Hello listeners, it's Friday, March 22nd, 2024, and you're joining another episode
of The Science of Self, where you improve your life from the inside out.
Today's episode dives into the fascinating world of learning, exploring exactly how the
brain learns.
This episode comes from the book Super Brain by Peter Hollins, whose insights will be exploring
throughout the show.
So buckle up, get ready to unlock the secrets to supercharging your learning potential.
Learning is one of the foundational cognitive processes we have, and one which distinguishes
us as humans.
Some animals are born with instincts, a kind of pre-installed series of behavioral patterns
that tell birds to build their nests or spiders to make their webs, or birds to fly south when
it gets cold.
Animals need not learn to do many things that are essential for their survival, but humans
do.
Even such basic things for our daily life as language must be learned, even if they do
have some innate basis.
We start learning from the moment we're born, and our brain is naturally wired for it.
Kids absorb information like sponges, ready to learn everything about the world, but we
are ready and able to learn even as adults.
This process underlies most things we do, but if we are naturally wired for learning,
why do we struggle with it so much?
Once again, the answer to that is related to a lack of understanding of how learning
works.
When we learn to walk and talk, we do it in a way that comes naturally to our brains,
no problem, but from the time we enter school we are often taught other, less effective
ways of studying.
We often lose our natural motivation to learn, especially if we have had bad experiences
or associate the process with tediousness and boredom.
We start trying to learn by rote memorization.
All these things can hurt our ability to learn in the future.
But we can make up for this by adopting better strategies for learning, specifically those
that respect the brain's natural learning abilities, which are considerable.
Specific negative experiences in school and beyond with learning can leave a person feeling
incapable or not wired for it.
While some struggle more with academic learning specifically, it is untrue that there are
people who cannot learn.
Our brains are made for learning just as much as they are made for survival.
Even as adults, neuroplasticity shows we can learn whatever we want.
If we can't, it's usually because we first need to develop the right skills for learning
effectively or because we're missing more basic information.
Here, we'll focus on the evidence-based techniques that will help your brain rebuild its natural
love and learning skills.
Weaving a Strong Neural Network
We know that our brain works through association by building neural networks.
Each neuron can have hundreds and thousands of connections.
The things with more and stronger associations with other aspects of our life are those that
are best embedded in our networks.
We're unlikely to forget our own name, for example, because it's closely tied to our
personal history and identity and hundreds of experiences.
The neuron responsible for our name probably has thousands of connections across the brain.
But the less embedded something is, the less likely we are to remember.
Something that is irrelevant and disconnected from our experiences and other neural networks
is unlikely to stay in our minds for a long time.
If you were told to remember a random number, you would struggle more with it than with
a phone number for a dear friend, because this number becomes attached to a neural network.
Technique Number 11, Building Strong Connections
To enhance our learning, we need to place the new information in a context and tie it
to things we already know and our experiences.
Context helps the existing connections that can link to this new bit in our neural networks.
How It Connects to the Brain?
Learning is the process that occurs in the brain through a series of created new connections
between neurons.
There is a physiological basis to what we know or fail to recall.
We will examine how this allows us to form stronger connections that are likely to last,
which translates into better and enduring learning.
If you are learning a new piece of information, consider how it connects to your life or to
real life.
Can you find examples in your memory that can be linked to that new bit of information?
Can you link it to the media you consume or your personal history?
Is there any other knowledge you can tie to this new bit of information?
Consider that you are learning the history of a country and it is new to you.
You might remember things better if you connect them to other historical facts and dates that
you already know.
What was going on in the rest of the world during this time?
Do the historical events occur to remind you of stories or facts you know?
What is your personal feeling about the events and how do they relate to your own life?
The more connections you make, the better you will remember.
Personal and emotional connections to your own experience and history are even more likely
to endure.
Also consider making connections that draw on as many of your five senses as possible
to give new information more dimension.
You are more likely to recall a memory if you have paid attention to the sights, smells
and sounds accompanying that moment rather than just a few abstract details.
Connections can also help us improve recall.
If you need to remember something better, what can you do?
Use context cues to jog your brain.
Think of these retrieval cues almost as handles or tags that help you find and pull up stored
information.
