What is the best time to study? Memory development
In this article, you will learn how to better remember information using reliable methods that have already helped many people with their studies, reading and learning in general.
Whether you're reading non-fiction to study a specific topic (say, investing or internet marketing) or to study for exams, there are a few rules that will help you consistently increase your ability to remember and recall the material.
Use these rules every day and increase your learning potential.
How to remember information better:
Rule No. 1: Quick reading first, detailed reading later
Usually people try to remember all the details from the material they read in one sitting, but The best way Learning complex information means dividing the reading process into two or three stages.
First, skim over the text you need to read (two or three pages will be just right), reading superficially. Don't force yourself to remember anything the first time you read it.
Now go back to the same material, reading slowly this time. Say difficult words out loud. Emphasize Difficult words or key concepts.
If you still feel puzzled, go through the material a third time. You will be amazed at how much information fits into your head!
Rule no.2: Take notes
Studying new material(in a lecture, webinar, just reading something), take notes.
After some time, copy your notes into a notebook, collecting and summarizing all the information. You will notice that you probably wrote down some information or material that seemed very important to you during the lecture, but is no longer of interest.
Build on concepts you have written down but not clearly explained by writing down your thoughts. Look up keyword definitions and external resources. Write down the information you find in a form that is convenient for you. This will cement the information in your memory.
Rule no.3: Teach others
We remember best when we teach others. This is why study groups can be very effective if used correctly. Instead of using your group only to complete some tasks, ask your partner to “chase” you through the material you have covered, to force you to verbally repeat what you have learned.
Find someone in your class who is struggling academically and become an informal mentor for them.
If you can't find such a “student,” tell your partner or roommate what you learned in class. Don't repeat material you already know well.
Choose information that you have trouble understanding and force yourself to explain it to someone over lunch or while walking the dog. This will allow you to truly understand the essence of the material you have been learning.
Rule #4: Talk to yourself
Believe it or not, listening to your own voice will make it easier for you to remember new facts. Record yourself reading keywords and definitions out loud and listen to them later. This trick will make your self-study more effective. You'll use multiple senses at once—auditory, verbal, and visual—plus you'll be more attentive, since reading aloud requires concentration.
There is another funny trick. It involves making a “phone handset” out of flexible PVC pipe that you can hold to your mouth and ear while reading aloud. Believe it or not, the concentrated sound of your own voice passing through this “phone” will be easier to remember than your normal voice while reading material out loud.
Rule #5: Use visual cues
Many of us remember everything through the visual channel. You can actually imprint an image of a formula, definition, or concept in your mind and be able to easily recall the information you need during a test or when needed.
Use this function of your memory by drawing pictures on flash cards or using different colored markers when writing down the information you need to remember.
For example, if you need to remember the Latin or Greek root of a word, you can draw pictures that symbolize the meaning of these words. Latin word"aqua" means water, so you can write "aqua" with a blue marker and draw a drop next to it. The Latin word "spec" means to look, so you can draw glasses nearby.
Flashcards are also a useful tool for visual memory, especially if you use pictures and colors to make them. You may actually remember a word or formula simply because you remember how you agonized over whether you should write the definition in orange or green. Color can trigger your visual memory, which will help you access information.
Look interesting video about visual notes that help you quickly remember information:
Rule #6: Use a shocking stimulus
Have you ever had the feeling while studying that you were simply unable to remember? important information?
Believe it or not, using some shocking physical stimulus will help you understand and then remember complex material.
According to a study conducted on the topic: “How to remember better,” putting your hand in a bowl of ice water while studying will help you remember and then recall the information you need. This happens because negative stimuli activate the part of your brain that is responsible for memory (presumably this is to help us remember negative experiences better so as not to repeat them, but it works just as effectively for normal memory retention).
You can use ice water, something hot, or mild pain to help you remember difficult information. Try pinching your arm while holding an ice bag, or holding a cup of hot tea while studying to stimulate your memory. The main thing is not to really harm yourself!
Rule #7: Chew gum
Teachers may prohibit gum chewing in their classes because they don't want to have it ripped off from under their desks, but the act of chewing gum can help you study better and do better on tests.
One study looked at the effect of chewing gum during a test in graduate students. A study found that chewing gum helped students finish a test 20 minutes earlier.
Another study was conducted on eighth-graders taking an annual math exam. The results showed that students who chewed gum scored 3 percent higher on the test than their peers who did not chew gum.
