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Spaced repetition

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Re: Spaced repetition

#11

Post by Larrikin »

oh_sigh wrote: post #8
hacker_9 wrote: post #3

I used this at work; while waiting for builds to complete I would use Anki [0] to learn all the names and locations of the countries. It worked pretty well, but it isn't a silver bullet. I retained maybe 50% of the information. [0] http://ankisrs.net/

What deck(s) do you use? I've been looking for a deck that ideally has one side where there is an image of the country, and I give it the name, and another where there is the name of the country and I click on it in an image, but it's hard to find such a deck.

Some people swear that the process of making the deck helps significantly with their ability to retain the material.

Personally I find it a waste of time and all time spent editing cards is a waste to me. It doesn't help me. Learning traditionally (taking notes, answering practice questions, etc) from books and reviewing with Anki is the most effective for me.

Re: Spaced repetition

#12

Post by hacker_9 »

oh_sigh wrote: post #8
hacker_9 wrote: post #3

I used this at work; while waiting for builds to complete I would use Anki [0] to learn all the names and locations of the countries. It worked pretty well, but it isn't a silver bullet. I retained maybe 50% of the information. [0] http://ankisrs.net/

What deck(s) do you use? I've been looking for a deck that ideally has one side where there is an image of the country, and I give it the name, and another where there is the name of the country and I click on it in an image, but it's hard to find such a deck.

The highest rated geography decks was what I used [0]. But yeah finding good quality decks is the hard part, though the geography ones generally do have pictures of the country and you guess the name.

[0] https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/geography

Re: Spaced repetition

#13

Post by cpchen »

Afforess wrote: post #2

I find it very frustrating that spaced repetition is the best recourse we (humans) have to remember information. I am regularly concerned with the number of thoughts and interesting ideas I have each day, and don't manage to write down or otherwise preserve. I have begun recording some minor annotations and idle thoughts on paper a month ago and after reviewing them today, I am shocked at how many I simply do not rec…

There are techniques with better payoff and retention. Check the memory systems advocated by David Roth or Harry Lorayne, or the locus method (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci)

Re: Spaced repetition

#14

Post by swsieber »

cpchen wrote: post #13
Afforess wrote: post #2

I find it very frustrating that spaced repetition is the best recourse we (humans) have to remember information. I am regularly concerned with the number of thoughts and interesting ideas I have each day, and don't manage to write down or otherwise preserve. I have begun recording some minor annotations and idle thoughts on paper a month ago and after reviewing them today, I am shocked at how many I simply do not rec…

There are techniques with better payoff and retention. Check the memory systems advocated by David Roth or Harry Lorayne, or the locus method ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci )

Read also: Moonwalking with Einstein

Re: Spaced repetition

#15

Post by DigitalJack »

Afforess wrote: post #2

I find it very frustrating that spaced repetition is the best recourse we (humans) have to remember information. I am regularly concerned with the number of thoughts and interesting ideas I have each day, and don't manage to write down or otherwise preserve. I have begun recording some minor annotations and idle thoughts on paper a month ago and after reviewing them today, I am shocked at how many I simply do not rec…

Are you taking any anti-anxiety medications like Clonazepam? Many medications have a negative effect on memory, but benzodiazepines are well known for this.

First thing to check when you suspect memory issues are medications.

Re: Spaced repetition

#16

Post by skybrian »

I've dabbled with this and I find the hardest part is deciding what's important enough to memorize. Most rarely needed facts can be looked up as needed. Commonly used information will get enough practice naturally without spaced repetition. You have to decide what's important even though you don't practice it naturally.

The obvious exception is learning a language. And if you're in school then this is decided for you.

Re: Spaced repetition

#18

Post by jessriedel »

cerrelio wrote: post #5

This is the subject I tackled in grad school. It was super interesting, because many people still believe that memorizing stuff is best if you cram for an extended period of time. Showing them that just a few minutes of review at properly spaced intervals leads to better memorization floored most of the participants. My particular research was the quantify the effects of the variance in follow-up exposure times. I di…

The existence of spaced repetition also shows how dysfunctional educational systems (both public and private) are at making evidence-based improvements. If a method with such a clear overwhelming advantage at the stated goal isn't incorporated by schools, what hope is there that they'll make improvements where the evidence is hazier?

Re: Spaced repetition

#19

Post by xamuel »

skybrian wrote: post #16

I've dabbled with this and I find the hardest part is deciding what's important enough to memorize. Most rarely needed facts can be looked up as needed. Commonly used information will get enough practice naturally without spaced repetition. You have to decide what's important even though you don't practice it naturally. The obvious exception is learning a language. And if you're in school then this is decided for you…

>Most rarely needed facts can be looked up as needed

Unless you don't remember they're there to look up.

Whenever I make cards about a programming language feature, I suddenly find myself in situations where that feature is perfect. Either I'm the luckiest programmer on earth, or else the brain has some clever tricks up its sleeve.

Re: Spaced repetition

#20

Post by rspeer »

laurieg wrote: post #4

Spaced repetition is a wonderful tool. I came across it when I started learning languages and have over 5000 cards in my largest Anki deck for words and phrases. A lot of thought is put into how to use a learners time most effectively. The algorithm designers seem to want to optimize their software so that a student only sees a card they are likely to be on the verge of forgetting. Because of this, uses often fail wh…

I remember earlier versions of Anki that implemented the algorithm so literally that it would tell you that you couldn't learn new cards until you had reviewed the 500 cards in your backlog, a seemingly insurmountable task that would just cause you to procrastinate and get a bigger backlog. They revised that to make it more motivating, fortunately, partially by capping the amount of backlog it would present to you on any given day.

I'm using WaniKani for Japanese now -- it's not nearly as portable as Anki but it's the first integrated solution I've seen for Japanese, teaching kanji by a Heisig-like method alongside vocabulary that uses the kanji.

I used to use an Anki deck for Heisig's Remember the Kanji, but I found it entirely unmotivating to spend time every day learning symbols out of context. Imagine an English class about learning the alphabet song, except the song just keeps going, and by the time you're learning the tenth verse of the alphabet you're still not spelling any words. That's Heisig. It's a clever system of mnemonics but it's not a complete solution.

Now WaniKani has the opposite problem with motivation -- it ramps up far too slowly. It doesn't let you study ahead. On your first day using the system, you can only study something like 20 cards, and you only get more when you wait out the spaced repetition and prove you've mastered those, even though they are extremely simple radicals and numbers that you probably know already if you are interested enough in learning Japanese to seek out WaniKani. This must be terrible for on-boarding, but I'm putting up with it because it's still the most effective Japanese study method I've seen.

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