When we consolidate our learning inside our memory, we do not place the new item into
a separate box, rather it is connected to other data and information, not just other
knowledge but also context clues.
If thing A and thing B occur together, we are likely to link them in our minds.
If we wanted to remember A, we could think of B and our brains would naturally go in
that direction.
Try memorizing and learning in a similar context to make your learning more effective for a
particular context.
Sense, music, flavors and other cues can help our brain remember what was going on and produce
the information we want.
When we are happy, it is easier to remember happy memories and things we learned while
we felt happy and the same thing happens with the other emotions.
It is far easier to recall something with a powerful emotional impact on us than something
that bored us.
This is why mnemonics used to improve studying are so much better when they are rude, funny
or outrageous, they stand out in memory.
To bring back a particular type of information or experience, place yourself in a context
that can bring similar ideas to mind.
Chewing a specific gum flavor while studying and during the exam, for example, can help
you recall the items you learned through association or perhaps you study different chapters in
different parts of your house.
During the exam, you can recall the exact day you studied a particular chapter and you
can remember details of that room which help you recall details of the chapter.
Additional strategies to build stronger connections involve using different aids to create visual
images, audio associations and more.
If you are struggling to learn something just from reading, add charts and images or visualize
what you learned as vividly as you can.
Podcast and video talk about it and explain it to others so you can hear it in your own
voice.
This will strengthen the connection network and might make it easier for you to recall
the information.
Add more connections for each new piece of information and connect it as much as you
can to what you already know.
Remember the context and associated cues.
Use different ways of learning not because of learning styles but because they will add
more connections to your network and cement the new information.
Two thinking modes.
When we learn, our brain usually alternates between two modes of thinking.
We have the focused mode and the diffuse mode.
The focused mode is defined as the state when we focus on our activity.
For example, when reading, writing or doing calculations, our brain is likely in focused
mode.
Otherwise, we might have to reread or won't be making much progress on these tasks.
The diffuse mode involves allowing the mind to wander.
We're not disconnected from the world but we're not thinking of anything.
Our thoughts go here and there, darting from one idea to the next.
Some activities make it easy for our minds to wander, for example doing the dishes or
listening to music or doodling.
We can't stay focused all the time nor can we always be distracted.
The two modes are a little like a laser versus a dull broad spotlight.
Our brain will normally alternate between the two modes of thinking.
You surely experienced it yourself.
If you're trying to learn from a text, after a while you might find your mind drifting
because it can't sustain attention for so long but eventually you can focus back on
what you were reading.
This is normal and it can promote our learning.
Technique number 12, planning for the switches.
When learning, we need to alternate between these two modes and plan to have time to engage
in both.
Here we can also remember our ultradian rhythms, our energy levels, ebb and flow and so does
our attention.
That's not a problem.
During a 90 minute learning session, we might focus and then lose focus but both states
promote our learning.
To allow the information to set in our brain, we should spend a period working intently
and giving our full attention to the stimuli and then do something else while it settles.
Take a walk or a shower, doodle or listen to music.
This is not being lazy but promoting learning in a new way.
For new knowledge, we might need to let the information simmer around our brain with the
diffuse mode, otherwise we can be left with a superficial understanding of the topic.
Mind wandering allows our brain to process the information and connect it to other associations
within our brain.
Sleep is especially useful in this way since it allows your brain to consolidate everything
it learned and refresh itself.
Try drilling through something just before bed and then again when you wake up in the
morning with no effort, you'll notice that it's easier after a night's sleep.
The need for regular pauses and breaks is one reason why cramming doesn't work.
When we cram, we do the focused mode throughout the session but we don't allow the information
to settle and be processed in the diffuse mode.
It's like attempting to tense a muscle continuously without a break.
In other words, it doesn't work and you only end up exhausting yourself or getting an injury.
How it connects to the brain?
We can't always voluntarily pay full attention.
Our brain needs to go between different modes of processing information and we can't ignore
this aspect of our neural functioning permanently.
You can learn a better way by alternating between focused and diffuse mode throughout
a study lesson.
Don't be afraid to take breaks.
Remember that your body also needs them and so does your brain.
It will reinforce not hurt your learning.
Just focus on the topic first for a significant period like half an hour, an hour, or an hour
and a half.
