This is the fourth in the five steps of efficient learning that are outlined here.
Ever understood a concept in class but the next day it was just as much of a mystery as before your revelation? This is because you didn't Link your new knowledge to something you already knew. Once we've gained understanding of a concept (or whilst we're trying to gain an understanding of a concept) we need to explicitly link it to something we already know so that our newly acquired knowledge doesn't just float away.
In Cognitive Science, linking new information to old is referred to as “Anchoring” (we can connect the concepts of ‘Link' to an ‘Anchor' by thinking about how anchors are usually on the end of chains that are made of links). For a more in-depth discussion of Anchoring you can read this article, Memory 101: Memory Anchors-The Basis of Remembering.
If this concept intuitively makes sense to you then you can move straight on to exploring HOW to anchor information.
There are two ways to anchor a memory in your mind. You can either attach it to previous knowledge in a way that is logical and reflects connections in the real world. This is called “Anchoring for Meaning“. If this isn't an option then you can link the new knowledge to old in a way that doesn't make sense necessarily but that is memorable. This is called “Anchoring via a Mnemonic“. To explore these two concepts, check out the links below.
- Memory 102: Anchoring for Meaning-How you Think Determines How you Remember
- Memory 201: Mnemonics-supercharging your memory
After you've got a hold of step 4: Link, you can move on to the final of the 5 steps of efficient learning, Train.