Learning to Forget: The Role That Forgetting Plays in Effective Studying

Abstract

Perhaps one of the most common studying methods among university students is to read andd reread ones notes until you know them off by heart. But why does this near perfect understanding of the notes at the time not translate to the test? By examining the effects of spaced studying, what infromation repition does on a neurophysiological level, and the importance of distraction in between studying sessions, it turns out that the key to effective studying might be to partially forget the information one learned in the pervious study session.