Understand

Understanding the information greatly facilitates retention and retrieval. Aim for in-depth, active engagement with the material: understand the underlying principles and paraphrase, analyse and summarise the information. Personalise it by relating it to your experiences. Ask yourself: “Do I know it well enough to explain it in my own words to someone else?”

Organise

Organising information aids memory. Look at the random group of 2 letters in (a). How many x’s and o’s are there? Now look at group (b). Organisation makes information into meaningful patterns which are readily taken in and remembered.

1. x xoo ox o o xo
   xo xo ox xo xx
2. ooooo xxxxx
   ooooo xxxxx

Minimise interference

Studies show that new learning interferes with previous learning. Space things out, don't overload in one session. In a study session, it might be more productive to work on two dissimilar subjects. Working on similar subjects with similar symbols, for instance, may cause confusion. Materials studied before bedtime seems to have a higher rate of retention.

Reinforce

Shorter but more frequent revisions have been found to be much more effective than extended but infrequent sessions. Research suggests that memory traces deriving from brain activity weaken unless they are reinforced periodically and information is thereby transferred to long-term memory.

Recognise retention pattern

You remember things best at the beginning of a study session, less at the end and least in the middle. Therefore things that require most attention should be studied early in the session. For that reason it is sensible to do some compensational studying of what was tackled during the middle of the session, like devoting more time to it or studying it earlier in the session the following session.

Relate and associate

Relate what is to be learnt to what you already know. Establish associations; outrageous ones are often most effective as ‘triggers’.

Try mnemonic devices

• Jingles (e.g. “Thirty days hath April, June, September and November....”)
• Acronyms (e.g. VIBGYOR for colours of the rainbow: violet, indigo, etc)
• Catch-phrases (e.g. “Lazy french tarts sit naked in anticipation.” to remind of the nerves that pass through the superior orbital fissure of the skull: lachrymal, frontal, trochlear, etc)

Employ the various senses

Expose as many senses as possible to the information you are trying to learn to maximise retention. Reinforce retention by writing, reciting, listening, seeing, smelling or whatever it takes; create your own multimedia experience if it is possible.

Minimise stress and maintain good health

Stress reduces attention span, creates information overload, short-circuits the neural path and interferes with information retrieval. ‘Mental blocks’ and ‘examination blackouts’ are products of anxiety. Research also suggests that good health and fresh air could aid your memory and mental health.

Put your mind to it

Concentrate. An explicit intention prompts the necessary effort.