Practical Psychology: Improve Memory By Resting

Practical tips based on published psychology research.

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)