Just like you plan your average day using ultradian rhythms, plan to alternate between
focus and diffuse promoting activities.
You can take a couple of hours to read, watch videos, take notes, solve the problem actively,
answer questions, and then spend some time outdoors or just away from the desk.
Stretch and get into your body and out of your mind.
Some good ideas for the diffuse mode involve light chores, exercise, walking, being in
nature, doodling or drawing, free writing, and more.
Less information is more.
Can you memorize a 250-word list of random concepts?
Possibly, but it will likely be difficult, but if you have to learn a poem by heart,
it will probably be much easier for you to learn 250 words by heart and in order.
Why?
Because of how these types of stimuli present their information, one offers a non-organized
list.
The other tidily puts the information together so it's easy to process and remember.
The information is organized in a way digestible for our brains and much more likely to be placed
in a neural network without issue.
This process is called chunking and it's a brilliant way to get your brain to remember
more than it naturally can.
Chunking involves organizing information in easily digestible chunks that promote learning.
The quantity of information doesn't change and neither does the quality.
The only thing that changes is how it's organized and presented.
There are different ways to chunk.
We can group smaller units into a bigger chunk, for example putting together an acronym
to remember a list of concepts.
We can split a big chunk of information into smaller, more manageable units like dividing
a book into chapters and the chapters into sections and so on.
We might also group things depending on how they relate to each other, e.g. first and
second, more important and less important, general and specific, etc. or how similar
they are.
Technique number 13, how to make chunks.
We can learn more effectively if we present the information in ways that are easy to process.
It's hard to learn the contents of a whole book and easier to go topic by topic.
It's hard to learn a dozen random words and easier to learn a phrase that brings these
words together.
Here are a few ways you can chunk information for easier consumption.
Tell a story.
Our brains can't get enough of stories.
We can remember a well-told anecdote years after first hearing it and remember all the
complex relationships of our favorite TV show characters even if it's been going on for
a hundred episodes.
A good story helps us remember.
You can integrate the information you need to learn in a story that reflects the information
sequence.
If you're learning something that has a narrative, like a historical event or which requires
understanding of cause and effect relationships, take advantage of that and integrate other
information like dates into the story.
Do a mind map.
A mind map is a way of organizing information visually.
On a sheet of paper or your drawing or mind mapping app of choice, you can create a representation
of how different ideas and concepts fit together.
Summarize the information, use the image to represent how it all comes together.
For example, if something is split into various categories or if two things belong on the
same level.
This will help you structure the information and discover the connections between separate
ideas much like our brain does it.
Find your own way to create meaningful chunks of information.
A story is one way to give information meaning and a drawing is another.
Find other solutions to construct chunks of information that make sense to you.
You can tie separate ideas into a phrase or an acronym.
For example, fanboys is a well-known acronym that stands for and, nor, but, or yet and
so that need to be separated by a comma when used to separate two independent clauses.
Fanboys is easier to remember.
Some people think better by drawing or doodling what they're trying to learn or creating bizarre
visual images.
Techniques like the memory palace involve memorizing different forms of information by
placing visual images in a mental representation of a place they know well.
This creates a meaningful sequence that's easy to follow and recall.
Don't try to swallow information as it's given to you.
If it is unstructured, confusing, or something that you do not understand, you won't memorize
it and you won't learn it, though you might hold on to some ideas for a while.
For deep learning, work with the information so your brain is ready and willing to learn
it.
Pavlov and his dogs You might have heard of Ivan Pavlov and his
dogs.
Famously, this researcher taught them how to react to the sound of a bell by salivating.
This reflects the same pattern our brain learns through association.
Pavlov was experimenting with his dogs and studying their digestion.
Inadvertently, he created a strong association between the sound of a bell that always sounded
when the food was about to come.
He observed that the dogs were now reacting not to the food but the bell because the presentation
of the two items together helped the dogs create a strong association between the two.
The dogs learned this simple thing if there is the sound of a bell.
Food is about to be presented.
While our brains are more complex than those of a dog, our learning operates in the same
way.
We might also develop associations with sounds, smells, experiences, and more.
If your alarm always rings at 7am, for example, you might still wake up at that hour even
if it doesn't ring.
There's an association between 7am and you waking up.
