forgetting curve

concept · in 10 sources (2018–2020)

The idea that over time we forget what we have learned at an exponential rate, and that each review interrupts the curve so the material takes longer to forget.

Sources by year: 2018: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2020: 6

Also named in the threads: Ali memorises essay references with the peg system in his second year of medical school (2014)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

spaced repetition (8) · active recall (5) · University of Oxford (2)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2020

• 2020-02-13 · Top 5 Revision & Study Tips for Students — Ali explains that in the 1800s Ebbinghaus found memory of anything learned decays exponentially, and that revising a topic the next day, then a week later, makes it take longer to forget each time. — 00:00:58
• 2020-02-28 · My Favourite Note-Taking App for Students - Notion — Ali: Spaced repetition counteracts the forgetting curve, which Ali says Ebbinghaus discovered in the 1800s: memory of anything learned decays exponentially over time. — 00:12:05
  • Forgetting a topic a week later does not mean you are stupid, Ali says: your friends have the same problem, since forgetting what you do not revisit is an innate part of how memory works. — 00:12:05
  • Ali's spaced repetition: do a topic on day one, again the next day, a week later and a month later; each repetition interrupts the forgetting curve and makes forgetting slower, until the topic is in long-term memory. — 00:12:42
• 2020-03-13 · The KEY Study Techniques for Exam Success — Ali: With the peg system Ali memorised a list of about 50 references the night before a second-year exam, and forgot them the next day because he had not repeated them. — 00:28:37
• 2020-08-11 · Study with Me - Hustle & Chill — Ali's delayed active recall tests him on material from a few weeks ago, using the spaced repetition effect to combat the forgetting curve. — 00:02:20
• 2020-10-08 · How I Remember Everything I Read — Ali cites the forgetting curve of memory research: over time memory for everything decays unless we find a way to engage with it. — 00:00:58
• 2020-11-15 · How I Gained 1 MILLION Subscribers — Ali: Laying the forgetting curve over the growth graph, Ali says that about 302 videos in he has forgotten how much effort the early work took; two or three videos a week now feels normal. (hedged) — 00:02:27

2019

• 2019-06-16 · How to Study for Exams - The STic Framework for Effective Learning — Ali explains the forgetting curve, a long-known finding of memory research, as the idea that memory decays over time, as when lecture material is gone a day or a week later. — 00:04:20
  • To students who forget lesson material the next day and think they are bad at learning, Ali says this is how memory works: classmates also need repeated sessions, and nobody just gets it first time. — 00:04:50
• 2019-11-26 · How my friend ranked 1st at Medical School - The Active Recall Framework — Ali: Cramming works in the short term, but for information to stick long term it must be repeated at spaced intervals to overcome the forgetting curve, so before the exam every question should be gone through. — 00:11:24
• …and 1 statement more in 2019 — all statements of 2019

2018

• 2018-04-09 · How to Study for Exams - Spaced Repetition · Evidence-based revision tips — Ali says spaced repetition works because of the forgetting curve, known in psychology since the 1800s: over time we forget things at an exponential rate. — 00:01:36
  • Ali says each review interrupts the forgetting curve, and after each interruption it takes longer to forget the material. — 00:02:05
• 2018-12-22 · Study Tips - How to learn new content — Ali describes the forgetting curve: over time you forget everything you have learned unless you revisit it by testing yourself. — 00:09:30
  • For spaced repetition, Ali advises testing yourself the next day, again after a week and again a month later; after three or four repetitions over a month or two the forgetting curve is very flat. (hedged) — 00:09:59