How does chewing gum help you remember information better?
Chewing gum stimulates blood flow to the brain and helps you stay alert.
Which chewing gum works best?
It doesn't matter whether you chew gum with or without sugar. It's the taste that matters. Switch to mint-flavored gum, as mint acts as a mental stimulant and will help you feel calm and focused.
Rule #8: Participate in class even when you feel uncomfortable
Having trouble with a certain concept?
Most of us prefer to sit in a corner somewhere and remain unnoticed in the classroom until all the material is sorted out for us. But this habit will always interfere with your learning process. Raise your hand, ask a question, or volunteer to participate in a discussion about a topic you are having difficulty with.
you don't visit group classes? Find someone who understands the topic you are interested in and ask for advice or help. Let it bother you that you don't understand something.
The discomfort you feel while performing these activities will increase your memory abilities. You will receive answers to your questions and will easily be able to recall the material later, when you need it most.
Rule #9: Highlight and paraphrase what you read
When reading a text that is difficult to understand, it may seem to you that the letters are already floating before your eyes. Underline and highlight key words and concepts as you read.
Say the words or concepts out loud as you highlight them, and then write (and paraphrase) the material in your notebook. This will help you digest all the information rather than just skim through it.
Rule #10: Make up rhymes or songs
You won't need to do this trick with most material, of course, but you may find it useful to come up with poems, rhymes, or catchy songs to help you remember particularly difficult formulas.
You may find it easier to remember the formula if you come up with a musical setting for it.
How do formulas help you remember information better?
Many formulas do not make any sense to us. They look like a list of random numbers and letters, or they seem like a bunch of random instructions that lack a cohesive element.
If you turn a formula into a song or poem, you will become aware of what once seemed irrational, and this comprehension of the material will allow your brain to better perceive the information and store it in a way that it can be easily accessed later.
Rule no.11: Look for associations
Likewise, the association method can help you find connections between dates or individual facts that you need to remember in a certain order.
Find a way to connect the date and name so that it makes some sense, using numbers or words. You've probably done something similar before, when you needed to remember a password or phone number.
Find a way to connect the number to the name in a way that makes sense to you and the question of how best to remember information will not be so pressing for you.
Rule no.12: Take breaks while studying
If you study consistently over a long period of time, you may notice that your productivity drops the longer you study. Research shows that you should take a 10-minute break every hour while studying to maximize productivity.
Why should such a break consist?
Be sure to get up, go to the toilet, drink something or have a snack. It is best to leave the room you are sitting in and move around a bit to improve blood flow. If you have the opportunity, jump or stretch to get an adrenaline rush and perk up. After that, you can get back to work.
Rule no.13: Find a practical application
Having trouble remembering a formula or theory?
The problem is that you probably haven't found a practical application for this concept in life, so your brain still doesn't want to remember it.
Imagine how this formula or concept could be used in practice to solve a real-life problem. If possible, act out or mentally imagine the impact of this problem in a practical way. This will help you understand the formula or concept and, if necessary, easily recall it.
Rule no.14: Create a Physical Image
Some concepts are difficult to understand until you see a physical image of them or an illustration of the idea.
For example, you can appreciate the importance of microscopic analysis by looking at an image of a DNA strand or the anatomy of a cell. If you can't create a physical image or picture, find an image online. This will help you visualize the problem clearly.
Rule no.15: Read important information before bed
Our brain continues to work even when we sleep. Read your notes again before going to bed so that your brain can better absorb the material while you sleep.
Don't read anything that makes you anxious or upset (you risk disturbing your sleep). Instead, use this trick to reinforce concepts and information you'll need later.
Rule no.16: Practice breathing exercises
Stress suppresses your ability to concentrate and makes it difficult to access information you've already learned.
This is why you can easily understand a concept in class, but then get stumped while writing a test. You know that information is somewhere in the back of your mind, but you just can't access it. This happens because stress shuts down your ability to concentrate on anything, leaving you with only the fight-or-flight response.
To combat stress, do this for three to five minutes.
Find a quiet place, set a timer, close your eyes, and then focus solely on your breathing. Inhale as deeply as possible, hold your breath until you feel slight discomfort, and then exhale slowly until you feel complete relief.
Repeat in this manner, without worrying about anything and focusing all your attention on how good it feels to simply breathe, until the timer rings.
Try the above methods of memorizing information and find the most effective ones for you.
Good luck learning new information!
