Encoding and Consolidation of Learning
Jonathan Firth's Memory & Metacognition Updates #41
One question I have been asked recently concerns how we balance the use of memory-focused strategies (such as flashcards for retrieval and spacing) with other strategies that perhaps focus more on initial learning/encoding. Thanks for the question! I’ll focus on this today, as I think it’s a widespread concern.
Classroom Time Pressures
I always think it’s worth considering that class time is strictly limited, and students’ independent study time has limits, too. I don’t think we can just talk about what ‘works’ therefore, but we also need to think about how long it takes.
That’s not always an issue in a psychology experiment, but it is an issue for the practitioner!
I therefore recommend things like the spacing effect not just because they boost memory but also because they are time efficient. We achieve more in a given time if practice is spaced out, with delays in between sessions.
Spacing—Considerations
Bear in mind that a lot of things could be spaced out — flashcards, yes, but also re-teaching, re-reading, and indeed generative tasks such as mind maps.
If you have students create a mind map in January and then get them to do it again in April as they prepare for a test or exam, then they are engaging in spaced practice (even if not the way it usually appears in experiments).
And after all, some researchers have tried to make the spacing effect classroom-relevant, especially over the past decade. Kapler et al (2015) spaced out a lecture over one day vs. eight days, for example, and Foot-Seymour et al (2019) taught children to practise spotting unreliable websites with delays of days or weeks.
Retrieval Practice—Considerations
As for retrieval practice, I know it’s often seen as a means of encoding facts. And it is very good for that! I certainly self-test as a way of remembering details such as terminology and students’ names.
However, there is growing evidence that retrieval can be used with realistic educational materials, and for higher-order skills and transfer (e.g. Agarwal, 2019; Butler, 2010; see also this post).
And so, it might depend on how we do it. If quizzes and other retrieval tasks focus only on basic facts, then that’s what it will boost. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Just as with writing better multiple-choice questions—ones that probe for understanding and inference—we can format many types of retrieval activities in ways that focus not just on facts but also on understanding and skills.
Initial Encoding vs. Later Consolidation
Some of the discussion about these issues may link to an issue that I touched on when discussing concept maps vs. retrieval practice. Namely: do we see learning/encoding as something that happens first, after which evidence-based strategies are used to consolidate?
That idea perhaps fits well with classic models of memory, which present encoding as a rapid and one-off process where (under certain circumstances) information moves from working memory into long-term memory. According to such models, the trick is then to prevent LTM forgetting.
However, I don’t think we can ignore effective techniques when it comes to initial study of material. Spacing and retrieval can both be done over very short timescales, including within a single lesson. They can be part of the encoding process, rather than just being useful for consolidation. Other techniques such as interleaving help to develop a learner’s understanding and ability to correctly categorise new information as they first encounter it.
For me, these points suggest that techniques such as spacing and retrieval can and should be used throughout the learning process, not just for later consolidation. And while meaning-focused and generative strategies (e.g. drawing, imagining, categorisation, summarising, etc) are a useful part of the process, they can be usefully combined with spacing, too.
Spacing and retrieval are not just about review quizzes!
Free PSHE Event
Last call for the free PSHE event I’m co-leading in Glasgow this week (11th May): Personal, Social and Health Education Network: Working Together to Improve Health & Wellbeing.
I will also share my recent researchED Haninge talk on ResearchGate soon… I’m next speaking at the Barcelona researchED event on 3rd June, if you’re able to squeeze in a weekend trip around that time!!
Ok, that’s it for now. All the best for the coming term/semester!
Jonathan
Last week: Metacognition and Writing
Website: www.jonathanfirth.co.uk