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I use Anki, but I have the problem that I tend to associate the specific form of the question, a particular latex formula etc. with the answer. As soon as I loo

I use Anki, but I have the problem that I tend to associate the specific form of the question, a particular latex formula etc. with the answer. As soon as I look at the question or read the first couple of words, the answer already pops up, so I'm afraid that I don't actually learn to remember the concepts but rather question/answer pairs. Does anybody have some recommendations for dealing with this problem?

dguo 7y ago
I have the same problem once in a while. Here are some things you can try. 1. Slow down your review session. I run into this problem mostly when I lose discipline and start skimming the question. 2. Put more effort into breaking info down into very atomic parts. For complex info, I'll still put in a high-level card, but I'll also put in cards that represent pieces of the info. 3. Add different cards for different methods of recall. I frequently add pairs of cards. For example, I added both "what is Betteridge's law?" and "what adage states that any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with no?"
hobofan 7y ago
Disclaimer: I've not been using Anki for too long I had the same problem when I was initially only put in definitions into Anki. I was able to say the definition 1:1 but didn't form the concepts very well. My 2 (very similar) solutions for this (which I found to work pretty well), are: 1. Cross-referencing cards. I started editing a lot of cards, to add cross-references to other definitions that I also have cards for. For all the new cards I write now, I always try to have at least one reference to something that is on another card. 2. Meta-cards. I specifically add cards that test the knowledge of concepts, and me explaining it by adding cards like "Explain the difference between A and B". 3. Epic cards. When I started learning the periodic system of elements, along with the individual elements, I added a card for each group, a card for each group where I also have to know the element symbol, and a card for each group where I have to know the element symbol and atomic number. Obviously, I can only correctly solve a card if I know the easier versions of it, but it both provides a bigger goal to work towards, and also helps to put the smaller individual pieces of information I'm am learning into a context.
jessriedel 7y ago
So spaced repetition is of course designed for memorizing facts, not learning and integrating complicated concepts, but the danger of memorizing a particular visual presentation of the question prompt is well taken. My only suggestion would be to prepare multiple versions of the same question. This might initially lead to the different versions being collectively shown more often than the ideal spaced repetition frequency for a single fact, but assuming learning is transferring between version (i.e., they are reinforcing each other), maybe it works out in the long term? Very interested to hear what others suggest.
DarthMader 7y ago
My general strategy around that is have the least amount of context possible. If context is necessary, then create multiple cards around it. For example, for a cloze deletion card, it's not uncommon I have up to 3+ clozes for a single note.
Maxbunny 7y ago
Good recommendations so far, but personally I find one method to be the most effective : multiple question versions in conjunction with randomization Say you have decided to brush up on your first grade math, and you make a card for multiplication. Instead of just making one "2 2 = 4" card, you make one card containing three potential questions, so you add "5 4 = 20" and "3 * 3 = 9" to the same card. Each time this card is scheduled to appear, Anki will randomly choose one of the questions to display. This way you prevent your memory from overfitting to the irrelevant context and force it to remember the actual concept, because you have to use your knowledge of how multiplication works every time. You have to pick a large enough selection of possible questions for that to work, for me three is usually enough. Additional bonus : anki reviews get less tedious, because you don't feel like always seeing the same old stuff. Here's a template for creating such cards: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/947272864 https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/947272864

dguo 7y ago

I have the same problem once in a while. Here are some things you can try. 1. Slow down your review session. I run into this problem mostly when I lose discipline and start skimming the question. 2. Put more effort into breaking info down into very atomic parts. For complex info, I'll still put in a high-level card, but I'll also put in cards that represent pieces of the info. 3. Add different cards for different methods of recall. I frequently add pairs of cards. For example, I added both "what is Betteridge's law?" and "what adage states that any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with no?"

hobofan 7y ago

Disclaimer: I've not been using Anki for too long I had the same problem when I was initially only put in definitions into Anki. I was able to say the definition 1:1 but didn't form the concepts very well. My 2 (very similar) solutions for this (which I found to work pretty well), are: 1. Cross-referencing cards. I started editing a lot of cards, to add cross-references to other definitions that I also have cards for. For all the new cards I write now, I always try to have at least one reference to something that is on another card. 2. Meta-cards. I specifically add cards that test the knowledge of concepts, and me explaining it by adding cards like "Explain the difference between A and B". 3. Epic cards. When I started learning the periodic system of elements, along with the individual elements, I added a card for each group, a card for each group where I also have to know the element symbol, and a card for each group where I have to know the element symbol and atomic number. Obviously, I can only correctly solve a card if I know the easier versions of it, but it both provides a bigger goal to work towards, and also helps to put the smaller individual pieces of information I'm am learning into a context.

jessriedel 7y ago

So spaced repetition is of course designed for memorizing facts, not learning and integrating complicated concepts, but the danger of memorizing a particular visual presentation of the question prompt is well taken. My only suggestion would be to prepare multiple versions of the same question. This might initially lead to the different versions being collectively shown more often than the ideal spaced repetition frequency for a single fact, but assuming learning is transferring between version (i.e., they are reinforcing each other), maybe it works out in the long term? Very interested to hear what others suggest.

DarthMader 7y ago

My general strategy around that is have the least amount of context possible. If context is necessary, then create multiple cards around it. For example, for a cloze deletion card, it's not uncommon I have up to 3+ clozes for a single note.

Maxbunny 7y ago

Good recommendations so far, but personally I find one method to be the most effective : multiple question versions in conjunction with randomization Say you have decided to brush up on your first grade math, and you make a card for multiplication. Instead of just making one "2 2 = 4" card, you make one card containing three potential questions, so you add "5 4 = 20" and "3 * 3 = 9" to the same card. Each time this card is scheduled to appear, Anki will randomly choose one of the questions to display. This way you prevent your memory from overfitting to the irrelevant context and force it to remember the actual concept, because you have to use your knowledge of how multiplication works every time. You have to pick a large enough selection of possible questions for that to work, for me three is usually enough. Additional bonus : anki reviews get less tedious, because you don't feel like always seeing the same old stuff. Here's a template for creating such cards: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/947272864 https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/947272864