[personaldev] Using Supermemo-type flashcard systems for changing habits instead of memorization

[mattbell]

Supermemo and its various free clones (eg Mnemosyne) have become popular over the last couple of years because they interactively quiz you on facts in such a way that they optimize your rate of learning.  It's based on research into when the brain decides to forget vs remember new information... the data show a power law of forgetting that's remarkably clear given the usually dismally fuzzy data seen in the social sciences.    In the Supermemo system, you're given a series of virtual flashcards.  In addition to trying to remember what's on the opposite side of the flashcard, you also rate how well you remembered the answer, from 1 to 5. A 1 means you didn't remember the answer, a 3 means you remember the answer with some difficulty, and a 5 means you remember the answer effortlessly.

Implementing habit changes is difficult.  Habits are moment-to-moment choices that require constant attention to change.  The trouble is that it's difficult to remember in the moment what changes you're trying to make unless you're receiving frequent reminders of it.  Often, there are a lot of changes you'd like to implement, and it's hard to focus on them all without letting most of them drop?

Hey, so why not use Supermemo-type systems as a way of reminding yourself what you want to focus on?  In this case, there's no question-and answer flashcard.  Instead, the flashcard is simply something you want to change or work on, and when it comes up you go through the motions of the habit you want to form in your head and then rate how well you're doing at making that change occur.  If you give it a low rating (1-2) the system will remind you of it more often.  If you give it a high rating (4-5), you've internalized the habit and it can stop reminding you of it. 

So I've started doing this.  I'll report back on how it goes.

Comments

[proctologiste.livejournal.com]

I'm particularly interested to see your results because my initial reaction is that the type of learning Supermom and its ilk address is declarative memory, and habits are procedural memory. What you call this division, or whether it is such at all is of course still highly contentious, but it seems that with a broad brush, things that are habits are stored separately and quite possibly (that's the point that you'll be addressing) in different ways.

(I am referring to how various brain lesion events may cause you to forget facts, even your own name, but you would still be able to easily perform familiar activities, and have urges to do certain things at certain times)

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I was guessing that the results for procedural memory would be similar to the results for declarative memory. Turns out they're not. At least according to the following study, procedural memory has a sharper initial drop but a much flatter long term retention.

http://tinyurl.com/yctnxkz

I'm surprised that there isn't more google-able literature on forgetting rates in procedural memory. Chances are professional athletes, coaches, and musicians have a very good intuitive sense for the forgetting curves of procedural memory.

So the curve is a different shape. It won't be optimal to use supermemo, but having *some* sensitivity to frequency is better than none. If it seems to work at all, I should hunt further and see if I can find a formula that I could plug into an open source version of supermemo.

This seems like a good citizen-science project. I could get some nice data myself by learning some new quantifiable skill and then waiting various intervals before trying it again.

[divia83.livejournal.com]

Mind sharing any habits you're trying to change this way?

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Some examples:
- Habits for handling conflicts better
- What to do if I'm feeling tired or scatterbrained
- What to do if I'm frustrated

etc

[ferrouswheel.livejournal.com]

Not sure if you've seen it yet, but Anki is a supermemo flashcard system with online sync and access via net (as well as a desktop app) - I love it because I use multiple machines and allows me to keep up to date whereever I am.

Look forward to seeing how the habit imprinting goes.

I agree

[(Anonymous)]

I have been using Supermemo for a little more than four years. It has proved to be a very useful program in not only learning, but also in being able to subtly influence my behavior. I have a blog, and I'll make a more detailed post on this shortly, but here is what I've done and found success in:

Create flashcards of quotes and passages that you think will make you into the person you want to become. Make sure you can thoroughly remember them; it might take making 3 or 4 flashcards (cloze deletions) for this to be possible with the passage or quote. Once you have done this, when you have an opportunity to implement that quote or passage in some sort of situation, it SHOULD come to mind with very little effort. If you review the item and realize that it hasn't been at your mental disposal (It is hard to describe this feeling; perhaps a feeling of surprise?), simply mark it as "fail," and let it flow through the algorithm; likely it will remain at your disposal, and help you make more rational and sound decisions.

The blog is located at: http://supermemoadventures.blogspot.com/