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You may not have known, but our activity and desire to do certain things depend entirely on the time of day. Thus, it has already been proven that it is much easier to start working in the morning than in the afternoon, in addition, the tasks themselves will be much easier to solve in the morning than at any other time of the day. This is connected precisely with the work of our brain. Let's take a closer look at what time of day the brain is most active and at what time it is better to do various work.
Postscript: here we're talking about specifically about mental activity. Doing so-called “office” work in the morning is much easier.
But first, a little advice - try to go to bed before midnight. Despite the fact that the brain is active in the morning, if you don't get enough sleep you will feel incredibly tired, your body will ask for sleep and it will be twice as difficult to do any work than if you get enough sleep.
And now to the time:
1. It’s best to wake up at 6 o’clock. At this time, any information received by us is assimilated more easily and is remembered for a long time. Therefore, if you have an exam, interview or any other important matter for which you need to prepare, wake up early and repeat everything you need: notes, poems, any texts, etc.
2. Starting at 8 o'clock it starts working logical thinking. If you need to think about something, analyze something, this is the ideal time for such work.
3. From 9 o’clock in the morning, the brain is fully tuned to work with any information it receives: it will be easier to assimilate, process, and draw any conclusions. At this time, any work you undertake will be completed much faster and easier. This is also an ideal time to work with statistics.
4. From 11 o’clock the morning energy begins to fade and the brain loses its previous activity, so at this time it is necessary to take a break - it is not without reason that big changes take place in schools and universities at this time. Have a snack, take a break from work, listen to music.
5. From 12 o’clock it is best to switch from mental activity to physical activity: work in the garden, do general cleaning in the house, just take a walk around the city, play sports, etc. activity.
In general, any mental activity after noon usually does not lead to anything good. It is better to do all tasks related to sedentary work early in the morning, and in the afternoon do something more physical.
During physical activity, you can think about what you will do with your brain tomorrow morning: try to mentally make a list in advance of what tasks you will solve, think about something. Surely, some ideas in the afternoon will lead to something great the next day.
In addition, the solution to the problem can come to you both before bedtime and during sleep.
It is best to go to bed at 9 o'clock, but it is clear that many will not do this, so try to fall asleep at least at 11 o'clock in the evening, and also do not burden yourself in any way from 21 to 23 o'clock. During this time, try to relax as much as possible and not expose yourself to stress.
Sleeping from 11 pm to 6 am helps restore emotional energy and fully prepare the body and brain for next day active mental and physical activity.
However, this is not where we say goodbye to you. You can slightly increase the time of effective mental activity in the following way:
-if you have the opportunity, give yourself some time after lunch to sleep. For example, from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock you worked and now it’s time to relax a little. After sleeping at lunchtime, the brain slightly restores its morning charge, which is why you can return to working on any information again. This is not the same as working in the morning, but when a task needs to be solved quickly and there is no time, this is a fairly effective way.
Now we have everything on this issue. Some conclusions:
-it is better to work mentally from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.
-physical work is best done from 12:00 to 15:00.
-it is best to play sports from 12 to 15 or from 14 to 18.
- in the evening, relax, read a book, spend time with your loved one.
-go to bed at 11 o'clock.
When is it better to study English: during the day or at night, on weekends or on weekdays? Let's find out which schedule will be optimal for you.
The best time to learn English is today. Our advice will be useful both for those who learn English on their own and for those who study with a teacher: we will tell you how to develop an optimal lesson schedule. We advise you to keep a diary or notebook and make a rough schedule in it, this will make it easier to remember when you should study, in addition, keeping notes will discipline you.
What time of day should you study English?
We think everyone has heard about the division of people into larks and owls. It is convenient for the first to work in the mornings, for the second - in the evenings. However, the rhythm of life dictates its own rules to us, and now night owls get up at six in the morning to go to work, and larks go to bed long after midnight. It turns out that you can find some time to study both in the morning and in the evening.
We recommend that you immediately “book” in your diary 5-10 minutes after waking up and 5-10 minutes before bed to study and repeat new vocabulary: at this time the brain works most productively, and it will be easier for you to remember the information.
Next, you need to decide whether to exercise during the day or at a later time of day. On the one hand, we all go to work and know that the most difficult cases are usually easier to solve in the morning, as they say, “with a fresh mind.” On the other hand, experience in preparing for exams in student years shows that you can master a couple of textbooks the night before the exam. And many night owls like to learn something late in the evening or at night. So when should you practice? Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of daytime and nighttime activities.
