Techniques for Creating Effective Long-Term Memory for the MCAT - Part I

The goal of studying, or learning, is to use that information when you need it. In preparation for the MCAT, you want that information available when you sit down at your computer booth to take the MCAT. This is when you want all that study, knowledge, information you stored in your Long-Term Memory (LTM) to be at the “beck and call” of your Working Memory (WM). It will be immediately available if you stored it properly, i.e., if you studied properly.

Research has consistently shown that information is best retrieved when it has been stored based on several principles. These are: 1) sufficient preexisting knowledge base, 2) meaningful learning, 3) elaboration, 4) internal organization, 5) your optimal learning method, 6) spaced learning, 7) repetitive learning and 8) automaticity. Automaticity will be discussed at a later date. The essence of all of these is that knowledge which has been stored with the maximal number of connections or nodes and organization will be remembered better and retrieved optimally.

1) Sufficient Knowledge Base (SKB). Remember that existing knowledge makes it easier to learn new knowledge (ie, add it to LTM). This is best done by taking the basic requirements for the MCAT and studying them and learning them as much as you possibly can. This occurs when you first enter college. This means you go to every class, read every page your instructor tells you do, do every assignment, etc. So, that when you enter the phase to prepare for the MCAT in your junior year, typically, you have that solid base of knowledge for your MCAT prep. If you do not have this base of knowledge, you should plan to spend extra time in your preparation.

2) Meaningful Learning (ML). This is a technique and not a statement of fact. ML means that every new bit of information is related to existing information. When this is done, the new information is stored with connections (nodes). Nodes are created that can searched during the process of retrieval from your LTM. This speeds up the retrieval process. So, this means that as you are studying new information, you should be making every effort possible to relate it to what you already know. Or, at least, give it some meaning in terms of yourself or the world you know.