Brain Science: Enable Your Brain to Remember Almost Everything

People forget the vast majority of what they learn. In my twoprevious installments (see “Related Articles” at the end of this column), wehave explored the nature of memory and ways to change the shape of the dreadedforgetting curve. Just imagine what it would be like if your employeesremembered almost everything you taught them. It is possible, but you need togive them a boost. This month I will teach you how to overcome the forgettingcurve.

Memory boosters

The key to successful boostering is to provide your learnerswith repeated opportunities to think about their new information in the daysand weeks after training. The simple act of recalling information signals thebrain that the particular information is important and that it ought to beretained. 

You can deliver boosters personally; for example, you can haveyour managers quiz employees in the days and weeks after training. Or peoplecan receive boosters via email or a website, using automated tools. Whateverway you do it, there are rules of thumb that can maximize the effect ofboostering.

2+2+2

So how often should information be boostered? We recommendthat you send boosters out in three phases. You can keep this in mind byremembering 2+2+2. Send out boosters after two days, two weeks, and two months.

The first phase: boosters that induce deeperprocessing

Your first phase of boosters should be sent about two daysafter the training. For example, let’s say your employees attended a leadershipseminar on Monday. You should send your first set of boosters starting onWednesday. This first set of boosters should be “recognition boosters.” Thestrategy here is just to get people to try to recognize the right answer from alist of options. For the leadership seminar example, you should send them amultiple-choice question like this one:

According to theseminar, the first step in consensus leadership is

• a.Establishing trust
• b.Establishing authority
• c.Creating lines of communication
• d.Developing relationships

Note that the correct answer to the question is notimmediately obvious. That’s good. All of the answers are potentially the rightanswer and the student has to really think about it. This induces a deeperlevel of processing which will help long-term retention.

Another type of recognition booster is a poll. For example,ask your learners a question like this:

In your experience, howdo people respond to you when you use consensus leadership techniques?

• a.Both men and women respond positively to me.
• b.Men respond positively and women respond negatively.
• c.Women respond positively and men respond negatively.
• d.Both men and women respond negatively.

Polls like this are great because learners have to think aboutthe topic, determine their own opinion, and then afterward (assuming you havean automated system), they can view the poll results and compare their answerto their peers.

The second phase: boosters that generateapplication ideas

The second phase of boosters should be sent about two weeksafter the training and at this time you should send out “generative boosters.”In a generative booster, the learner does not just recognize the right answerfrom a list. Instead, they have to think about the topic and then create ananswer out of their head.

A fill-in-the-blank is a good generative question. Forexample,

• Duringthe _______ phase of problem solving, a consensus leader should seek unfilteredinput from every member of their team.

Another type of generative question is one where the learnerneeds to imagine how they would apply the training to their workplace. Forexample,

• Thinkback to your lesson on consensus leadership. How can you imagine using thesetechniques in your day-to-day work?

This type of question gives the learner a chance both toretrieve the information and to think about applying it to their daily job.

The third phase: boosters that elicit examples ofuse

The third phase of boosters should be sent about two monthsafter the training, and at this time you should send out “integrative boosters.”An integrative booster again prompts the learner to retrieve the information,but this question specifically asks them to provide concrete examples of howthey have made use of this information in their job. This feedback canfacilitate transfer of learning (as we will see next month), and can providedata that can prove the value of the training organization.

How many is too many?

Research shows that each additional booster helps to furtherreinforce learning. But in practical terms, there are limits to how many timespeople want to be boostered on a given topic. For most pieces of information, I’dsuggest that you send two or three boosters during each of the three phases.

The five-second rule

You may have noticed that the sample boosters I provided arequite brief, and you might wonder if you can get even more bang-for-the-buck byproviding ones that are more elaborate. So what do you think? Will youremployees remember more if the booster interaction lasts longer?

This question was recently put to experimental test. Thetesters gave one group of learners a five-second booster experience, the secondgroup got a 30-second booster experience, and the third group got a five-minutebooster experience. All were later tested for their recall, and you know what?There was no difference between the three groups! The group whose boosts lastedonly five seconds did just as well as the other two groups.

To understand this result, you need to keep in mind thatboosters do not need to re-teach the material. Indeed, you have already taughtit once and the learner does not need to encode the information a second time. Instead,the secret to effective boostering is simply to provide a retrieval opportunitythat signals the brain that the information is important and should beretained.

This data is important. The fact is, learners are more likelyto complete boosters that are short and sweet. And this data proves that shortboosts are just as effective as long ones.

Additional benefits of boostering

As we have seen, boostering can significantly improve youremployees’ long-term retention. In addition, if you plan your boosteringprogram carefully it can help you collect valuable data about the efficacy ofyour training. For example, during the first phase of the 2+2+2, you shouldcarefully examine which questions your employees get wrong. If you note thatmost students get a particular question wrong, this information will help yourecognize shortcomings in your training program. 

Furthermore, during the third phase of the 2+2+2 training youwill be asking employees to provide examples of how they are using yourtraining on the job. Here is a typical comment we have seen:

• Istarted to get into an argument with a grumpy customer, but then I rememberedthe training you gave me, and I used the techniques. It worked great and Iended up selling the person a washing machine.

Testimonials of this sort demonstrate how your trainingbenefits the organization and may convince the CFO to increase your department’sbudget.

Digging deeper

It is important to practice what we preach, so if you wouldlike to experience the power of boostering for yourself, send an email to [email protected]. You will automatically receive a series ofboosters on this series of three articles. The boosters take only seconds tocomplete, and they will profoundly increase your ability to recall the contentof the articles. 

From the Editor: Overcome forgetting at mLearnCon

Coming to mLearnCon? Mobile devices provide more ways to overcomeforgetting and transfer learning to the job! Learn about them in these sessions,in addition to all the other great content that will help you plan andimplement a learning strategy that leverages mobile devices:

• “Using Mobile Technology to Maximize theEffectiveness of Learning” (Keith Quinn, Session 209)
• “Designing Apps That Boost Behavior Change” (JayCampbell, Session 302)
• “Before and After: Leveraging Mobile to ImproveLearning Transfer” (Chris Van Wingerden, Session 701)
• “Continuous Learning: Does Mobile Have What ItTakes?” (Phillip Neal, Session 706)
• “Spaced Learning and Mobile: Making ContentSticky” (Mark Schuster, Session 902)