Daytime classes (until 22-00) | Late evening classes (after 22-00) |
---|---|
+ You have more energy, you are active, and you don’t feel sleepy. | + No one bothers you or interrupts you from your studies (many people are already asleep). |
+ Compliance with the natural cycle: daylight hours are intended for active activity. | + Late in the evening and at night the creative side of the personality actively manifests itself, you can find creativity to learning English. |
+ You can study with your friends or in a group in English courses. | + Lessons are virtually in complete silence, you can study independently or. |
+ Natural light is safer for vision. | + Chance of getting stuck in social network decreases at night: most potential interlocutors are asleep. |
– You are distracted by acquaintances, friends, family members. | – There is a temptation to go to bed after a hard day of work. |
– You can deal with everyday problems and skip class. | – There is no option to take courses offline. |
As you can see, classes in different time days have their advantages and disadvantages, so we advise you to take scheduling seriously. Some English learners try to alternate between daytime and nighttime lessons, but this tactic is not justified. Scientists have proven that the brain most productively absorbs information that it receives at the same time, at the same time intervals. Moreover, you will not be tempted to put off classes “for later”, “for later”, etc. The ability to organize the learning process is the first step on the path to success.
How often to study English
Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.
Learn everything you can, whenever you can, from everyone you can - there will definitely come a time when you will be grateful to yourself for it.
Once you have chosen the time and duration of your studies, make a note in your diary. How to stick to a schedule and not forget about it? Let's say you decide to study every day at 19-00. Set an alarm on your smartphone for this time. We recommend doing this trick even if you don't have memory problems. An external stimulus in the form of a bell acts on the brain much more actively than the fleeting memory “oh yes, I need to study now,” which you can forget about at that very second.
Should I study English on weekends?
Learn to manage your time wisely, rest properly, and work hard. The more often you study English, the faster you will notice positive changes. However, students sometimes tend to go to extremes: study for 3-4 hours every day without days off or breaks. This mode is useful for knowledge, but is not suitable for everyone. Some students, after 1.5-2 months of such an “intensive” course, become so fed up with the language that they lose motivation to study. Therefore, follow the principle “everything is good in moderation.” If you have a busy work schedule and a lot of household chores, allow yourself to rest. Self-study of 30-40 minutes a day will be enough. Give yourself a full day off; a “day of freedom from learning” will give you new strength to move forward.
On the other hand, if you have little time to study during the week, you can catch up on the weekends. Work out a little longer: 1.5-2 hours with a break of 10-15 minutes.
Whatever lesson schedule you make for yourself, follow it. English language is not something that can be overcome overnight, it is only given to those who are willing to work hard. May your work be easy and enjoyable!
Incredible facts
Do you want to increase productivity or lose weight? If you still can't do this, you may be doing it at the wrong time.
According to clinical psychologist Michael Breus, who specializes in sleep disorders, there is four types of people in the world: "dolphins", "lions", "bears" and "wolves".
Each of us has a different internal rhythm, and therefore our body is better at burning calories or producing hormones at certain times. What chronotype are you?
4 chronotypes of people
Dolphins
Personality: cautious, introverted, neurotic, intelligent
Behavior: avoids risky situations, strives for perfection, concentrates on details.
Dream: wake up unrested and remain tired until the evening when they get into a rhythm. They are most active late at night, and their productivity increases in spurts throughout the day.
Like real dolphins, who sleep with only one half of their brain while the other half watches out for predators, "dolphin people" are light sleepers. They may wake up many times and are prone to insomnia due to anxiety. When they wake up in the middle of the night, they tend to think about their mistakes or what they once said.
Dolphins work better alone than in a team, and they are not confrontational. They don't even need to exercise to lose weight, since their body mass index is usually below average.
Lions
Personality: responsible, stable, practical, optimist
Behavior: do not stop there, give priority to health and physical fitness, and seek positive interactions.
Dream: They get up early, feel tired in the evening and fall asleep easily. They are most active at noon and most productive in the morning.
Lions in the wild wake up before dawn to hunt. “Leo people” also wake up before the sun appears, are hungry when they wake up, and after a hearty breakfast are ready to conquer the goals they have set for themselves for the day.
They feel energized when they face challenges head-on with clear goals and a strategic plan for success. Most leaders and entrepreneurs are Leos. They also value being physically fit as it helps them set and achieve goals.
