7 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2023
    1. Dr. Pimsleur’s research on memory was perhaps one of his most revolutionary achievements. He discovered that if learners were reminded of new words at gradually increasing intervals, each time they would remember longer than the time before. He documented the optimal spacing for information to move from short-term into long-term, or permanent, memory.

      I thought Ebbinghaus did this in the late 1800s?! 😜

  2. Sep 2022
    1. But Ebbinghaus laidthe foundation for a long-lasting and influential tradition of learningtheories that separates understanding from learning.

      Because Hermann Ebbinghaus' early studies on memory, retrieval, and spaced repetition focused on meaningless random letter combinations that ha no natural associations, he started a field of learning theories that separated the ideas of understanding and learning. Learning is creating connections between ideas we already know (contextualization).

  3. Dec 2021
  4. Jul 2021
    1. Feature Idea: Chaos Monkey for PKM

      This idea is a bit on the extreme side, but it does suggest that having a multi-card comparison view in a PKM system would be useful.

      Drawing on Raymond Llull's combitorial memory system from the 12th century and a bit of Herman Ebbinghaus' spaced repetition (though this is also seen in earlier non-literate cultures), one could present two (or more) random atomic notes together as a way of juxtaposing disparate ideas from one's notes.

      The spaced repetition of the cards would be helpful for one's long term memory of the ideas, but it could also have the secondary effect of nudging one to potentially find links or connections between the two ideas and help to spur creativity for the generation of new hybrid ideas or connection to other current ideas based on a person's changed context.

      I've thought about this in the past (most likely while reading Frances Yates' Art of Memory), but don't think I've bothered to write it down (or it's hiding in untranscribed marginalia).

    1. For the second keynote, I took copious notes and followed the spaced interval formula. A month later, by golly, I remember virtually all of the material. And in case if you're wondering, both talks were equally interesting to me--the difference was the reversal of Ebbinghaus' Forgetting Curve.

      Not exactly a real scientific trial, but...

      Note also that the other part was his having taken notes and actively engaged with the material as he heard it. The notes also formed the basis of his ability to do the spaced repetition.

      Mnemonic methods could be used in place of the note taking for the properly trained. Visual memory just goes to expand on it.

      This is an awfully fluff article that's probably too prescriptive. I wonder how many people it influences to try it out? How successful will they be without a more specific prescription?

  5. May 2021
    1. the utility of either the Western "memory palace" technique or the Australian Aboriginal narrative method likely requires sustained practice and repeated exposure to the target material for long-term retention (i.e. weeks to months)

      This also shouldn't have been in question. There's a reasonably large body of practical experience of the effects of spaced repetition from indigenous cultures, not to mention psychology research from Hermann Ebbinghaus onwards.

  6. Oct 2020
    1. These are preliminary results, and need more investigation.

      How preliminary can they really be? The idea of spaced repetition goes back to the ancient Greeks and Romans and Hermann Ebbinghaus did psychology research on the topic and was publishing in 1885. Surely they've got to have a better grasp than this indicates here.