Incremental reading
Encyclopedia
Incremental reading is a method for learning and retaining information from reading that might otherwise be forgotten. It is particularly targeted to people who are trying to learn a large amount of information at once, particularly if that information is varied.
Incremental reading works by breaking up key points of articles, often dozens or thousands of articles, into flashcards, which are then learned and reviewed over an extended period. Concretely, when reading an article (in a web browser), the reader selects extracts (similar to underlining or highlighting a paper article), which are then converted to question-answer format, often by cloze deletion, and then scheduled for learning and review by the learning software. This flashcard creation process is semi-automated – the reader chooses which material to learn and edits the precise wording of the questions, while the software assists in making the flashcards and does the scheduling.
Incremental reading is based on psychological principles of long-term memory
storage and retrieval, in particular the spacing effect
.
Information is broken into chunks, and an algorithm (usually computer software) organises the user's reading and calculates the ideal time for the reader to review each chunk. The method itself is often credited to the Polish software developer Piotr Wozniak
.
Until recently, Wozniak's SuperMemo
was the only implementation of incremental reading (as opposed to simply spaced repetition of questions and cloze deletions etc.). Anki
has an 'experimental' plugin.
There is also incremental reading support for the text editors Emacs
and Yi
.
. This means that all processed pieces of information are presented at increasing intervals. Individual articles are read in portions proportional to the attention span, which depends on the user, his mood, the article, etc.
The name "incremental" comes from "reading in portions". Without the use of spaced repetition, the reader would quickly get lost in the glut of information when studying dozens of subjects at the same time. However, spaced repetition makes it possible to retain traces of the processed material in memory. Incremental reading makes it possible to read hundreds of articles at the same time with a substantial gain to attention
.
For incremental reading to leave a permanent mark in long-term memory
, the processed material must be gradually converted into material based on active recall
. This means that extracts such as "George Washington
was the first U.S. President" must be changed to questions such as "Who was the first U.S. President?", "Who was George Washington?", etc.
Incremental reading works by breaking up key points of articles, often dozens or thousands of articles, into flashcards, which are then learned and reviewed over an extended period. Concretely, when reading an article (in a web browser), the reader selects extracts (similar to underlining or highlighting a paper article), which are then converted to question-answer format, often by cloze deletion, and then scheduled for learning and review by the learning software. This flashcard creation process is semi-automated – the reader chooses which material to learn and edits the precise wording of the questions, while the software assists in making the flashcards and does the scheduling.
Incremental reading is based on psychological principles of long-term memory
Long-term memory
Long-term memory is memory in which associations among items are stored, as part of the theory of a dual-store memory model. According to the theory, long term memory differs structurally and functionally from working memory or short-term memory, which ostensibly stores items for only around 20–30...
storage and retrieval, in particular the spacing effect
Spacing effect
In psychology, the spacing effect refers to the fact that humans and animals more easily remember or learn items in a list when they are studied a few times over a long period of time , rather than studied repeatedly in a short period time .The phenomenon was first identified by Hermann Ebbinghaus;...
.
Information is broken into chunks, and an algorithm (usually computer software) organises the user's reading and calculates the ideal time for the reader to review each chunk. The method itself is often credited to the Polish software developer Piotr Wozniak
Piotr Wozniak (researcher)
Piotr A. Woźniak is the principal author of SuperMemo and a researcher in the theory of spaced repetition.-Partial bibliography:Academic articles he has authored include:...
.
Until recently, Wozniak's SuperMemo
SuperMemo
SuperMemo is a learning method and software package developed by SuperMemo World and SuperMemo R&D with Piotr Wozniak in Poland from 1985 to the present...
was the only implementation of incremental reading (as opposed to simply spaced repetition of questions and cloze deletions etc.). Anki
Anki
Anki is a spaced repetition flashcard program. The software is similar to SuperMemo, a commercial product for the same purpose, and Mnemosyne, another free flashcard program. Anki is the Japanese word for "memorizing"....
has an 'experimental' plugin.
There is also incremental reading support for the text editors Emacs
Emacs
Emacs is a class of text editors, usually characterized by their extensibility. GNU Emacs has over 1,000 commands. It also allows the user to combine these commands into macros to automate work.Development began in the mid-1970s and continues actively...
and Yi
Yi
Yi may mean:* Yi , a letter of the Ukrainian alphabet* Yi , a text editor written in Haskell* Serbia and Montenegro * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and its sequel, Yoshi's Island DS...
.
Method
With incremental reading, a load of material is subdivided into articles and its extracts. All articles and extracts are processed according to the rules of spaced repetitionSpaced repetition
Spaced repetition is a learning technique that incorporates increasing intervals of time between subsequent review of previously learned material; this exploits the psychological spacing effect...
. This means that all processed pieces of information are presented at increasing intervals. Individual articles are read in portions proportional to the attention span, which depends on the user, his mood, the article, etc.
The name "incremental" comes from "reading in portions". Without the use of spaced repetition, the reader would quickly get lost in the glut of information when studying dozens of subjects at the same time. However, spaced repetition makes it possible to retain traces of the processed material in memory. Incremental reading makes it possible to read hundreds of articles at the same time with a substantial gain to attention
Attention
Attention is the cognitive process of paying attention to one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Attention is one of the most intensely studied topics within psychology and cognitive neuroscience....
.
For incremental reading to leave a permanent mark in long-term memory
Long-term memory
Long-term memory is memory in which associations among items are stored, as part of the theory of a dual-store memory model. According to the theory, long term memory differs structurally and functionally from working memory or short-term memory, which ostensibly stores items for only around 20–30...
, the processed material must be gradually converted into material based on active recall
Active recall
Active recall is a principle of efficient learning, which claims the need to actively stimulate memory during the learning process. It contrasts with passive review, in which the learning material is processed passively . For example, reading a text about George Washington, with no further action,...
. This means that extracts such as "George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
was the first U.S. President" must be changed to questions such as "Who was the first U.S. President?", "Who was George Washington?", etc.
External links
- http://www.banaban.net/supermemo/incremental-reading.html
- http://www.43things.com/things/view/1685805/master-incremental-reading
- http://web.archive.org/web/20061210133440/http://jeenyus.net/~budney/supermemo/incremental.html
- http://www.bobo23.net/2006/03/15/incremental-reading-dealing-with-information-overflow/
- http://supermemo.com/help/faq/read.htm