Use 'Dual Coding' to Study Twice As Effectively

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When you learn and use a studying method, you’re making it easier for your brain to synthesize new information. Great. Now think of how much more you could learn and retain if you could double up on the methods you’re using. Why, you could learn twice as much. You can do that, but it takes a little pre-planning and patience. It’s called “dual coding,” and it’s a popular teaching and studying technique that’s proven to help you retain more of what you’re learning.

Study twice as hard

The dual-coding theory was first conceptualized by a professor named Allan Paivio in 1971. He hypothesized that the mind can process new information verbally and visually, either one at a time or simultaneously. If processing both together, the mind will process more. It's not altogether revolutionary, although it does beg the question of whether you might get overwhelmed and end up learning less as a result. Worry not: There’s been a lot of research on the theory since Paivio came up with it; researchers have found that item recall does increase when you use two methods of processing at once. You just have to be strategic in your approach.

How to dual code when studying

All of this sounds very science-y and theoretical, but dual coding is actually pretty easy to do in practice. All you’re really trying to do is combine verbal and visual materials when you study. Try these approaches:

• While listening to a recorded lecture, draw doodles representing what you’re hearing. You can also generate a podcast on your study materials using software like Google's NotebookLM, then doodle while you listen to that. Additionally, try making a "personal podcast" by recording yourself reading your own notes or materials, then playing it back. Here, you study once while you take the notes, again while you revise your script, again while you speak it out loud, and again while you listen, plus more thoroughly if you doodle what you're hearing.

• After finishing a section or chapter in your book, draw a mind map explaining what you just read (or use the mapping technique to take notes in class). There are specialty apps that can help you accomplish this. NotebookLM can generate a mind map for you, but it doesn't exactly allow you to participate, so it's not ideal. Try Xmind instead.

• As you read your notes or book, create a timeline of relevant events on a separate sheet of paper.

• Make flashcards that incorporate images. A number of the best flashcard apps have paid upgrades that allow you to add pictures, charts, infographics, timelines, diagrams, or whatever else to your study materials. By combining the time-tested Leitner flashcard method with text and pictures, you're going above and beyond dual coding.

The best visual aids are timelines, mind maps, diagrams, and drawings, so use whichever one works for you and the subject you’re studying. One way to pack a punch with dual coding is by also incorporating blurting, a process wherein you read your material as usual and then write down or speak aloud everything you can remember about it without looking. Try blurting with visuals instead of written explanations, creating a timeline or diagram from memory before checking your recall against your notes or text. Just make sure you leave spaces in your visuals so you can easily fill in anything you forgot during the blurt.

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