paragraphs with many details? i put as a example my course of pharmaceutical legislation (basically codes, norms and requirements regarding pharmaceutical products). I read every paragraph trying to understanding it, and then apply Active Recall with it, but still, takes me a number of times to remember it, and i feel like i don't make so much progress, in terms of covering the topics soon... How can i improve the "understanding" part of this method? and the most important part for me, how do you do it, when you read complex texts? Do you summarize paragraphs, make schemes, graphics, etc? Note: i began applying Active Recall this first semester, and still with my imperfections, i have seen really progress in my grades.

[@benjaminkeep]

Thanks for the great question. I have an upcoming video, maybe sometime in the next couple of months where I work through a book using free recall (plus some other stuff). One thing to note is that you're going to forget some things. Everyone forgets things. And this is part of a healthy human brain. To remember everything would be crippling. So whatever methods you use, there is still going to be some forgetting. But if you're forgetting the same things over and over again, it's a sign that you haven't done a great job encoding them in the first place. Instead of just trying to recall it again, think about how you can make it really memorable. What makes this norm or code special and why is it special? Or is it part of a group of related codes or norms and if so, what makes it part of that group? Presumably, these regulations and practices come from the pharmaceutical properties of the products (and potential misuses of them) - what is that link? Are there memorable stories you could make around these regulations? There are many different methods that could work, but you want to orient yourself toward organizing the information, thinking about how it would apply; make what is a "flat" subject (lists of regulations) into a rich, 3-dimensional subject. To do this, you can definitely use imagery, story-telling, graphics, etc. In your case, I'm guessing that making organizational graphics (directed graphs, like flow charts, or tables with pharmaceutical products and associated regulations or norms) would be particularly helpful. Experiment and see how it goes. Good luck!

[@technoworlddd]

Free recall is just a tool in the tools box , what's are the other tools in the box ?

[@benjaminkeep]

Making visualizations; getting actual practice doing something; taking practice tests or answering test questions; examining contrasting cases and analogies; using good practice techniques like interleaved, spaced, and deliberate practice; closely observing things; teaching others; getting rich sources of feedback (and, importantly, integrating it into future performance); collaborating with others; creating self-explanations; committing to predictions and seeing the results to create "cognitive conflict".... there are too many tools to name applicable to many different learning situations.

[@cobos1399]

I have a quick question, what books do you recommend reading about improving learning strategy?

[@benjaminkeep]

www.benjaminkeep.com/recommended-reading/

[@mrmuffin5046]

could you make a video on how to study from long form video lectures?

[@benjaminkeep]

Thanks for the suggestion, it's on the list of videos to make!

[@_DEV1L_]

Is imqgining while watching lectures effective like when the person on mobile says lets take a apples I imagine a apple with white background he says cut it i cut it too whatever he says i just imagine and i wasn't bored for a second and i was feeling exhausted after lecture And also i tried like what ever lecture is teaching i repeat it in my mind simultaneously with the lecture are these things effective??

[@pjoazure]

I know, not really essential, but are those A3 paper sheets?

[@mijaelmarcelovillarroelchu6513]

Hello, I saw the playlist that you recommended to me, I don't know if you remember me but I compared your content with that of another youtube channel called canjun koi academy, what confuses me the most is the target audience since channels like that or the by justing sung are for medical or university students, besides that I don't have a solid foundation in learning techniques so I don't know where to start, so I would decide to choose your content since it has a good scientific basis and explains the things in a more direct way, even so I don't know if this will be effective for me, a high school student, that's why I need your suggestion, since many of the youtube channels of study techniques and productivity always sell you their courses, courses that are not I can pay now, what I need now is to start with study techniques or what do you recommend I do? Unlike my classmates, I am a lonely person who has free time except for English classes, but based on this, what could I do to improve my study skills taking von Neumann as an inspiration since he is someone who It inspires me to learn beyond what one studies as a career.