The Bears
Personality: cautious, extroverted, friendly and open.
Behavior: Avoid conflict, strive to be healthy, prioritize happiness, find comfort in familiar things.
Dream: wake up in a daze, get tired in the middle or end of the evening, sleep deeply, but not as long as they would like. Full of energy from mid-morning to early afternoon and most productive shortly before noon.
When in nature bears are not hibernating, they are diurnal animals - active during the day and resting at night. Bear people prefer to sleep at least 8 hours a day, if not more.
It takes them several hours to fully wake up in the morning, during which time they feel hungry. We can say that the “bears” are hungry all the time. They eat whenever possible, even if it is not meal or snack time.
They are courteous and drama-free, and will not scheme or blame others for their mistakes. They are a great party company.
Wolves
Personality: impulsive, pessimistic, creative, subject to mood swings.
Behavior: take risks, prioritize pleasure, seek novelty, and react emotionally.
Dream: They wake up hard before noon, but do not get tired until the middle of the night and later. They are most active by 19:00 and most productive in the late morning and late evening.
In nature, wolves are active after sunset, and they hunt in packs. "Wolf People" are also prone to nightlife. They are not hungry upon waking, but become insatiable at night. Their body mass index is medium to high. Due to their diet and indiscriminate eating, they often suffer from diseases associated with excess weight.
Wolves are creative, unpredictable, and get angry if others perceive them as "lazy." They are prone to mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.
What time is best to go to bed?
It doesn't matter if you're learning a new language, learning to cook, mastering... musical instrument or just training your memory - in any case, it will be useful for you to know how the brain absorbs new information.
Each person is unique, but during the learning process we all exhibit similar psycho-physiological tendencies. Understanding these patterns will help you develop the most effective strategy for acquiring new knowledge.
Let's look at 6 basic learning principles that everyone should know.
1. Visual information is absorbed best
50% of brain resources are spent on visual perception. Think about it for a minute: exactly half of your brain activity is occupied by vision and understanding what you see, and only the remaining part goes to other receptors and internal processes of the body.
However, vision is not only the most energy-consuming channel of perception. Its influence on other senses is so great that it can sometimes significantly distort the meaning of the information received.
50% of brain activity is used to process visual information.
70% of incoming information passes through visual receptors.
For decryption visual scene takes 100 ms (0.1 seconds).
An example of such an influence is an experiment in which more than fifty passionate wine fans were unable to determine whether the drink in front of them was red or white wine. Before the tasting began, the experimenters mixed a tasteless and odorless red pigment into the white wine. As a result, all the subjects, without exception, claimed that they drink red wine - the influence was so strong appearance drink on the taste buds.
Another surprising discovery was that the brain perceives text as a set of images, so reading this paragraph now, in fact, you are doing a lot of work to decipher many “hieroglyphs”, which are letters, into semantic units.
In this regard, it becomes clear why reading takes so much effort compared to viewing illustrations.
In addition to static visual objects, we also pay special attention to everything that moves. That is, drawings and animation are the best companions when learning something, and all kinds of cards, images and diagrams can serve as a good tool for successfully mastering new information
2. First the essence, then the details
Trying to master a large amount of new information at once, you risk creating a terrible mess in your head. To avoid this, stay connected to the big picture: when you learn something new, go back and see how it relates to what you already know - this will help you avoid getting lost.
Essentially, the human brain tends to pick up the big picture first and then the details, so why not use this natural ability to your advantage?
Having received a portion of knowledge, find a place for it in common system- this will significantly increase your chances of remembering. Also, before learning something, it can be useful to understand the general concept first: knowing what will be discussed in general serves nervous system support for the perception of finer details.
Imagine that your memory is a closet with a bunch of shelves: every time you add a new thing to it, you think about which category it belongs to. For example, you bought a black sweater and you can put it on the black rack, sweater rack, or winter rack. Obviously, in reality you can't place one thing in several places at once, but hypothetically these categories exist, and your neurons regularly do this work of correlating new incoming information with existing information.
Making graphs and notes about the place of the subject being studied in big picture knowledge, you will achieve better assimilation of information.
3. Sleep significantly affects memory and learning ability
Research has shown that learning new information followed by a good night's sleep has a positive effect on retention of knowledge. In an experiment on the development of motor skills, participants who had 12 hours before the test and the opportunity to sleep showed 20.5% progress, while another group, in which learning a new skill and testing it fell on the same day with a difference of 4 hours, achieved only an improvement by 3.9%.
