Active Recall
Rereading feels productive but rarely builds durable memory. Active recall — retrieving instead of reviewing — is one of the best-evidenced techniques in learning science. Here’s why, and how to do it.
Forgetting Curve
You finish a chapter feeling like you’ve learned it — and a week later most of it is gone. That’s not a bad memory; it’s the forgetting curve, a predictable pattern of memory decay that applies to almost everyone. Understand its shape and you can bend it, using the two techniques that actually make learning stick.
Spaced Repetition: The Evidence-Based Method for Retaining Anything
Spaced repetition is the most evidence-backed learning technique available — and the one most systematically ignored. The Cepeda et al. (2006) meta-analysis of 317 experiments confirms it outperforms massed practice across all conditions. But the mechanism most people miss is that the benefit comes from the retrieval attempt, not the re-exposure. This guide covers the neuroscience, the correct Anki implementation, the 85% accuracy calibration rule, the sleep integration that multiplies retention gains, and the cholinergic supplement stack that supports memory encoding.
