Althouse: "[M]uttering to yourself and talking about things out loud helps improve your memory and the knowledge that you retain."

June 1, 2010

"[M]uttering to yourself and talking about things out loud helps improve your memory and the knowledge that you retain."

"You may look a little odd talking to yourself, but studying out loud improves information retention by differentiating bits of knowledge."

(And don't miss the photograph at the link!)

18 comments:

Will said...: You are rapidly becoming an internet meme for "harried, last minute cramming."

Weird.; 6/1/10, 3:21 PM
Phil 314 said...: What the hell(again)!

Have you become a stock photo?; 6/1/10, 3:23 PM
Triangle Man said...: What were you muttering?; 6/1/10, 3:27 PM
Tibore said...: "You may look a little odd talking to yourself, but studying out loud improves information retention by differentiating bits of knowledge."

What's missing is that it's all too often done as compensation for diminishing memory. Which explains why I talk to myself a lot... :(; 6/1/10, 3:28 PM
kjbe said...: It's always worked for me...; 6/1/10, 3:40 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Well, that explains why I can't forget my ex,...; 6/1/10, 3:42 PM
Joan said...: When I'm studying for an exam, I review my notes, and if I have time, I rewrite them -- I have found that writing something out is like engraving it in my brain. My last-minute review is to read the notes aloud, and it's amazing how helpful this is, especially since I'm taking my classes online and never hear the material aloud otherwise. Important details I'll repeat 2 or 3 times.

When I'm teaching I tell my students why it's important to see, hear, and write information -- different connections are created and reinforced in the brain that way, and you're much more likely to remember the information. Education "reformers" knocked repetition of facts like the times tables, but it really does work.; 6/1/10, 3:51 PM
Big Mike said...: How does it feel to be an Internet icon?

BTW, as Joan suggests there are different styles of learning and I imagine that talking helps those who are auditory learners but not necessariloy kinesthetic learners or visual learners.; 6/1/10, 3:58 PM
traditionalguy said...: That picture really attracts readers to any story about education. The "muttering to yourself" phrase is suggestive of mental illness, but behold it is and always was the best memory tool. That is how we learn our ABCs and multiplication tables and pad lock codes and serial numbers and national anthem and scripture verses...we say them out loud over and over and then we have them forever.; 6/1/10, 4:00 PM
Pastafarian said...: "...You may look a little odd talking to yourself..."

What are they saying here exactly?

Do they think that (young) Althouse looks odd?

Do they think that she looks like someone who you might see talking to herself?

Or is this the only photo that anyone can find of someone actually studying? I spent quite a bit of time studying in school (had to, I'm not bright enough to have graduated without considerable effort) and I doubt that a single photo exists to document these thousands of hours.

And in these days of ubiquitous phone cameras and camera phones, studying seems much less ubiquitous. Our babysitter attends Kent State, and if her Facebook page is any indication, she spends more time drinking beer and making goofy faces with her friends than she does working.; 6/1/10, 4:08 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Your kids and spouse will look at you strange and wish you would please stop doing it in front of their friends, but it does work.; 6/1/10, 4:16 PM
A.W. said...: actually there is alot of truth in what she is saying. it actually causes you to access different areas of the brain. dyslexics talk to themselves alot because it is inputting the information in a way that is better for the brain. Don't ask me to explain.

this is actually something scientists have known about for a while.; 6/1/10, 4:23 PM
reader_iam said...: Yay!!!!! Vindication of a lifetime!!!

See, I wasn't **just** talking to myself all that time!

: ); 6/1/10, 4:29 PM
Penny said...: Study groups may make sense then.; 6/1/10, 5:15 PM
1775OGG said...: Wear a bluetooth ear device and everyone will think you're talking on the phone, with an very intransigent individual.; 6/1/10, 5:56 PM
traditionalguy said...: The key to memory work is saying the material out loud to yourself repeated many times over several days. Reading is no help. Hearing another say it over and over is no help. The memorisation part of our soul wants to learn stuff by listening to our own powerful spoken voice. Try it!; 6/1/10, 5:57 PM
J.R. said...: The poor law student just looks slightly deranged. :); 6/1/10, 7:44 PM
AST said...: That must be the reason why educators have decided to abandon recitation in grammar schools. It was too obvious and anybody could do it.; 6/1/10, 8:00 PM