[@benjaminkeep]

The most important things to do, IMO, is to always find ways of meaningfully testing your understanding (which improves your meta-cognition) and to experiment with different kinds of encoding techniques. You don't have to start some comprehensive program. I would start with doing free recall a couple of times a week. Take a week to experiment with a memory technique like at the artofmemory.com/. Look for ways to organize the content differently than what's been given to you - to see more deeply than you have before. And you can keep a journal as you do these things - what's working, what's not, etc. It's hard to give advice in the abstract in a KZbin comment. So hope some of this is helpful. I'll have more videos on various topics coming out and the articles on my website are free to read (the older ones tend to focus more on learning): www.benjaminkeep.com/archive/

[@Zn.04]

Hello! I love to binge your videos (I know that’s bad, sorry!) But I can’t help but feel there are holes in my knowledge about learning. I have a desire to master it and learning different techniques as well as how the brain works is a big hobby of mine. I know it can be boiled down to two processes: Encoding and Recall. But the processes of both of these is sort of murky. I know we need to reorganize, synthesize, compare, apply, and use in different contexts but is there anything more to it? You haven’t quite dove deep into these processes. It’s sort of just “making sense of it.” And there’s only one video where you really explain the processes involved in encoding and recall (The Justin Sung Video). I would also love to see more videos on active reading and how these processes are involved in it. I am also curious to know what your thoughts are on knowledge management systems such as Building a Second Brain or the Zettelkasten method since quite a few processes you talk about are involved in those.

[@benjaminkeep]

Thanks for the suggestions! Have some videos eventually coming out on those topics.

[@gilgamesh981]

can you do videos on how someone can increase their visualisation skill ( i.e. visualisation chess positions or dance moves) or can you not train this skill in the abstraction and you just practice thoses skills by themselves

[@benjaminkeep]

I think, for the most part, these are specific skills that you need to practice to get better at. Actually, general visualization skills are typically not associated with chess skill. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnTRoX-Xpatri7c If I come across evidence of general visualization training, however, I would make a video on it.

[@sashakirilova4187]

Thank you, may Allah bless you.

[@shimrrashai-rc8fq]

I want to ask you something else: what role does having the right learning _facilities_ play or not? I.e. if you didn't go to something like Stanford, is it possible to learn everything you could have learned there if you had by other means?

[@benjaminkeep]

To the extent that learning is path dependent, taking a different path leads you in a different direction. The ideas you hear, the people you meet, etc. all shape where you go next. I think learning communities are quite important. But places like Stanford certainly don't have a monopoly on productive learning communities (there are many dysfunctional ones there as well). And content-wise, it's not like these places have some special secrets that they're not spilling.

[@jakewalker1204]

Do you think you could make a video on how exercise and obesity affects learning? It seems that exercise and maintaining a healthy weight is said to improve cognitive functions, but there doesn't seems to be a correlation with exercise and improving iq. You would think even if exercise improved your ability to focus, that will still lead to a higher iq on paper even if it actually didn't increase your intelligence. It would also be interesting if you could cover the role of iq in learning/academic achievement especially for quantitative skills such as maths, physics ect. Would someone with an average iq be able to complete an engineering degree for example, with enough hard work? Thanks and love your videos, just a couple things I have been wondering about.

[@benjaminkeep]

AFAIK, exercise (and sleep) are really the best "brain training" programs there are. But I could look deeper into the exercise-brain function connection. I have an IQ video planned, but probably won't be out until summer. Thanks for the suggestions!

[@normaaliihminen722]

At 3:15 you used free recall and self testing what you mean by that? I though Free recall is self-testing but more "mind map'ish".

[@mrmuffin5046]

justin keeps saying that you should start learning at the higher levels by making relationships with other topics in the book. how can one make relationships in the book if you havnt read the whole book first? do you have examples where you go through this encoding process?

[@benjaminkeep]

This isn't the best example, but it's a video that illustrates what that's like on a smaller scale: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYPNpIKLa9KCppY. You have to leverage your prior knowledge and build things up over time. You could also learn in "layers" - get an overall idea of what's happening, dig into one topic in more detail, relate that to what you know of other stuff, dig into another topic in more detail, etc. I'll try to release another video or two that looks at this.

[@mouse_thakur]

whas ur thoughts on memory palace? or even image streaming by win wenger, apps like dual n back

[@benjaminkeep]

Memory palace - great way to remember lists of information; don't know image streaming; for dual-n-back see here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYrPXqGQrtR4jtU (and particularly the great overview "Do brain training programs work" cited in the description to that video).

[@mouse_thakur]

@@benjaminkeep tyvm

[@mouse_thakur]

@@benjaminkeep colin galen on yt has some pre interesting stuff too

[@fredericmesplede292]

Teacher's questions: In the case of high school students who have several classes per day and little time in between, is free recall at home, hours later, still effective? You never mention (from the videos I've watched) mind maps as a form of free recall, why? Is notetaking really counterproductive in the case of high school students knowing that they can't do free recall right after class? Thank you for the excellent content!