However, modern man It is not always possible to get a full night's sleep, and in such cases a short nap during the day helps out. University of California experiment ( The University of California) found that students who were asked to take a short nap after completing a difficult task performed much better on a similar exercise after sleep than those who remained awake between the two tests.
Sleeping before learning new material can also be very helpful. Dr Matthew Walker ( Dr. Matthew Walker), who led the study, states that “sleep prepares the brain for new knowledge and makes it like a dry sponge, ready to absorb as much moisture as possible.”
Learn a new skill or read about something before you go to bed: when you get up and try to remember what you learned before bed, you'll be surprised how much you remember.
4. Lack of sleep affects cognitive performance
Without a complete understanding of the nature of sleep and its purpose, sometimes we neglect this natural need, causing ourselves to lack it, or...
But despite the fact that the process of sleep itself has not been fully studied, scientists have long known what its absence leads to: high nervous tension, increased caution, risk avoidance, reliance on old habits, and exposure to various diseases and physical injuries, as tired organs lose their normal tone.
Lack of sleep also affects cognitive activity: the ability to assimilate new information is reduced by 40%. From this point of view, good dream and a fresh mind in the morning can bring much more benefits than staying up all night over work or textbooks.
- irritability
- cognitive disorders
- memory lapses, forgetfulness
- amoral behavior
- non-stop yawning
- hallucinations
- symptoms similar to ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
- slow motion
- trembling of limbs
- muscle pain
- lack of coordination
- heart rhythm disorder
- risk of heart disease
- risk of diabetes
- growth suppression
- obesity
- elevated temperature
Harvard Medical School ( Harvard Medical School) conducted a study that found that the 30 hours following training are the most critical for consolidating new knowledge, and lack of sleep during this period can negate all your efforts, even if after these 30 hours you get a good night's sleep.
Therefore, leave nighttime gatherings in the past: the most productive time for learning new things is during the daytime, when you are alert and full of energy, and for the best memory of information, do not forget to immediately get a good night's sleep.
5. We remember information best when we teach others.
When we have to explain to others what we ourselves have just learned, our brain assimilates the information much better: we organize it more clearly in our minds, and our memory retains the main points in more detail.
A group of participants in one experiment were told that they would take a test to test the knowledge they had just acquired, while a second group had to prepare to explain this information to others. As a result, all subjects passed the test, but those who thought that they would have to teach someone remembered the material much better than others.
Study author, Dr. John Nestozhko ( Dr. John Nestojko), says that the psychological state of students before and during training can have a great influence on the cognitive process. " To put students in the right mood, sometimes it’s enough to give them a couple of simple instructions ", he states.
Although we are not always aware of it, the need to pass on our knowledge to others forces us to use more effective methods: we better highlight the main thing, more easily establish connections between various facts and more carefully organize the information received.
6. Information is remembered better when it alternates with other information.
"Block Practice" ( block practice) is a fairly common approach to learning, so named by University of California scientist Dick Schmidt ( Dick Schmidt). This approach involves learning the same things in blocks, that is, by repeating information or a skill over and over again over a long period of time, such as continuously reading a history textbook or perfecting a single tennis serve.
Schmidt himself advocates a fundamentally different method, based on the alternation of information in the learning process. His colleague, Bob Bjork, is researching this approach in his psychology laboratory by presenting participants with paintings from two different artistic styles, with some subjects studying the works in blocks of 6 paintings in each style, while others view the paintings one at a time.
As a result, subjects who were shown pictures in blocks were much worse able to distinguish one style from another (30% correct answers) compared to those who looked at pictures of different styles mixed (60%).
Surprisingly, before the experiment began, about 70% of the participants said that they found the block approach more effective and that it helped them with their learning. As you can see, our everyday ideas about the cognitive process are often far from reality and need clarification.
Björk believes that the alternation principle works better because it relies on the brain's natural ability to recognize patterns and the differences between them. As for learning new information, the same principle helps to notice new things and relate them to existing data.
This approach can be used when preparing for exams, when you improve not each skill separately, but one at a time: oral, written speech and listening comprehension when learning a foreign language, right and left serves in tennis, etc.
As Björk says, we all need to learn how to learn. " Almost any job involves continuous learning, and understanding how you can influence the effectiveness of this process will greatly increase your chances of success.».