Have you ever heard of Pavlovian conditioning? What about the Skinner box? or Bandura’s bobo-doll? Even if these terms are unfamiliar, you’ve likely experienced the joy of savoring a dish your grandmother used to prepare, the unease accompanying a dentist visit, or the melancholy that washes over you when Spotify plays “All Too Well.” In … Read more
Have you ever wondered why some memories stick with you while others slip away into oblivion? This is not down to chance, but a phenomenon called the forgetting curve. Why do we forget things? Like a computer, our brain can gain tons of information, but unfortunately, unlike a computer, our brain tends to forget. Forgetting … Read more
Did you know that the brain runs on glucose? Glucose is the simplest form of sugar, and the brain uses significant amounts of it every day. How much, do you ask? Up to 20% of your body’s total energy. It’s no surprise, then, that as you brain burns through glucose when concentrating, you may want … Read more
One of the biggest issues when it comes to revision and long-term retention of information is that of retrieval. This is a fundamental mechanism for active recall from memory. As you’ll have learned in our various Study Techniques posts, like the Feynmann Technique, the Leitner System, and the SQR3 study method, there’s a lot of … Read more
Introduction to the Leitner System If you’ve landed on this page, chances are that you’re studying for something, are looking for ways to revise better, or have heard of this technique and are interested to learn more. Fortunately, we’re going to address all of these things in this article so that by the end of … Read more
You might not know it, but it’s possible that you’re already using the Feynman learning technique. And this is because there has long been a saying that goes “the best way to learn is to teach”. In fact, this saying goes all the way back to the Roman philosopher Seneca and researchers and scientists call … Read more
You may have heard of the SQ3R method for studying and reading better but are not quite sure how it works, whether it will benefit you, and how to execute it. So in this article, we’re going to explore its history, show you how to make the most of it using examples from this online … Read more
If you’re familiar with the fictional characters of consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, or Patrick Jane from The Mentalist (also a consulting detective), then you’ll be familiar with their use of the method of loci in order to make connections and solve crimes. In the real world, it’s a powerful memory-enhancing technique that’s used by memory … Read more
There are proponents and detractors of rote memorization when it comes to learning. Research shows that it can be incredibly useful for foundational knowledge and recall. But critics aren’t fans of the method because it doesn’t demonstrate deep learning and comprehension. Whatever your stance, we’ve laid out the good, the bad, and the how-to so … Read more
After more than twenty years since the Decade of the Brain (1990–2000) [1], brain research is finally in the spotlight concerning educational policymaking. Teachers, parents, and even students themselves are looking for neuroscientific findings when it comes to effective learning strategies. Can brain research really help us design better classroom environments, implement more productive learning … Read more