Free recall
Free recall is retrieving information from memory in any order, with no hints or cues, like writing everything you remember about a topic on a blank page. It is the hardest common form of recall, which is exactly why it works so well for studying.
In more detail
In the lab, free recall means studying a list of items and then writing down as many as you can, in any order. Compare it with cued recall, where you get a hint, with serial recall, where the order must be right, and with recognition, as in multiple choice, where the answer is shown. Free recall gives you the least help, so it shows what you can really pull from memory.
Two patterns show up in free recall. One is the serial position effect: people remember the first items (primacy) and the last items (recency) better than the middle. The other is clustering: people tend to recall items in groups, by meaning or by when they studied them, which shows that memory is organized and not a flat list.
As a study method it is a form of retrieval practice. In a 2011 study, Karpicke and Blunt found that students who practiced retrieval did better a week later than students who made concept maps while looking at the text. Blurting, also called a brain dump, is free recall for one topic: you write everything you know, then check what you missed.
Example
Dana finishes a lecture on the nervous system. She closes her notes and writes for five minutes on a blank page: neuron parts, the action potential, three neurotransmitters. She recalls nine items. Her notes list 14 key points, so she sees five gaps, including myelin and the steps at a synapse. She restudies only those, repeats the blank page two days later and recalls 12.
How to use it
- 1
Choose one topic or lecture and set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes.
- 2
Close all notes and write or say everything you remember, in any order.
- 3
Keep going until the timer ends, even when it gets slow. Struggling is the point.
- 4
Open your notes and mark what you missed or got wrong in a different color.
- 5
Restudy only the gaps, then repeat from a blank page after a day or two.
How StudyPDF does this
StudyPDF gives you the check step. After your blank-page recall, ask Bo about the topic in your material and compare, with every answer citing the page it came from. Then use quiz short-answer questions, which you self-grade against a model answer, and the per-concept breakdown to see which gaps to repeat.
See also
Common questions
What is the difference between free recall and cued recall?
In free recall you get no hints and retrieve information in any order. In cued recall you get a hint, like the first letter or a related word. Free recall is harder and gives a more honest picture of what you know.
Is free recall a good way to study?
Yes. It is a form of retrieval practice, which research shows beats rereading for long-term memory. Do it from a blank page, check what you missed and repeat after a day or two.
Put it to work on your own course
Upload your lectures and ask Bo. Cited answers, plus flashcards, exams, and more built from your material.