Thursday, August 30, 2012

Practical Psychology: Improve Memory By Resting




Research published in Psychological Science by Michaela Dewar et al found that a brief (10 minute) wakeful rest following new verbal learning enhances memory for at least 7 days.

So here's a top tip in the week leading up to your exams - after reading each piece of material you need to learn rest quietly with your eyes closed for 10 minutes in a darkened room - because as the authors note:

"In this age of information overload, there are few opportunities to sit back and rest. However, as demonstrated by our findings, postlearning resting can be highly beneficial if one wishes to retain new information over the long term."

You can read the study's abstract via the following link.

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/07/23/0956797612441220

(Photo Credit: thekellyscope)

3 comments:

Frederik said...

Yes indeed. Resting on "purpose" is a good idea to replenish one's energy supplies.

While I don't really close my eyes, I read a little when I start feeling exhausted and after 10 minutes I feel refreshed again.

Thanks for sharing this information.

Jane Ilene Cohen said...

I think the reason quiet rest after studying the material you want to learn is beneficial is it allows it to connect with your unconscious mind. This enables you to process the material in relation to what is actually true for you, in other words how it relates to your present moment reality.

Anonymous said...

There is an experiment that says when a person distracted they remember something better. But I bet this improving memory by resting is much more effective than the distraction experiment.