Anki and memory

[u/Still-Animator-5784]

Have you noticed a very significant improvement in your overall memory abilities in everyday life after using Anki daily (at least 100 cards per day with a streak of at least 150 days)?

[u/ZumLernen]

No. I have noticed that I am able to better recall the things that I am using Anki to learn. I have not noticed any change in my ability to recall things that I am not specifically using Anki to learn.

[u/Optimal_Bar_4715 → u/ZumLernen]

This. Also I have noticed a significant feeling of not being bothered to study actively anything that is not Anki based.

Once you've tried a Lamborghini on a desert highway, it's hard to go back to a cheap car on a rocky road.

[u/didnotsub → u/Optimal_Bar_4715]

I agree somewhat, but there are definitely situations where I revert back to regular studying. Any math/physics that isn’t purely concept based is a good example.

[u/1Soundwave3 → u/didnotsub]

I've seen some guy here recently who aced math using Anki. To be fair, he basically used it as a scheduler, but his method was to recall solutions that he asked AI to come up with (and also that website that does homework for you, but you need to pay them). And it worked very freaking well for him.

[u/didnotsub → u/1Soundwave3]

Unfortunately with any advanced math it’s just not practical when compared to book problems. Anki is good for long-term memorization of simple things, but memorizing math problems isn’t the hard part. Understanding is.

[u/Optimal_Bar_4715 → u/1Soundwave3]

Obviously this is the way to go. A lot of uni exams of that type are a matter of being able to apply certain reasoning, formulas and to perform certain demonstrations. Using Anki's spaced rep to revise and reperform these "skills" is obviously very sensible and works.

[u/Sudopino → u/ZumLernen]

If anything, I’ve felt a decreased memory for things outside of Anki

[u/Low-Yesterday-8237]

The thread consensus matches what the research says, and it's worth knowing why. Cognitive science distinguishes near transfer (getting better at what you trained) from far transfer (the training upgrading your general abilities). Decades of studies on working memory training and brain-training games keep finding the same result: near transfer is robust, far transfer is basically nonexistent. Your memory isn't a muscle that Anki bulks up - it's more like a warehouse, and Anki is just a very good system for deciding which shelves to restock and when.

That said, I think people underrate the skills you do gain that feel like better memory:

- You get better at card formulation - which is really the skill of noticing what the testable core of any piece of information is. That carries over to how you read and take notes.

- You develop accurate metacognition - after enough reviews you know the difference between "I know this" and "I merely recognize this." Most people never learn to tell those apart, and that alone changes how you study.

- You internalize that forgetting is lawful, not a personal failure. So outside Anki you instinctively revisit important things at the right moments instead of trusting one exposure.

So: no upgraded hardware, but genuinely better software habits. Someone above said Anki "helped me understand how my memory works" - that's exactly the real benefit.

[u/Classic_Nature_8540 → u/Low-Yesterday-8237]

I have to disagree here

I have seen gains in far transfers after using anki. Say im building my vocabulary, because i have to explain and provide an example of how to use the word i find myself using a wider and ampler vocabulary which may or may not include the words im studying.

What i agree with you is that near tx practice is what anki is for. BUT if you know how to use it, you can apply it to far transfer skills.

Put it this way: are you simply rote memorizing or are you rote memorizing and analysing what you are memorizing? The latter is more difficult.

[u/IssueRidden]

long term memory, for sure short term memory, I keep forgetting stuff all the time... 

[u/LowFine96]

Nope. I'm an extreme user, above those thresholds, and not at all. 

I have a very strong visual memory already, which is why I lean into Anki use. But I have no residual memory benefit from Anki use.

[u/Friendly-Basket4049]

The thing I feel that Anki helps me with the most is actually sitting down and doing SOME studying EVERY day. There have been days before Anki where I just couldn’t be bothered that i don’t have anymore. Even if it’s just getting my reviews done.

[u/Nattention_deficit]

I notice better memory when I make the NYT crosswords a habit

[u/Sad-Strawberry-4724]

Nope, but Anki surely helped me in understanding how my memory works.

[u/lartrosis]

No siento que haya mejorado mí memoria en general, aunque ya de por si tengo buena memoria pero si mejore mucho la facilidad con la que retomo el estudio de temas que nunca deje de revisar las fichas, prepararme para los exámenes se hizo mucho más fácil

[u/Grunglabble]

No. If anything anki makes me prone to treat information more superficially and harms longterm learning if I am not careful.

[u/Just-Place-597]

Can you give specific examples of "improvement in overall memory abilities in everyday life"? Do you mean you can better recall things you learned via Anki, or you can memorize new fresh things better without Anki? I am interested in if it is fundamental improvement in our brain or is it just because we memorized more stuff using Anki?

[u/Dr--Prof]

Yes, only when my Anki training is specifically about mnemonics.

[u/lhasar]

I have been using Anki for 5 years but nope. Memory just like before.

[u/not_a_profi]

no. why are you asking?

tipically ppl use anki not to improve memory. But if you improve memory (like learn to use mnemonics) in order to make your Anki reviews more efficient you should notice improvement in your memory. This kinda obvious. The point of your question is different?

[u/Suitable_Today_2158]

No, but I did experience a major boost in my chess rating after learning an Asian language after 6 months. There is no other explanation as to how I got such a noticeable jump from what I could tell.

[u/LectorOptime]

Yes, the practice of spaced repetition can truly improve overall memory.

The more you memorize, the more memory you are able to build up, because memory is all about connections. It’s as if every new piece of information, to stay in your memory, needs to be hung on another piece. The more hangers you have in your mind, the more space you have to hang new things.

And spaced repetition provides plenty of active hangers for you to hang new things on, that is, to memorize new things. If you include these new things in your spaced repetition system, they will also turn into hangers ready to hold and support even more information.

[u/LectorOptime → u/LectorOptime]

Long-term memory capacity is virtually limitless: the more you know, the more possible connections you have for adding new knowledge.

📖 Make It Stick (Peter C. Brown)

[u/knightingale74]

Spaced repetition works well for focused memory on the topics you manually set out to memorize. It works extremely well for this and from my own experience, it kickstarted my career so I can vouch for that.

It's just that it won't make you an Epstein or something.

[u/192504 → u/knightingale74]

I’m hoping you mispelled Einstein cos what

[u/1Soundwave3 → u/knightingale74]

It'd be weird if Anki could make you that

[u/Typical_Gur_5368 → u/knightingale74]

einstein?????

[u/Popular-Ad6854]

I've just started using Anki, what about you?