Why We Forget What We Study, and How to Stop It

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1. 01Why We Forget What We Study

   Good morning, everyone. Have you ever studied hard for a test, and then forgotten almost everything a week later? I'm a university student in Berlin, and this used to happen to me all the time. Today, I'll explain why we forget, and what we can do about it.

   大家早上好。你有没有过这样的经历：为了考试拼命复习，结果一周后几乎全忘了？我是柏林的一名大学生，以前这种事经常发生在我身上。今天，我来解释一下我们为什么会遗忘，以及我们能做些什么。

2. 02The Problem

   Here's the problem. Many of us study by reading our notes again and again the night before a test. It feels productive, but the information disappears quickly.

   问题在这里。我们很多人在考试前一晚，一遍又一遍地看笔记来复习。感觉很有效率，但这些信息很快就消失了。

3. 03The Forgetting Curve

   This isn't a new discovery. In 1885, the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus tested his own memory and described what we now call the forgetting curve. He found that we forget new information fastest in the first hours and days after learning it.

   这并不是什么新发现。1885年，德国心理学家赫尔曼·艾宾浩斯测试了自己的记忆，描述了我们现在所说的遗忘曲线。他发现，我们在学习新信息后的最初几个小时和几天里，遗忘得最快。

   Source: Hermann Ebbinghaus, "Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology" (1885)

4. 04Why Rereading Doesn't Work

   Rereading makes the page feel familiar, so we think we know it. But recognizing something is not the same as being able to recall it on your own.

   重读会让页面看起来很熟悉，所以我们以为自己已经掌握了。但认出某样东西，和能够自己回想起来，并不是一回事。

5. 05Solution 1: Test Yourself

   The first solution is to test yourself. In a 2006 study, Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke found that students who practiced recalling a text remembered more a week later than students who simply studied it again.

   第一个办法是自我测试。在2006年的一项研究中，亨利·罗迪格和杰弗里·卡皮克发现，练习回忆文章内容的学生，一周后记住的内容比只是再学一遍的学生更多。

   Source: Roediger & Karpicke, "Test-Enhanced Learning," Psychological Science (2006)

6. 06Solution 2: Space It Out

   The second solution is spacing. Instead of one long session, review the same material for a short time over several days. Each review catches the memory before it fades.

   第二个办法是间隔复习。不要一次学很长时间，而是在几天里，每次花一点时间复习同样的内容。每一次复习，都能在记忆消失之前把它抓住。

7. 07What I Do Now

   Now I make simple question cards after every class, and I spend about ten minutes a day testing myself. It's less tiring than cramming, and I remember much more.

   现在，我每节课后都会做一些简单的问题卡片，每天花大约十分钟自我测试。这比临时抱佛脚轻松，而且我记住的内容多了很多。

8. 08Conclusion

   To conclude, forgetting is natural, but we can fight it. Test yourself instead of rereading, and spread your reviews over time. Try it before your next exam. Thank you.

   最后，遗忘是很自然的，但我们可以对抗它。用自我测试代替重读，把复习分散到不同的时间。在下次考试前试试看吧。谢谢大家。