Retrieval practice

• Try to recall first, then check your notes.
• Recalling is harder than recognizing, and that effort helps memory.
• It also shows you what you do not know yet.

Retrieval practice means pulling information out of your memory instead of putting it back in by rereading. Closing the book and writing down what you remember is retrieval practice. Reading the chapter again is not. The benefit of practicing recall is often called the testing effect.

Example: answering from memory before checking notes

Say you have just read a page about the water cycle. Close the notes and write down, from memory, the main stages in order. Suppose you write: evaporation, condensation, precipitation. Now open the notes and compare.

You find the list also has collection, where water gathers in rivers, lakes and oceans before it evaporates again. You missed one of four stages, so you know exactly what to review: not the whole page, just that stage.

Check: the notes list 4 stages and you recalled 3, so 3 out of 4 came from memory and 1 did not.

Why it matters

There is a difference between recall and recognition. When you reread, everything looks familiar, and familiarity feels like knowing. Recalling asks you to produce the answer with no cue, which is what an exam or a real task asks for. Practicing the harder skill is better preparation for it.

A few habits make it easier. Cover your notes before you start. Answer in writing or out loud, not just in your head, since it is easy to fool yourself that you knew it. Then mark what you missed and come back to those parts first. Getting something wrong is useful here: it shows you where the gap is while there is still time to fill it.

Retrieval practice works best when repeated over days, as in spaced repetition. You can build it into any subject by turning headings into questions. For ideas, see how to write retrieval practice questions for your class.