How many days of active recall

sorry if i’m clogging up the feed but my question is memory related. so, my learning system now is 50 facts for 6 days. i reviewed many times today [first day], and i just went thru 50 and got one wrong. i don’t want to waste my time, but i also know the space in-between is probably just as impactful as the studying.

since i’m using a static 50 pegs, do you think i would be ok to learn [50 facts + active recall for 3 days], then learn [new 50 facts in the next 3 days.]

if i do 50 for 6 days, that’s basically 50 facts a week. cutting it down to 3 days, would get me 100 facts in and one rest day. i’m not in a rush per se, i just want to learn quick and pass my certification. i’m literally learning all this for a cert test. i do find it interesting but i want to prove to others and myself that i am educated in my career field.

i do want to be efficient, but my goal is long term memory. i plan on learning other interesting subjects after i become an expert in my field.

if 6 days will store it deeper in my mind i’ll take the long route. sure, it’d be nice to get it done quick. but i don’t exactly want to just throw up the info for the test. i would like to memorize these things. what active recall day/time frame do you suggest? 3,4,5,6?

Are you using the same pegs for each additional round of 50 facts?

so i was planning on re-using the pegs. learn 50 for 6 days. then i assume i should have it in long term memory. then start new 50 facts with same 50 pegs. i rolled around the idea of having two separate 50 pegs, so i can be doing 100 facts in the same time frame. like today it took less than 10 minutes to breeze thru 50 facts that i went over a dozen times the day before. so i suppose i have the available time to intake new info. but if it’s better to have 50 in long term, then start a new 50 facts i guess i should do that. i know anki has an algorithm which i trust to be accurate. the only issue is i use pegs, and i may not remember my 150th peg 5 days from now. it should be noted i memorize 5 facts/pegs at time. so when they’re right next to each other i can associate one peg/fact with another on the same flash card on quizlet. so i’m kind of stuck do i be lazy and just focus on a little for longer or try to push the speed pedal. and also, i’m concerned if i do a fact for 6 days, i may forget it in a month or two. that’s where anki shines, is it’ll come back to me. but the nature of pegs doesn’t jive with anki. maybe i can set up anki to ask me regular Q&A flash cards spaced out. that’d remove the peg and just leave the fact to be answered.

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Hmm, perhaps we can answer this puzzle.

The Facts (maybe):

  • You plan to use 50 pegs for 50 facts over 6 days.
  • You’re thinking that will settle those facts in long-term memory.
  • You’ve considered using two sets of 50 pegs, making for a total of 100 unique pegs.
  • You’re doing a pretty good job of remembering the first 50 facts you’ve memorized so far (under 10 minutes).
  • You want to prevent forgetting the previous set of facts after 6 days.
  • And you have the time available.

Did I miss anything?

—Hoping that I didn’t and continuing…

Legitimately having time available, that puts you in a strong position, I’d say.

Another thing that’s on your side:

  • Having lots of diversity and variety in your system.

However

But extend it further.
It will be harder to forget something the more unique pegs you have available.

And yet another thing, you’re half way to having a 00-99 number memorization system.

Once you knock out the other set of 50, your 00-99 system will be exactly as long as mine, LOL. Although, since almost all the “pegs” are characters, I’ve given many of them actions.

If every character has a corresponding action, now the list can handle 200 different values:

  • 00, 01, 02… through to… 197, 198 199.

And to extend them even further..

..if I get creative and playful with it, I can put the same characters in different locations.

As long as those locations end up changing how all the characters would be/exist/react, it’s a different set of pegs.

In fact, once you have memorized where each peg sits in a location, you can begin forgetting the pegs in the locations.

You won’t need the pegs. :man_shrugging:

You have the order of their locations.

If you memorized all the pegs on a specific, orderly walk around where you live (for example), by picturing them always at the same place (a nearby pond or pool, for example), now that pond or pool is associated with that peg number.

You can just use the “walk” in my pretend example as it’s own set of pegs now. Then you might memorize another 50 facts.

Then, every time you review an Anki card (so you don’t forget the facts long-term), you remember the location as well. You just have to picture it real quick.

Do that a couple times and you have several hundred available pegs, all different and easy to remember.

You leveled up.

Now you’ve leveled up your strategy’s Memory system.

Now you can hang onto a total of 200, 300, 400, ..?? facts at the same time while you wait for them to take root in your “long-term memory.”

How? Just review those Anki cards.

Reuse / Recycle:

Eventually you’ll know these things so well, you can recycle all of your pegs if you see fit.

This isn’t very important, but you’ll also end up with more pegs anyway as you memorize more things.

This makes sense to me, at least. I’ve done this.

If you have time available, your plan can be extended to get a lot memorized.

These are just ideas (although I use these ideas), but hopefully not all of what I’ve shared will be tossed out the window and ignored. :stuck_out_tongue:

You have a cool opportunity. Roll with your plan, and consider allowing yourself to take the easy way of extending it:

  • Once you have 100 pegs, you only need to find different locations to put them all in order. Then for every location, you’ll soon have another 100 pegs.

