Why free recall is more effective than flashcards
(5 minute read)
Free recall is a profoundly effective study method backed by decades of cognitive science. In the following article, we'll explore what it is why it works so well, and how to actually use it.
Performing a free recall is very simple. You just remember everything you can about a topic in no particular order. It is commonly done verbally or written onto a blank sheet of paper. Could an act so simple really be effective?
Adapted from Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772–775. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199327
Why free recall works: the science behind effective studying
Free recall's efficacy is supported by extensive research. In the influential study above by Karpicke and Blunt (2011), students read a short scientific text and then studied it using different strategies: repeated reading, concept mapping, or retrieval practice via free recall. All groups had equal total study time. One week later, students were tested on both verbatim recall and their ability to make inferences. The free recall group significantly outperformed the others on both measures. Here's why:
Cue independence (accessibility, durability, transferability)
Why does free recall work so well? Free recall gives you no specific prompt or direction, thereby facilitating effortful, active retrieval. By accessing information without cueing, the learner becomes less dependent on external cues. In other words, by remembering without external help, the knowledge becomes more intrinsic to your brain, and relies less on the external environment.
Cued recall tasks (e.g. flashcards) facilitate simpler, weaker associations between ideas with no inherent organizational structure. Contrarily, free recall encourages the formation of organized mental schemas. An organized schema is like a well-ordered filing cabinet, where each piece of information is categorized and easier to locate when needed. This effortful act of retrieval makes the concept you recall more accessible, durable, and transferable to more tasks.
Retrieval-induced forgetting
When you recall only part of a topic, the unpracticed parts can become harder to remember—a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (Anderson et al., 1994). For example, if you're studying a list of fruits: apple, banana, orange, and pineapple but only review apple and banana, your memory of orange and pineapple tends to weaken. This happens because your brain suppresses similar, unreviewed information to make the recalled items more distinct. While adaptive, it can lead to unintended forgetting. Free recall effectively eliminates this issue.
Metacognition
On an exam, your task is not simply to know things, but rather to access relevant information when you need it. Sound familiar? That's what free recall practices purely: accessing information. Free recall before an an exam makes the gaps in knowledge especially salient; you don't actually know what you know until you try to retrieve it without help. For many unfortunate students, this only occurs when the exam is already underway. By performing free recall and addressing gaps in knowledge ahead of time, you not only see what don't know, but can now target and strengthen these missed details.
Testing Effect #1: related, unrecalled knowledge
But the benefits don’t stop at the concept you’re recalling. Free recall strengthens related, non-recalled knowledge (Chan et al. 2006). When recalling specific content, the brain engages in elaborative processes that reorganize and reinforce associations between concepts. This spreading activation primes related material, making it more accessible in the future—even if it wasn’t part of the original recall. Broad retrieval like free recall, activates a myriad of related associations, strengthening a vast amount of related knowledge.
Adapted from Chan, J. C. K., McDermott, K. B., & Roediger, H. L. III. (2006). Retrieval-induced facilitation: Initially nontested material can benefit from prior testing of related material. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 135(4), 553–571. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.135.4.553
The effect is observed for students who practice with free recall (pictured above). The same effect as was not observed for the group who practiced with cued recall.
Testing Effect #2: future knowledge
Not only does free recall reinforce the knowledge that is successfully recalled AND strengthen related information that wasn’t explicitly retrieved, but it also lays the groundwork for more efficient future learning. When new information is encountered, it can be more readily integrated into this newly-organized schema, accelerating comprehension and retention (Arnold & McDermott, 2013). This "future effect" begets a virtuous cycle of understanding now leading to understanding in future lectures and so on.
Plasticity
More effortful retrieval produces greater neural plasticity, because it forces the brain to reconstruct information through wider, more integrated neural networks. Among retrieval methods, free recall creates the highest level of plasticity. Reviewing the source material after any retrieval session is beneficial, but when review follows free recall, the memory is at its most malleable—essentially in “edit mode.” This state allows you to detect gaps, correct errors, and integrate new details more effectively than with any other study technique (Bjork & Bjork, 1994).
Efficiency
Free recall isn’t just effective—it’s remarkably efficient in terms of information practiced per minute. Through the simple act of sitting and remembering, you can surface substantially more details per minute than flipping through flashcards. Ten minutes of free recall might yield the equivalent of a hundreds of flashcards, except you generate both the cue and the response, leading to more robust memory traces. When it comes to cognitive return on time invested, free recall is impossible to beat.
Why don't most students use free recall?
Consider this peculiar trend: the more effective a study technique is, the less effective it is perceived to be by students. (Kornell & Bjork, 2008).
Actual Performance
Metacognitive Predictions
Adapted from Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772–775. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199327
vs.
Clearly, the evidence outlines that free recall is extraordinarily effective. But its difficult to see that in the moment because the effectiveness is delayed. In the short term, free recall is difficult, mentally taxing, and less immediately rewarding. From an outside perspective, small wonder that free recall, which is difficult and delayed in effectiveness, is predicted to be less effective than re-reading, which is easy and immediately rewarding. Several other desirable difficulties are similarly underutilized due to their lack of immediacy.
How to make free recall even more effective
Knowing a technique is one thing. If you want to get some real utility out of free recall, enjoy these practical tips:
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Always Recall First. don't start a study session with reading. If you're unsure or completely blank, you can always recall, review, and recall again. But skipping that initial retrieval robs you of major gains to long-term memory. Forgetting creates desirable difficulty, and peeking first takes it away. Even if you don't know the information at all, free recall will prime the information to stick when you do learn it.
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Retrieval-induced plasticity. Retrieval practice like free recall makes your memories more malleable for a few hours. Use this privileged window to refine the information you recalled. Primarily, check it against some reliable source material and fill in any gaps or mistakes. Optionally, add even more knowledge to your existing schemas. Post-recall is the best time to learn new, related things.
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Self-generated cues. Writing / drawing out your free recall tends to be more effective than reciting it verbally, as writing gives you more cues or "jumping-off points" to recall even more information. While you technically get a little more cueing, more recall is better than less.
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Self-explanation. The less "reciting" you do, the more gains you get. Explaining in your own words forces deeper processing, and makes gaps in knowledge salient. As a bonus, self-explanation and drawing at the same time leverages dual coding, strengthening your memories by engaging both verbal and visual systems at once (Wammes et al., 2016).
Free recall builds memory and understanding to an astounding degree, but doesn’t inherently engage any higher learning processes. This is why it is more effective for a biology class than it is for a physics class, for instance. In biology, knowing and understanding are paramount, the desired knowledge is declarative. In physics, higher levels of learning—application and analysis—are more emphasized, the desired knowledge is procedural.
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References:
Anderson, M. C., Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (1994). Remembering can cause forgetting: retrieval dynamics in long- term memory. Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition, 20(5), 1063–1087. https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-7393.20.5.1063 Arnold, K. M., & McDermott, K. B. (2013). Free recall enhances subsequent learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20(3), 507-513. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-012-0370-3 Chan, J. C., McDermott, K. B., & Roediger, H. L., 3rd. (2006). Retrieval-induced facilitation: initially nontested material can benefit from prior testing of related material. J Exp Psychol Gen, 135(4), 553-571. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.135.4.553 Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772-775. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199327 Kornell, N., & Bjork, R. A. (2008). Learning concepts and categories: Is spacing the "enemy of induction?" Psychological Science, 19(6), 585–592. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02127.x Wammes, J. D., Meade, M. E., & Fernandes, M. A. (2016). Drawing improves memory: Evidence for the role of encoding strategies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(6), 860–868. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000204