If you're not found at school, the sound of a school bell might still evoke feelings
of dread even if your pupil dates are far behind you.
Like habits, these associations are automatic and unconscious.
We've discussed this previously, but you can promote your learning through these little
sensory associations.
14.
Plant cues for your future self
You can improve your recall of past information and events by recreating the context in which
you learned or experienced them.
If you hear the song you associate with an ex-partner, it's easy to think of them and
your relationship and go down memory lane.
But don't be at the mercy of this process.
You can deliberately pre-plant these cues to support your learning.
Your brain will do the work for you here, and these associations can help you remember
things when it becomes most important.
Wouldn't it be great if you could stimulate a precise memory using particular sensations?
Theoretically, you can.
If you're preparing for an exam, see whether you can study in the same room where it will
take place.
The context will help you remember the information more effectively.
If you can replicate other elements, like a scent you're wearing or a taste you have
in your mouth, it can also help.
However, you should not use scents or flavors or other stimuli you experience every day,
which will naturally weaken the association.
How it connects to the brain
Your brains organized through neural networks, activating one node in this network can make
others more active.
When we consciously integrate specific details or concepts into the network, it's like
creating a neural path to the desired information we can retrace later.
You can use this strategy to create easy ways to pull yourself into a better mood, for example
by playing a song you enjoy only when you feel happy.
Playing that song later can nudge you towards a better emotional state, as long as you use
it sparingly.
This is a smaller strategy that can help you prepare in advance.
It's easy to use and relatively quick to implement.
Make learning more fun We've talked a little about the extrinsic and
intrinsic motivation for reducing your procrastination.
You can apply the same strategies here and gamification to make learning more fun.
Here you might find these strategies work just as well, especially those related to
intrinsic motivation and rewards.
But are there other ways to make learning more fun besides the ones we've discussed?
Technique number 14 Creative learning approaches
Many people have had bad experiences in schools.
They found them stifling or boring.
But that should not be the attitude we have towards learning now.
We have the power to make it more fun, and fun is likely to motivate our brain more thanks
to the anticipation of the experience.
When we associate learning with fulfilling and fun experiences, it becomes easier to
motivate ourselves to learn something new.
How it connects to the brain Creativity is a highly complex neural process.
However, it appears to be one that our brains enjoy a lot and is tied to the dopaminergic
system.
Get creative Creativity is difficult to describe, but
it stimulates our brain and is motivational.
We like being creative and finding new ways of expressing ourselves, and the more creative
we are, the more creative we can be.
So consider how you can be creative about your learning.
How will you take notes?
What will help you practice the skills?
Make it a challenge for yourself to do something unexpected and look for non-standard ways of
engaging with the topic.
A benefit of this is that you're far more likely to remember and make good use of your
own techniques than those you've merely adopted from other people.
As an adult learner, you have all the freedom you want to pursue your own projects and learning
objectives.
In other contexts, you might be a little more limited, but you still have the choice of
bringing creativity whenever you can.
By engaging in this way with the material or the skills, you're making it more likely
that the process will be enjoyable for you.
For example, many people love artistically taking notes, accompanying them with collars
or stickers.
Or they study in interesting or different locations each time.
They make the process creative and more enjoyable so they have more motivation to engage with
the material in the way they like.
Look for materials you're likely to enjoy.
When learning something new, look for supporting materials and texts.
Be afraid of looking for materials you want to read, watch, or listen to.
Even if they are unorthodox, you're in charge.
There are plenty of videos and podcasts that engage with the topic in a fun way and might
bring you an unexpected perspective on the situation.
Likewise, you may be exposed to a teacher or speaker more on your wavelength and who stirs
your passion for the topic.
This doesn't mean you have to enjoy all the materials you're working with, but finding
those you would explore and engage with on your own is a good way of supporting your
learning experience.
Find stories that involve what you're learning.
Stories are a good way of organizing information to learn, but they can support your experience
and help you understand the material better.
Telling is an effective strategy that can be applied with adult learners because it
motivates, generates curiosity, and often gives us a broader perspective on the topic.
Remember that your brain loves connections and it loves meaningful narratives.
You might not influence the strategies of your instructor if you're learning formally,
but you can look for stories that connect to what you're studying.
