Exam success: The journey from working memory to long-term memory

Edel Walsh explains study techniques that will help you shift from surface learning to deep learning that prioritise quality study over quantity

When studying for professional accountancy exams, many students find themselves overwhelmed with lots of information, complicated calculations and unfamiliar concepts.
 
Students often tell me they have spent many hours studying, only to not remember anything they have studied later. 

This, in fact, is just the way our brain operates. It’s important to understand how we can transfer knowledge from our working memory to our long-term memory and why this is so important for exam success. 

Working memory

When new information or an insight from our studies reaches our brain, it does not automatically get stored in our long-term memory. Instead, the information is stored in a temporary limbo. 

In other words, it is stored in our working memory. 

For example, when you are reading a case study or solving a calculation, your brain uses working memory to process each new piece of information. 

Our working memory is limited. In his book The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two, George Armitage Miller shows that some people can hold as few as five things in their working memory at any time. Some people can hold as many as nine things, but the number seven seems to be the magic number for how many things we can hold in our working memory. 

Unfortunately, those seven things only stick around for a few seconds and will not be remembered at all if we are distracted. 

To put this in perspective, if you read a paragraph from a textbook, it will only be held in your working memory for a short period. It will not automatically transfer into your long-term memory.

This begs the question: How do we transfer information from our working memory to our long-term memory? 

For Chartered Accountancy exams, we need information to be stored in our long-term memory so we can call on this information when we need it. 

From working memory to long-term memory

Long-term memory is where knowledge is stored more permanently. Once a concept is embedded into long-term memory, it becomes easier to retrieve and apply, even in high-pressure exam settings.

The goal of study and learning should be to move information out of working memory and into long-term memory. To do this effectively, we need to move beyond “surface learning” and towards “deep learning”.

Surface learning relies on taking information at face value and not getting under the skin of a topic or concept. It is where we learn information without a real understanding of what we are trying to learn. 

Reading, writing notes and highlighting can lead to surface learning.

Often, we cram information right before an exam, resulting in surface learning. This information will only reach our working memory. 

On the other hand, deep learning is where we focus on getting a deep understanding of topics and concepts so we can apply this information in whatever scenarios come up in the exam. 

To engage in deep learning, our learning must feel a little harder and require more effort. Study techniques, like repeatedly testing yourself, encourage deep learning and the transfer of information into long-term memory.

Techniques to encourage deep learning

1. Practice testing (also known as retrieval practice)
   Testing yourself on what you have learned helps reinforce learning. Flashcards (a question on the front of the flash card and answer on the back, shuffle your flash cards and then test yourself), past exam questions, quizzes, brain dumps and explaining concepts out loud are all methods of retrieval practice. 
2. Spaced repetition
   Instead of cramming your study sessions, break them into smaller, manageable chunks. Spacing your learning gives your brain time to consolidate knowledge. 
3. Elaboration
   Ask yourself questions like “Why does this happen?” or “How does this relate to what I have already learned?” The more connections you make between new material and existing knowledge, the more likely it will be stored in long-term memory.
4. Interweaving
   Mix topics or question types within a study session. For example, instead of doing 10 income tax questions in a row, mix them with corporation tax and VAT. 

Cramming

If you favour cramming over spacing your learning, be aware that this can overload your working memory.  

You might feel like you know the information, but without testing yourself, the information is unlikely to be retained in long-term memory.

Study quality over quantity

Studying for your exams is less about the quantity of hours you study and much more about the quality of your study. 

Prioritise techniques that move knowledge from your working memory to long-term memory and focus on deep learning strategies that help you understand, not just remember.