[@benjaminkeep]

Hi - here are my replies: 1) Free recall hours later at home still effective? Yes. Even if they only did it once a week, I think it would be great. They're not going to remember everything, but it stretches out exposure to the material (a spacing effect) and helps them to remember future related material (a prospective testing effect). 2) I think mindmaps are okay. But I haven't dived into the research on them. There are a lot of diagraming frameworks that I think can be helpful - simple graphs to illustrate the relationships of variables, basic charts to compare different examples, flowcharts, argument diagrams, etc. The visualization that helps depends on the situation. Or sometimes just writing is great too at re-organizing and making sense of what we're learning. Sometimes students have trouble using the right framework for thinking about the material. So teachers can provide that framework as a scaffold so that they can more efficiently organize it (I think these are sometimes called "Visual Organizers" in the ed biz, but they go by other names, too). If you can get students to organize the same information (or roughly the same information) in at least two ways, it can be quite powerful for long-term learning (this is a variety of "variable encoding"). 3) Whether you should take notes (and how to do so) is complicated by the subject and the teacher (the speed they lecture at; whether the teacher provides time for reflection during class; how much interaction there is during the class, etc.). Taking verbatim notes, however, is almost never a good idea. Often, as I argued in another video, I think taking minimal notes + free recall is a good combination. But I would encourage students to experiment. An interesting exercise for a teacher to do would be to use some of the class time to have students summarize the topic they just talked about. And share out/compare students' notes (if they trusted you and felt comfortable), especially highlighting succinct syntheses of the information or concepts or interesting comparison/contrasts with other stuff they were learning. What I think students get caught up with is the expectation that they need to take notes (and LOOK like they're taking notes) or that they need to take notes in a particular way. Getting them to understand that sense-making comes first, and any note-taking method is there to facilitate the note-taking - whether it's no notes, minimal notes, extensive notes + some amount of free recall or self-testing or self-explanation - is huge.

[@fredericmesplede292]

@@benjaminkeep Thank you for the pieces of advice!

[@fredericmesplede292]

@@benjaminkeep I would be particularly interested in a video dedicated to language learning since I'm an English teacher in France 😉

[@yoadd2961]

Thank you for another great video! Could u please make a video about how one should structure his studying, (recall after class,recall after few days?,when to practice, read summaries etc) per week/semester.

[@benjaminkeep]

The answers to those questions really depend on what you're learning and what your learning goals are. It's really hard to say, in the abstract, that everyone should do X. But I am working on some videos that might help people answer these questions for themselves. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@MrDjhealth]

How is this any different than wrote memorization but on a larger scale?

[@heythere9554]

This strategy seems practical. Instead of free recalling everything like a moron i will read a para/topic and try to make meaningful connections while free recalling .

[@zotterQ]

@Benjamin Keep, PhD, JD As an all-or-nothing person I struggle with the recall for ten minutes thing. What if I remember much more after 10 minutes. I want it ALL out. That takes a lot of time. So I don´t do it at all (nothing). Maybe I should be able to figure it out on my own, but I just can't.

[@stopmakingeyesatme1290]

If you're still struggling with this I think the best approach might actually be challenging the all-or-nothing mentality with some mindfulness techniques. It sounds like you've taken this on as part of your identity, and while it might explain aspects of your personality, it doesn't necessarily need to dictate your limits here. I would start by reaffirming the point Benjamin makes in his previous video where he discusses the process itself as being helpful. In other words, remember that just doing the activity is helping you even though you don't remember everything (and actually, remembering everything the first time means that you probably need to space out your sessions!) Then, next time you do your free recall, set a timer and plan an activity for you to do after the timer is done. Then, you'll have a cue for when to stop, but you'll also have an incentive to actually stop because you have this other thing you have to go do. I'm not an expert, but this is the sort of thing that has helped me change habits like this. Good luck!

[@zotterQ]

@@stopmakingeyesatme1290 Thanks so much. That is absolutely good advice. With some distance to my question, I can more easily see that your advice is feasible. Thank you for taking your time.

[@BeowolfNindoJournal]

00:00 Start/Intro 00:07 Is one recall mode better than another? 01:21 What should the recall interval be? 02:20 Do I need to master the material first? 02:43 Which is better, encoding or retrieval? 04:03 Is free recall just vomiting out words? 04:57 Some further thoughts Need 00:00 at the start for chapter to work And interesting, Retrieval's just as important as Encoding, will definitely practise that more.

