Edugames Limited

Educating the World!

RESEARCH 2008

Overlearning

Learning in which practice proceeds beyond the point where the act can just be performed with the required degree of excellence .

Factors in Retention

We have been concerned with the problems of reaming and the process by which behavior is acquired. Let us now look at the closely related phenomena of forgetting and retention.

As you read through the text, keep the following questions in mind.

· What is long-term memory? Short-term memory?

· How would you measure recognition? Recall? Relearning?

· What kind of retention task is the most difficult?

· How does meaningfulness influence retention?

· What is a mnemonic?

· What is overlearning?

· How would you apply the known principles of retention to your own learning?

 

LONG-TERM VERSUS SHORT-TERM MEMORY

 

In recent years, evidence has been growing to support the idea of a two-stage memory process. The two stages are short- and long-term memory. We have all had experiences in which we asked someone for a phone number. We dial it and get a busy signal. If we try to redial it just a few seconds later, we usually have to ask for the number again. The number was stored in short-term memory and was quickly lost. If we wish to commit the number to long-term memory, we must either practice it or code it by some associations.

The fastest drop in retention occurs immediately after learning.

Research on short term memory was conducted by Peterson and Peterson (1959). Items were presented for a brief period of time. Subjects were then asked to recall the items at intervals that varied from three to 18 seconds immediately after exposure. Results were dramatic. After three seconds, immediate recall was high, but after 18 seconds less than 10% of the subjects were able to recall the item.

According to one theory, the effects of short-term memory are due to neural traces in the brain resulting from presented stimuli (Hebb 1949). These traces quickly decay over time, making the item less available for immediate retrieval. The theory holds that in long-term memory, permanent traces are formed when stimuli are presented over and over.

 

 

THE COURSE OF FORGETTING

 

Forgetting and retention are inverse concepts. Retention refers to the amount of original learning that is still effective, while forgetting refers to the amount lost. By far the greatest amount of forgetting takes place in the first few moments after learning.  The amount retained after 5 hours is only slightly greater than after 15 hours.

The form of the retention curve depends in part on what measure is used. The three most frequently used measures are recall, relearning, and recognition.

 

RECALL

 

We find different retention rates depending on how we test for recall.

In recall, the subject is asked to reproduce the original response in some form. In experimental work the subject often responds vocally or may even be asked to write his response. Often the student is simply instructed to remember as many items from a list as possible. As might be expected, a test of recall generally yields the lowest measure of retention.

 

RELEARNING

 

Using this method, the subject first learns some material and, after various lengths of time, relearns that same material to the same criterion level. The number of attempts to relearn the material is always fewer than the number required to learn it the first time.

The formula for relearning expresses the percentage of practice time saved.

The relearning score = 100 x (original trials minus relearning trials) divided by original trials

For example: If it took ten trials to learn the material originally and only four trials to relearn it, the relearning score would equal 100 x (10-4)/10 = 60%

Relearning usually reveals more retention than recall because more stimulus conditions are present in both the original learning and the relearning. ,

 

RECOGNITION

 

Recognition is the type of retention measured by a multiple choice question. The learner is required to choose the correct alternative from among several. In an experimental situation, the subject would be required to point out the correct answer from among many.

With recognition measures, even weak retention is revealed. The presence of the correct response among the choices is a prompt for the correct choice. In addition, subjects (and students) can eliminate some incorrect choices on the basis of length, position, incorrect grammar, etc. This increases the chance of making the correct selection. Responses which were previously associated with stimuli similar to the test stimuli are more likely to be selected erroneously. The phenomenon of false recognition can be seen in the familiar feeling that one has been in a certain situation before. This feeling, called deja vue occurs when enough aspects of the immediate situation resemble a previous situation. We incorrectly identify the past with the present.

 

THE FORM OF THE RETENTION CURVE

 

Each of the three measures of retention yields different results.

If we used all three measures of the retention of a learning task, the results would be, where Recognition is the top curve, relearning is next, and recall (on the bottom) shows the lowest amount of retention over time.

 

FACTORS AFFECTING RETENTION

 

Making material meaningful to the subject aids retention

1. Meaningfulness: An important factor in retention is the meaningfulness of the material. In experiments where material has been presented in prose form or where there is a "theme," retention is improved. .

 

Mediating associations are especially useful for long-term retention

2. Mediating Associations: A second variable is the use of mediation elements. Memory experts have long advocated the use of associations and mnemonics in aiding recall.

An example of a well-known mnemonic device is the "On Old Olympus Towering Top, a Finn And German Viewed A Hop," used by medical students to memorize the names of the twelve cranial nerves. The student memorizes the verse and then uses the initial letters to prompt himself to say. "Olfactory, Optic, Culotte, Cochlear," and so on.

The assumption underlying the use of mediation is that if the learner is unable to recall the desired response, he might be able to recall the mediator, which in turn would act as a stimulus for the recall of the response.

For example, suppose you wished to learn an S-R pair like dog-plant. You could put the stimulus word on a flash card and its response on the back. Then you could use the method of anticipation to eventually learn the pair by rote. You could, however, use an alternate strategy. You could find a common association between the two words dog and plant such as house (dog-house, house-plant).

In an experiment by Toast (1967), one group of subjects learned a series of 12 word pairs. A second group of subjects was told only to find some common association between each of the two words. These tasks were followed by a test of immediate recall. The subjects were presented with the first member of each pair and asked to recall the second member. Initially the subjects in the rote-learning group were slightly superior to those in the association group. However, after a two-week interval, the association group showed almost no further loss while the rote group showed a typical loss in  retention over time.

      Some over learning increases short- and long-term retention dramatically

      3. Overlearning: Overlearning results from practicing beyond the point when the material has been mastered. For example, suppose it takes a subject five trials to learn a list of items. If we now require him to complete five additional trials, we say that 100 percent overlearning has occurred. In a study by Krueger (1929), subjects were required to learn a list of nouns. One group reamed with 0 percent overleaming; in other words, they mastered the list, and then were given no more practice. Another group learned with 50 percent and a third with 100 percent additional practice trials beyond mastery.

      The data in Figure 9 clearly indicate that greater overlearning leads to increased retention. However, the improvement in retention from 0 percent to 50 percent overlearning is much greater than the 50 percent to 100 Percent overlearning, indicating that a point was reached beyond which returns from the increased effort diminished.

 

SUMMARY OF FACTORS AFFECTING RETENTION:

It is interesting to note that almost all,"'memory systems" recommended by experts require you to (1) practice by reading or reciting beyond mastery (overlearning) (2) study the material in logical blocks which are related by a theme rather than in small disconnected pieces (increased meaningfulness), or (3) attempt to find as many associations or "reasons" to remember as possible (mediation). These recommendations are obviously in accord with the experimental data.

 

SEE ALSO, THE ARTICLE ON CONSTRUCTIVISM