That adds up fast. And gives every additional fact a lot of extra time to get burned into long-term memory.

Sound absolutely terrifically horrible? :grin:


Edit: realizing I never explicitly stated this, but this ends up being, officially or unofficially, the memory palace technique.

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first i didn’t learn 50 facts in 10 minutes. i took a hour or more to learn 50, but the next day when i went to review them i breezed thru it. i’m no genius.

idk why i’ve avoided the palace. i just didn’t like building my home into a memory structure. i may make a palace of video game map i know well. nostalgia may help me. idk if i know 100 tv/movie characters but my peg lists are all nouns, and most can be a stereotypical person related to the noun or it’s an animal. like i have a peg ‘law’ i imagine a man in a suit with a briefcase. so i can have a peg=“lawyer in kitchen” then another peg=“lawyer in kitchen moping the floor”. i think that’s what i’m to take from it. i’d probably have the action of the person do something related to the fact. but maybe they can do 2 things at once. or if i have to remember a server fire, then i can have a lawyer with a structural metal leg throwing a mop on the server, putting out the fire. and then i’d know what structural threat is to a server.

so for my plan, i will take a walk thru a videogame map i know well. i will make a map on my computer and type the character/animal at each spot. i’ll commit the next week to memorizing my walk thru it with all the characters. then i can add be/exist/react/action.
my only question, when you said i won’t need pegs, should i get rid of the pegs once i know the locations? is if #1 place is lawyer in a doorway. do i want to get the point where i just remember the doorway and can put the fact into it? or is it ok to keep the lawyer there to interact with the fact?

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It can be done both ways. When the time comes, just play around and see what you like better.

I have some where I’ve removed the original pegs and some where I still have the originals there. You can mix it up if you like.

Your plan sounds solid. I hope I get to hear more about how things develop for you.

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i’ve accepted that memory palace is better. i tried learning ‘1 = front door’ but struggled with the higher numbers. with noun pegs i found it easier. like i know the first ten because 9=is a jelly on the rail. so, i think i’ll use noun pegs as a crutch till i can list 100 memory palace spots without the need for random noun pegs. i’m doing this for my brain’s health, career and kids. i want to show my daughter how to study schoolwork with memory techniques that work. i was always a C student thru k-12. i’m not going to demand A’s from my kids but i’ll hope they get A’s as a result of effective memory practices.

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Isn’t a memory palace (or memory journey) simply a serie of spatial pegs? Sometimes I feel we make such a big deal of the memory palace making it more complicated than it really is, and intimidating for beginners.

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It is.

And I agree.

Just peg lists!

update, i made a 100 spot memory palace. and it seems a lot easier to go thru the steps than a random noun peg list. i imagine walking thru the house. i know the “pegs”. i was able to learn 85ish facts today. i bet i’ll review them in my sleep. i don’t drink any more so my sleep should be helpful. i bet i could knock out 100 facts a day if i didn’t spend a while memorizing 1-100 spots in my house. any way i think the spatial aspect of the palace really helps. i can’t say why, probably due to our evolutionary history. also, i can review my facts wherever i am which equals more active recall. i used to be dependent on holding a piece of paper with nouns on it. anyway, if you’re reading this give memory palace a go

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This brought a big smile to my face, Nick.

I’m happy to hear you’ve been trying things out and are digging it.

I very much agree on the memory palace’s strengths. Very cool to have the “paper” not in your hand but in your head.

Cheers

so i was able to get to the#100 this morning. and i breezed thru the 80 i did yesterday. i may have got one or two a little wrong but all in all it was good. i made anki flashcards to space out the recall. basic Q&A or fill in the blanks. so i think this works. i may do the same 100 facts for 2-3 days. then reuse the palace. i worked on a second palace today which i’m up to 35 spots but i think 100 may be the sweet spot. because i have family and i don’t have all day to study. but i’ll see. i appreciate all your help

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I haven’t found pegs to be good for long term images either. Maybe that’s a good thing, if we decide to pick up some of the competitive stuff down the line.

I wonder if some of the difficulty might have been the random part of your list? You could try something with a theme. For example, an A-Z list (or even 26 A-Z lists) and see if it works better than a random one.

Anyway, retaining something like 80, 85, 100 facts in a day is wildly successful, congratulations. Do you have plans to use them?

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thanks. to be honest i’ve reviewed the material beforehand but never memorized it. so when i get to chapter 3 it’ll be new facts + first go at seeing it. i know we all come from all career fields, but i’m studying for Comptia CySA+ certification. i’m in cybersecurity. it’s one of those jobs that it seems you always have to getting a cert until you’ve got 10 years’ experience and don’t care because you know you’ll get hired. after certs i plan on learning other sciences. i’ve always been interested in science but i never really clicked when in school. but pragmatically i’m putting all my eggs in the cybersecurity basket for now.