[@whimp5288]

Great video! I've always wondered how different types of music can affect learning. Can you share some insights on how listening to different genres of music can impact our ability to concentrate and retain information? And do you think it's a good idea to listen to music while studying or should I avoid it altogether? Thank you

[@benjaminkeep]

I answered a similar question a while ago, hope you don't mind the copy and paste: I think there's a couple of different mechanisms at play. First, is the potential for interference. Say you're reading a chapter while listening to music with words. It's a little similar to reading a book while someone tells you a story (though not quite as bad). Your attention is being pulled in two different directions at once and you have to actively pull your attention to what you're reading and away from the music. Even music without words can do this, although there is less direct interference. Kind of the same idea as if you were to study in a noisy environment (there's a siren, over there is a jackhammer, there are conversations all around you, etc.). It just drains your attention. BUT, there's some other reasons that music can be helpful. One is that you have created a positive study association. If you tend to study with a certain kind of music on, listening to that music acts as a cue for you to concentrate. It's the same as if you like to study in a particular spot in the library. You will study more effectively in that environment than in an environment with other associations (e.g., the bathroom; your bedroom). Another potential mechanism at play is mood. Music can improve your mood, and your happy mood can influence learning. Also, since you are happy listening to the music, you associate studying with, perhaps, a calm happiness, which makes you inclined to study more. So my overall recommendation is: if it's not broke, don't fix it. I would avoid forms of music that have high levels of distraction. I'm thinking of the screaming in hardcore or maybe some of the odder instrumental music with sudden jarring sounds. I would also probably try to avoid music with words. But if you feel like you have positive results from studying with music, keep doing it. Might be good to mix it up every once in a while though.

[@gut4546]

This might be a really stupid question, but your first video talks about using it to do something like learn a language and learning a page or something this way. What do you do when you need to learn more information than that though? Let's say you have to learn 4 pages in 2 weeks? Would you do it all together. Do a page and then do another ____ long after? Do you stagger them? Thank you!

[@benjaminkeep]

Yep, basically more of the same. I don't have any hard and fast rules. If material is related to each other I'd do it together. You can stagger them, too. You can stagger a bit and then do them together. The general principle is "find the knowledge gaps, fill the knowledge gaps". I wouldn't be wedded to some strict schedule - just doing it regularly in some capacity is probably a good idea.

[@gut4546]

@@benjaminkeep Wonderful, thank you! And thank you for the informative yet concise videos!

[@bakeral-sheyab546]

🙏

[@nickstu2355]

Hi Ben, I have a question. I've been interested in language learning and found out about the work by Steven Krashen and the input hypothesis. I haven't read papers, but I have seen a bunch of his talks and interviews. He is a very strong proponent of the fact that the only meaningful activity you can do to acquire a language is receiving and understanding input, either by reading or listening. As a consequence of this, he believes that new words are acquired from reading and understanding the context, and that memorizing vocabulary is inefficient. I kinda feel like this is at odds with the research you talk about. For example, based on what I think I understand from your videos, one might think that the best strategy for learning a language would involve interleaved sessions of vocab memorization, grammar, reading, listening, writing and speaking. But the research from Krashen seems to show that this would be inefficient and that you only need reading and listening. Am I misunderstanding something?

[@benjaminkeep]

This is an excellent question. I have seen his demo of learning German in an old lecture, but am not deep into the literature on language learning. Loved his demo, as it was a beautiful illustration of how leveraging prior knowledge leads to active engagement with the language. Though there are similarities across different domains (as far as learning is concerned), there are differences, too. Language is a bit special, because our brains have a very special ability to learn language. Another complication is that, IMO, people often misunderstand the essential skill of language, which is fundamentally about communication. Therefore, not all mistakes are equal. Often, I think classroom language learning does not emphasize communication, but focuses on isolated, de-contextualized exercises. I still think spacing and interleaving are important. I could certainly be convinced that comprehensible input is the way to go early on - you get to see things in context and you get to leverage prior knowledge. That said, I would find it hard to believe if someone were to take the position that speaking practice wasn't important for improving speaking ability; or that writing practice wasn't important for improving writing ability. From what I understand of native language learning, writing and reading skills complement each other, too - you can learn about reading from writing and writing from reading. Eventually, I'm planning on doing more reading on language learning and when I do, I'll release a video about it. : )

[@nickstu2355]

@@benjaminkeep Thanks for the reply! Would love to see a video on the topic!

[@suchaagill7940]

2:29 🤯

[@MsTranthihai71]

❤

[@Andaengdaengz]

Hi. Will you make a video about IQ testing? I’m interested in: How convincing is it that IQ tests measure an innate ability? Thanks, I’m a student

[@benjaminkeep]

I have it partially written now, but it'll be a few months before it's out.