And if the only story you can generate is to argue with your instructor, at least you're
engaging authentically with the material.
There are many ways to do this.
You can choose a less direct approach.
Science fiction might talk about science, for example.
You can look for real-life examples and stories that are much more memorable than just the
facts.
Of course, stories, and especially fiction, are not always accurate, but this can present
a challenge of its own.
How does it get things wrong?
Why does it get things wrong?
How would you fix it?
Stories encourage us creatively and stimulate our imagination, and our brain is much more
likely to remember a tale than a statistic.
Deep Processing The more we engage with the subject, the better
we learn it.
It's not enough to just read it and be done with it.
We might need to go deeper and allow our brains more interaction with the material.
This is called deep processing.
How do you ensure that you're learning in depth and not superficially?
First, do the things proven to help your brain remember and avoid the strategies proven ineffective.
Second, we've discussed how it's good for you to engage with different materials, from
texts to videos, on what you're learning.
Besides more associations and neural connections, this also helps us promote deep processing
as we continuously engage with the subject and reinforce what we know as we also make
progress.
What other strategies are there?
Effective Study Methods First, let's mention the techniques that do
not work for studying and don't lead to deep processing.
Rereading is not a good strategy.
It makes us think we know something when we might not know it.
Reread to understand better, but not to study better.
The same applies to highlighting and underlining.
It can help you find the information later, but does not affect retention or recall.
Then what does work?
The first strategy that is very helpful is testing yourself.
Close the text or put away your notes and try to answer a few questions or solve problems.
This active form of engagement guarantees you'll remember things much better later on.
How does this connect with the brain?
Active Study Strategies help reinforce our neural networks and build powerful connections
between neurons that can endure even if time goes on.
Try to explain to or teach someone else what you've just learned.
Animated and interested students are best, however, you can do with your reflection in
the mirror, a pet, or any other person.
This technique is great at revealing what you understand and don't understand and promotes
better learning.
It helps to explain it as simply as you can rather than reproduce the information from
memory.
Use your own words and style.
Space Your Study Lessons
Cramming is another ineffective approach, whether it's for a test or any other purpose.
Our brains need time to strengthen the neural associations between concepts and ideas, which
only happens with various repetitions over several days.
To remember things for longer, you should space your repetition over a longer while.
Engaging with learning on a deep level also means being more active.
Try creating your own ideas, projects, or applications, even if they stay as concepts.
Being proactive forces your brain to take the matter seriously and make it more memorable
overall.
Learning is a basic process for our brains, but this doesn't mean we can't make it
more effective.
By applying the right strategies and knowing how our brain operates, we can boost our results
and teach ourselves whatever we want.
It just takes time and repeated effort.
Takeaways We can improve our capacity to learn and memorize
by working with our brains' innate abilities.
Learning is possible for everyone, which need to use the right strategies.
Help your brain to have a better recall by weaving a strong neural network that makes
as many neural connections between ideas as possible.
Connect new pieces of information to as many other pieces of information as you can to
cement it in your memory.
There are two thinking modes, diffuse and focused.
We naturally switch between these as our brain alternates effort and rest.
Plan for and support these switches by scheduling breaks according to your own biological rhythms.
The brain can only remember so much information, but it can effectively remember more if you
chunk that information.
You can chunk by finding narratives, making mind maps, or looking for meaningful connections
and associations to organize data into simpler units.
Pavlov famously trained as dogs using classical conditioning.
We can do the same when we deliberately plant cues for ourselves and build associations between
stimuli and desired behaviors.
And associations from early schooling can undermine our learning.
We can undo these by thinking creatively and finding novel ways to bring fun to our
own processes, whether we study formally or on our own.
Finally, deep processing is about the rich understanding we have of a topic rather than
a superficial grasp.
We need to learn to read for deep comprehension and understanding, which we can test by explaining
concepts to others.
We're far more likely to retain content if we process content deeply.
That brings us to the end of this episode on how the brain learns.
I hope you've gained some valuable insights and strategies to boost your learning power.
Remember, the key is to work with your brain's natural abilities, not against them.
For more information, you can check out Peter Holland's book, Super Brain, on Audible, Amazon,
and iTunes.
Check out Peter's website and sign up for his newsletter at bit.ly slash Peter Holland's.