Research on learning and memory consistently favors active retrieval and spaced practice over passive techniques such as repeated rereading and highlighting, while sleep, exercise and other habits can further support memory formation.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Rereading a chapter until the material looks familiar may feel like successful studying, but decades of learning research suggest familiarity can give students more confidence than lasting memory. Techniques that force the brain to retrieve information and return to it after a delay generally produce stronger long-term retention.
A landmark 2013 review of 10 common learning techniques rated practice testing and distributed, or spaced, practice as the two approaches with the highest overall usefulness. Rereading and highlighting received low ratings because their benefits were less consistent across different materials, learners and tests.
Retrieving Information Strengthens Memory
Retrieval practice means trying to produce information from memory rather than immediately looking back at the answer. Flash cards, practice questions, closing a book and writing down everything remembered, or explaining a topic without notes can all use this principle.
The effect can be substantial. In a study by Jeffrey Karpicke and Henry Roediger, participants learned word lists and were tested again one week later. Repeated retrieval during the original learning session increased later retention by more than 100% in one experimental comparison, while repeatedly studying information that participants had already recalled produced little additional benefit.
Retrieval does more than reveal whether something has been learned. The act of successfully pulling information from memory appears to strengthen later access to that information, a phenomenon often called the testing effect. Another study published in Science found retrieval practice produced better later learning than creating elaborate concept maps, including on questions that required students to understand and apply what they had learned.
Spacing those retrieval attempts also matters. The 2013 review found distributed study sessions consistently outperform cramming when long-term retention is the goal. Rather than repeatedly reviewing the same material during one sitting, learners generally benefit from returning to it over progressively longer intervals. Research supports adjusting the spacing to how long the information needs to be remembered, rather than relying on one universal schedule for every subject or test.
Handwriting and Exercise May Provide Additional Benefits
Taking notes by hand may change how the brain processes information, although claims that handwriting automatically produces better learning should be treated cautiously. A 2024 high-density EEG study involving 36 university students found substantially more elaborate patterns of brain connectivity while participants wrote words with a digital pen than when they typed them on a keyboard.
The researchers noted that those patterns involved brain regions and frequencies associated with attention, information processing and memory formation. However, the experiment measured brain activity rather than subsequent academic performance, so it does not by itself prove that handwritten notes will always be remembered better. A practical approach is to use note-taking to process information actively — summarizing and reorganizing ideas rather than simply transcribing them word for word.
Physical activity may also help under some conditions. Evidence is more nuanced than the simple claim that any walk before studying will improve memory, but recent research generally finds small cognitive benefits from an acute bout of exercise. A 2024 meta-analysis covering 113 studies and 4,390 young adults found a small overall improvement in cognitive performance following acute physical activity, including benefits in working memory and inhibitory control.
Research focusing specifically on memory also suggests that timing can matter. A systematic review and meta-analysis found that exercise before learning produced a modest benefit for episodic memory, while exercise during the actual encoding of information could be counterproductive. Other studies have found that exercise after learning can assist some forms of memory consolidation.
Sleep Is Part of Learning, Not Time Lost From It
Sacrificing sleep to squeeze in more study time can work against the goal of remembering the material. Sleep is an active period of memory processing rather than simply a break from learning.
A major Nature Neuroscience review describes long-term memory formation during sleep as an active consolidation process. During slow-wave sleep, patterns of neural activity associated with recently acquired information can be reactivated and gradually integrated into longer-term brain networks.
That does not mean every memory depends entirely on sleep, and researchers continue to debate the mechanisms involved. But substantial evidence supports adequate sleep as an important part of learning and memory consolidation, making an all-night study session a poor substitute for spaced preparation followed by normal sleep.
Social and Cognitive Activity May Matter Later in Life
The same principles extend beyond students preparing for exams. Maintaining an active lifestyle — mentally, physically and socially — has been associated with slower memory decline in older adults.
A large 10-year study published in The BMJ followed 29,072 adults age 60 and older in China. Researchers examined six lifestyle factors, including regular exercise, a healthy diet, frequent cognitive activity and social contact at least twice per week. Participants following more of the healthy behaviors experienced slower memory decline, including those carrying the APOE ε4 genetic variant associated with increased Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Because the research was observational, it cannot establish that socializing itself prevented memory loss. Still, it adds to evidence that remaining socially and cognitively engaged is associated with healthier cognitive aging.
Learning unfamiliar skills may provide another mental challenge. An often-cited 2007 study of dementia patients found that lifelong bilingual participants developed symptoms roughly four years later, on average, than monolingual participants. The study was retrospective and cannot prove bilingualism caused the difference, but it helped spur wider research into cognitive reserve and mentally demanding activities.
A Better Study Routine
The strongest practical lesson from the research is straightforward: studying should require the brain to do something with information rather than merely see it repeatedly.
After reading a section, close the material and try to reproduce the central ideas from memory. Check what was missed, then test yourself again later rather than immediately rereading everything. Spread those sessions across several days, and use practice questions or flash cards that require genuine recall rather than simply recognizing an answer.
Handwritten summaries can be useful when they force ideas to be condensed and reorganized, while regular exercise and adequate sleep can support the biological processes involved in learning. Mnemonics such as the “memory palace,” which associates information with imagined locations along a familiar route, can also help with certain lists and ordered information.
Rereading is not useless, particularly when material was poorly understood the first time. But research suggests that the feeling of familiarity it produces should not be mistaken for mastery. If the goal is to remember information days, weeks or months later, repeatedly retrieving it from memory — with time between attempts — remains one of the most consistently supported strategies available.
Source: Natural News
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