3 Four Principles of Memory Improvement: A Guide to Improving Learning Efficiency

Recent advances in memory research suggest methods that can be applied to enhance educational practices. We outline four principles of memory improvement that have emerged from research: 1) process material actively, 2) practice retrieval, 3) use distributed practice, and 4) use metamemory. Our discussion of each principle describes current experimental research underlying the principle and explains how people can take advantage of the principle to improve their learning. The techniques that we suggest are designed to increase efficiency—that is, to allow a person to learn more, in the same unit of study time, than someone using less efficient memory strategies. A common thread uniting all four principles is that people learn best when they are active participants in their own learning. Memory research has a 125-year history dating back to the seminal work of Ebbinghaus (1885/1964). In this time, the field has matured into a science with reliable data, firm principles, and well-established theories. In recent years, cognitive psychologists have increasingly shifted their focus towards identifying principles of learning and memory that can be used to make recommendations about enhancing educational practices (e.g. Metcalfe, Kornell, & Son, 2007; Roediger, 2009; Roedige