If you want to improve your memory and remember better, try the spacing effect. The spacing effect is a scientifically documented phenomenon where people learn better when they learn material over time. The opposite of spaced presentation is massed presentation, which we call cramming. Many students wait till a week or two before the exam to really begin studying. And then spend the night before the exam reading the material over and over again. Though cramming works up to a point, studies confirm that students who use spaced repetition outperform those that cram. By the way, if you cram the night before an exam, you might want to watch my episode 10 Exam Day Tips.
In legal education, spaced learning is extremely important because of the bar exam. In college you could take a course and never again be tested on the date that Rome fell or on the innerworkings of a cell. But the material in your first semester of law school will be tested again on the bar exam. By studying the material throughout the semester, not only will you do better on the final but you will also perform better on the bar exam.
How to Remember Better
You are probably asking, “How do I do this?” One technique for incorporating spaced repetition is through the use of Leitner boxes, which I describe in detail in my post on memorizing information. This flashcard technique incorporates spaced learning into your daily study routine. You create four boxes, or stacks of cards if you don’t have actual boxes. Then you regularly look at the flashcards reviewing information you don’t know well often, and information that you’ve mastered less often. This technique has been proven to reduce the overall amount of time you study.
In 1885, German psychologist Julius Ebbinghaus published his work called “On Memory.” For the first time in history, he quantified how quickly we forget by charting the “forgetting curve.” The most drastic forgetting occurs within the first hour and then begins to level off after one day. The good news is that you can benefit from Ebbinghaus’ breakthrough study. Given the rapid decline in our memory, the optimal time to review information is within the first 24 hours of first learning it. If you review your notes within 24 hours after class, you will make a stronger mental connection to that knowledge. This will help keep it in your memory longer. By repeating this process, not only will you retain the knowledge for the final, but also for the bar exam. For additional interesting information on how memory works, here is an article on long term memory retention.
Bart & Lisa
Let me end with a short apocryphal story. Bart and Lisa were both in the same Torts class, each struggling to understand proximate cause. On the final exam, both got an A on the proximate cause question. But Bart spent 20 hours learning the concept while Lisa spent 15 hours on it. Lisa was able to accomplish this by starting earlier in the semester using spaced repetition. Bart waited until two weeks before the final and then he crammed. Three years later, Lisa quickly picked up proximate cause while Bart spent hours relearning it.
The moral of the story is this: if you start studying right after class, and keep reviewing up to the final, you will take less overall time mastering the material and retain it in long-term memory. Cramming may help, but in the long run it won’t help you remember better.
