Flashcards

Traditionally, a flashcard (or flash card) is a card with a question on one side and its answer on the other side. You can shuffle the cards and give yourself a test of the questions. If you need to review an answer then you turn the card over and look at the answer.

Note: Flash cards seem to work best when you have a small collection of about 10 or so; I tend towards that figure - it is overwhelming to have a set of 40 cards, for example; I find that my ability to memorise information is too diluted when I am confronted with so many cards.

You can obtain software that acts like flash cards or which tests your recall with spaced repetition. For encouraging web traffic to educational sites, and for learning in general, I made a very simple tool which you will see when you visit the 'Memory Stunts' section of the course. I plan to make real examples here.

I think that flashcards complement my memory system very well. They can be used to learn stubborn facts - by brute repetition of the trivia that will not enter your head easily.

So must I be sat at computer to use flash cards?

Well, personally, I believe that it is equally important to think about your flash cards when you are far away from your computer. For instance, when I travel to work, I think about a collection of cards and try to recall their questions and answers. You realise, in that way, that there are weaknesses which you did not notice when the information was immediately in front of you. Maybe the brain knits better connections to the information in this way. This is the same as any kind of studying.

Also, there is the tendency to think that the computer is going to take the effort out of memorising information. Rote learning takes effort. Concentration wears down, breaks are needed; the computer has merely put an attractive gloss over the repetitive process of memorising information. Ordinary cards or slips of paper would work in a similar fashion - but be a bit messier to organise and have a tendency to misshape.

Will I remember the information forever?

Generally, even when you know your flash cards fantastically well, you will still need to revisit them occasionally because your strong memory performance might be because of short-term brain memory rather than the long-term connections which somehow manifest themselves when you revisit and revisit what you believe you already have learned. This is the same case as with any kind of studying.

Are flashcards a good way to learn text rote?

Flash cards are good for learning text rote if you have a lot of preparation and practice time. However, once you reveal the whole card, you see all of the line which you are stuck on. It would be better perhaps to just reveal a tiny bit of text which you are stuck on. I made a javascript web page for doing that by using prompt buttons. If you click a prompt button then only some of the text is revealed.

You can try Rote Reveal.

Further Reading

MemoryLifter software - MemoryLifter software

SuperMemo web site - SuperMemo Overview

Buy SuperMemo - Buy SuperMemo