[@amorfati4752]

I see a lot of videos on how to do things more effectively, but efficiency has a limit. I'm looking for ways to build systems which can help beyond this limitation. Memorizing 20 new words a day is not difficult, but what if I want to memorize 200? If only I pay attention enough, will my brain sooner or later make this possible? I can't remember more than 7 digits of information at once, but if I play a video game, then I can draw the map quite accurately afterwards. I can even rotate this map in my mind, despite it containing maybe 1000 bits of information. I can probably do this because I've played a lot of videogames in my life. My question is, can I force my brain to come up with sistem and to adapt to things which shouldn't normally be possible? I don't like most memory systems as they don't generalize well. Some people can keep multiple chess boards in their working memory at once, they're doing something beyond just chunking information

[@benjaminkeep]

Part of the reason that you can draw an accurate map after playing a video game is that you are leveraging spatial memory. It's also all connected to each other and has meaning to you (e.g., where were the treasure chests, where was that big boss, etc.). If you memorized 20 words a day, in a year you would know roughly 7000 words. Enough to understand day-to-day dialogue in a language, and you would only need to spend a couple more months to be able to read most novels and newspapers (at least if we're just talking words known). Memorization really isn't the goal, though, if you want to learn a language. Usage is. Chunking is endlessly extensible. There's an Ericsson study from quite a while back where they just had the same person memorize strings of digits. And he kept finding ways to chunk more and more and more.

[@amorfati4752]

@@benjaminkeep Thank you for the reply! But it seems to me that I'm not just using, but also improving my spatial memory. My language learning is speeding up, but that seems to be because the amount of new information is decreasing. New words are often composed of parts that are already familiar to us. But there is still a minimum amount of new information, we can't get around that. If we can train our working memory directly, rather than just making it more effective, all our future learning should speed up. While chunking is endlessly extensible, the data type doesn't generalize. If I tell you to memorize a greek word, that might be hard. If I tell you to memorize 3 new words which are equal except for the pitch accent, that will also be hard. If I ask you to memorize a Kanji, you'd also benefit from already knowing the radicals. In other words, you can chunk things infinitely, but if something is outside of your existing "alphabet", you will have to encode new tokens for them. Even abstract concepts can be considered tokens, and every new abstract concept will take a while to make into intuition. I can memorize 100 new words in a day in a familiar language, but for a new language, even 10 is difficult if only it is different enough (new sounds, exotic alphabet, etc). I learn math really fast because it's like a tree of concepts with lots of overlap (learning one subject will make other subjects easier), but language has a rather flat structure, and new sounds are just gibberish. You can learn the meaning of a word, but the meaning is not inherent to a word, you can't deduct it from the letters alone. I think that people who learn language faster just have better working memories (which allows for more context and for enough simultaneous information to make grammatical patterns visible which would be invisible in a myopic view). Maybe I'm just being greedy though

[@ZeddyZed]

Is this consider free recall? One side I put What is function of a heart? Then the other side I put the answer.

[@benjaminkeep]

I think that's closer to self-questioning, perhaps. Also a good practice. But in this case, it sounds like this is a standard "test-like" question with a pat answer, which makes it more like a flashcard. Again - not bad, just not free recall. Free recall is more like: "remember everything you can about the human heart". You could include its structure, its function, its relationship to other organs, common heart problems... etc. When you do this, you start to relate information to other information - a heart's structure, for instance, is related to its function.

[@ZeddyZed]

@@benjaminkeep I like doing flashcards with a question in front of the card and the answer on the back. I'm unsure if I should continue doing it if it helps me in the long run. I want to find a way to learn the information and retrieve it instantly in the long run. Any advice?

[@user-kl7lc6tq6k]

​@@ZeddyZed Did you found something better?

[@beamerz9398]

So simple, yet I used free recall as a way of consolidating what I already knew 🤦‍♂

[@NadeemMomenz]

Can you make a video on how to use AI like chatGPT to help you learn more effectively?

[@benjaminkeep]

Probably not. Best use case I can think of at the moment is probably to ask it to give you questions (like create a test for you). Could be pretty useful for that.

[@stopmakingeyesatme1290]

One thing I've done for language learning is I've asked ChatGPT to give me a paragraph in the target language that's just beyond my level, then I'll guess what it says. Then I ask ChatGPT if I mistranslated anything. I think you can probably do similar things for other domains as well!

[@jakieteves6956]

damn, i just saw this 13 seconds ago :0