How can you use semantic memory to improve your thinking and recall?
Do you remember the last time you joined a company or otherwise entered a new group?
The new group probably used their own vocabulary. There were acronyms and special terms galore. As the new person you were likely overwhelmed by this; it’s like these people were speaking a different language!
As the new person, you probably wrote down terms or phrases that you didn’t understand so you could research them on your own. Slowly, as you heard the terms spoken, saw them written, and did your own research, you became just like the rest of the group. You used the language with ease and probably didn’t even realize you were doing it.
This anecdote is a simple example of how the mind works. How it incorporates new knowledge with existing knowledge and uses it for recall and application - something called semantic memory.
Today I’ll share details about this process, how to improve your semantic memory, and how to use it to be more effective.
The brain has two long-term memory modes, called semantic memory and episodic memory.
Semantic memory is how we store concepts, facts, and ideas. Episodic memory is for the lived experiences. As an example, the idea of a dog is stored in your semantic memory, whereas the episodic memory stores that time you snuggled your dog on the couch while you were home sick.
An analogy for semantic memory is that it looks like a spider web. Ideas aren’t just sitting there as these isolated little balls of thought, they’re connected to each other. Some ideas are more heavily trod and have numerous robust connections (like the idea of a dog). Some are more isolated with very few and weak connections (possibly the concept of semantic memory itself if it’s not something you’ve heard of until today).
Those well-trod pathways and ideas are more easily recalled. You’re very unlikely to forget the concept of a dog, but some of the things you rarely think of take a lot more processing power for your brain to go find.
This is also why it’s important to take things from your short-term memory into the long-term semantic layer.
For example, what if you try to just memorize what someone said instead of wrestling with and internalizing the concepts yourself? When you do that, those are individual words, not ideas, and your brain treats them like a random phone number. They’re dropped very quickly and no connections to your semantic memory were made.
Instead, you need to take the words and understand the underlying ideas. By processing these ideas and drawing connections you’re building up the semantic memory web.
Let’s build on this idea of how to improve your semantic memory next. I’ll share four different ideas:
- Spaced Repetition
- Syntopical Reading
- Noticing Gaps
- Visual Encoding
Spaced Repetition. This is the simple idea of reviewing things over time. Instead of learning something once and not touching it again, the idea is that you’d have a process to review the facts and ideas over time.
You’d start with frequent review when things are new (e.g. the day after you were introduced). The spacing increases as you have confidence in your answers because your brain is demonstrating mastery of the topic.
Ali Abdaal does a good job explaining this idea here (timestamp is 10:25 if it doesn’t start there). You can bail once he starts selling you on his Skillshare course 🙂
Syntopical Reading. This approach came to me by way of Mortimer Adler’s “How to Read a Book.” Syntopical Reading is where you read many books on the same topic and then mix all of those ideas into your own thoughts on the subject.
“The fourth and highest level of reading we will call Syntopical Reading. It is the most complex and systematic type of reading of all. It makes very heavy demands on the reader, even if the materials he is reading are themselves relatively easy and unsophisticated. Another name for this level might be comparative reading. When reading syntopically, the reader reads many books, not just one, and places them in relation to one another and to a subject about which they all revolve. But mere comparison of texts is not enough. Syntopical reading involves more. With the help of the books read, the syntopical reader is able to construct an analysis of the subject that may not be in any of the books.”
— Mortimer Adler in “How to Read a Book”
I’ve known about this approach for years, and have often read many books on one topic, but have not incorporated any intentionality around processing those thoughts and turning them into my own. Yes, my brain would do some of that on its own just through the act of reading, but it’s only recently that I started to be intentional about syntopical reading, which I do through what I call my book synthesis process.
I’ll save a bunch of the process details for another time, but to give some insight, I’ve started to sit down on the weekends and go through the books I’ve read. I review my highlighted notes and process them in Obsidian. I write in my own words and I draw connections to other books. I also create concept pages and then elaborate on specific concepts drawing from multiple sources.
In fact, Obsidian’s Knowledge Graph is a great visual representation of the spider web concept! In the image below each dot is a page. The size of the dot depends on the frequency of its use throughout Obsidian.
You’ll notice that I’ve got some ideas that are standalone islands. They will never come up while exploring existing pathways.
I also have some well-worn paths and heavily used ideas. Those things are more easy for me to recall.
Noticing Gaps. If something feels like it’s going over your head, that’s a clue that your brain doesn’t have any spider web in that area.
When that happens, take note of what you’re struggling with so you can come back to it later. When you get free time come back to do your own research on the topic.
If it’s a big gnarly topic, break it down into smaller pieces. The smaller ones can be processed and they’ll start building back up to the larger topic.
You can also incorporate analogies and stories. As you’re doing your research, see if there are any stories that illustrate the topic. These are great at building different kinds of connections, and humans are really good at remembering stories (which is why we have all those fables that have been passed down through the ages).
Visual Encoding. Lastly, remember that your brain is really good at multimedia. You don’t have to rely on written and spoken words to build connections. You can use visual language as part of the encoding.
Whether an idea is new or old, see if you can illustrate the idea. Jump on a whiteboard or grab your notepad. Translate text and words into visuals.
The act itself is a powerful way to build on the semantic memory because you’re actively processing the idea. It may also build connections you didn’t realize as you work in a visual medium. Visuals are also relatively easy to remember, so can aid in recall.
Now we know of at least four ways to help us build out our semantic memory. We can review things over time (spaced repetition), read and process multiple sources (syntopical reading), become aware of gaps so we can fill them (notice gaps), and use illustrations (visual encoding).
Let’s look at some ways to leverage semantic memory before wrapping it up.
Build those Connections! Be intentional about building those connections! Pull things into your long-term memory by wresting with ideas. Reflect on your learning. The more connections you place to an idea the more readily it’ll come up in practice.
A spider web with a lot of connections will be much stronger than one with just a few nodes and lines.
Jiggling I don’t think this is an official term, but if you think about the web of connections, then you can improve recall by ‘jiggling’ the parts of the web you might need. Just like in a real web, tugging on one part will then pull on other parts.
You can use this to your advantage by priming yourself before you need something.
In just one example, if you’re going to host a Q&A with an audience about something, talk with audience members beforehand. Find a quiet area and just run through some of the main beats of your topic out loud. Scan your notes.
All those things are little jiggles that warm up connections and can smooth out recall when you’re actively engaged with others.
Being intentional about the practices here can be a really powerful habit over time. You’ve got multiple techniques to build out your web of connections, you can seek out new information, and then jiggle the web to bring things to the fore.
As a simple way to start this week, how about taking 15 minutes after a long meeting to reflect on what you just experienced. Try to summarize and list the main points from the discussion. What do those ideas connect to? Can you illustrate any of the key concepts?
Let me know how it goes!
If you’ve already got some practices in place, I’d love to learn from you. Just reply back to this email and share your experience.
Kevin 😃