Cognition: Memory, Attention, and Learning - Foundations for Designing User-Centered Systems - page 129

These aids to improving memory performance are presented more formally in
study guides. Another method, PQ4R, is described below.
5.2.3 PQ4R: A Way to Improve Reading Comprehension
A common question about memory is how to apply what we know about it to
learning. One approach to integrate what we know about memory and learning into
a study method is the PQ4R method (preview, question, read, reflect, recite,
review). In this method, the learner first previews the material. This helps with
distributing the learning, and it also starts to form a structure for learning, a type of
elaboration (Thomas and Robinson 1972 ).
The next step is to generate questions that the reading should answer. These can
come from the preview, and from your goals and previous knowledge.
The four Rs come quickly then. The reading is done with the preview and
questions in mind. This should be a more situated experience in that the point of
the reading and scope of the reading are clearer.
After reading, the material is reflected upon. This is canonically done by writing
up a short summary and explicitly writing out answers to the questions from the
second set.
Then the material is recited, that is, spoken out loud. This helps form different
memories (verbal ones), and also adds to the distributed learning approach that has
been set up.
Finally, all the materials are later reviewed, or studied. This allows another pass
and also allows any questions arising during the break to be answered.
This topic is designed to help support the use of PQ4R and similar learning
methods that emphasize multiple passes and reflection during learning. On the
book level, it does this by providing a detailed table of contents that can help with
previews, introductory chapters that note why you may be interested in this
material, and chapters providing structures (the ABCS, cognitive architectures)
that can be used to organize the material. On the chapter level, it provides abstracts
for each chapter that can serve as previews, and questions at the end of each
chapter than can be used to guide learning.
You may see this sort of behavior exhibited by users when they get multiple
chances to learn in the same interface using multimodal output, or when the
instructions on how to use the material provide help with these stages by providing
an overview, for example.
5.2.4 Memory Biases
There are other aspects of memory that need to be considered when working with
and designing for users. Poor decision making, for example, is often influenced as