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On the eve of a difficult exam or an important presentation, we spend days and nights trying to remember a huge amount of information. We cram the dates, the names of the heroes of the battles, the company’s revenue for the previous few years. But what if there are simpler and more effective methods? We offer to try methods, the effectiveness of which has been proven empirically.
1. Speak out loud
Canadian psychology professor Colin MacLeod conducted an experiment and proved that the best way to remember something is to say it out loud. He believes that if you not only heard the information, but also said it, it will be stored in long-term memory.
To prove this, he gathered 4 groups of people and offered them different ways of assimilating the text. Some read to themselves, others read aloud. The third group listened to recordings of their own voices, and the fourth group listened to recordings of other people’s voices reading the text. As a result, it turned out that those who read aloud remembered the most information. Those who listened to recordings of their own voice were in second place, and those who read to themselves remembered least of all.
2. Play Association
The colors of the rainbow are easier to remember with the phrase “Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant sits.” Also, with the help of associations, you can learn any historical date. For example, if you imagine that a unit looks like a tree, a seven looks like an ax, and a three looks like a hussar mustache, then it’s easy to remember that the mustachioed Peter I cut down the forest and built St. Petersburg in 1703.
New numbers are easier to learn in conjunction with those you already know. For example, everyone knows that the Olympic bear flew into the Moscow sky in 1980. It is curious that exactly 600 years before that, the Battle of Kulikovo took place. Associations are also useful when learning foreign words. For example, the English look (“look”) sounds like the Russian “bow”. Connect two associations, and you get: “If you look at the bow, your eyes will water.” And now the word is in your memory.
3. Get plenty of sleep
In 2016, French scientists conducted an experiment and made a pleasant discovery: sleeping between classes helps remember information. They asked two groups to learn a few words in Swahili in two sessions a day. One group studied in the morning and in the evening of the same day, and the second group began classes in the evening, then went to bed, and continued learning the language the next morning. The results showed that the second group learned new words faster and better than the first.
Later, a scientist at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, Thomas Andrillon, together with colleagues, proved that a person can absorb information even in a state of sleep. True, this applies only to the phase of REM sleep, during which we see dreams. But sleepless nights before exams not only do not help to learn the subject, but can also lead to failure. Fatigue has a negative effect on the attentiveness and reaction of a person.
4. Eat eggs, chocolate and mint
Boston University School of Medicine found that eating chicken and eggs improves memory. It’s all about choline, a B vitamin that slows down the aging process in the brain.
Scientists at the American Center for the Study of Alzheimer’s Disease advise seasoning food with turmeric. This seasoning is an excellent prevention of the disease, it affects the sharpness and clarity of the mind. And the pleasant smell of mint – a fresh leaf, tea or even pepper candy – increases concentration.
In addition, to improve memory, researchers advise eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids: fish, walnuts, vegetable oils. And chocolate, preferably with a high percentage of cocoa. The flavonoids included in its composition improve brain function.
5. Learn to relax.
It’s important to calm down before a big exam or speech for which you’re learning all this. For someone, a morning run will help, for someone – the warm words of loved ones. One of the really effective ways to relax is bird watching. Or play Tetris: the mindless repetition of simple actions helps to cope even with post-traumatic disorder, not to mention the excitement before a presentation or exam.