Study Habits: A Look Into the STEM Behind Active Recall & Blurting

*In this collaboration with the SM team, the BW team set out to analyze (from a scientific focus) the two most popular study habits that were gathered from STEMpathize's instagram poll!

The Science Behind Active Recall 

by Dayah Sokolov

Did you know even failed recall attempts can strengthen memory more than just re-reading your notes? Photo by Bonnie Kittle from Unsplash.  

If you've ever spent hours looking through your notes or textbooks only to forget most of what you've learned the next day, you're not alone. Traditional study methods might feel productive, but many are not as effective as one may think. Oftentimes these methods don't do much to help information stick; that's where active recall comes in. Active recall is a learning technique that involves retrieving information from your own memory instead of reviewing it in the material you have in front of you. Rather than re-reading notes or listening to lectures, you challenge yourself to remember what you've learned without looking at the answer first. While this study method may seem more difficult than others, that's exactly why it works.

Many other study methods can be considered passive. With traditional methods, you are often looking back at old notes or textbook pages filled with information that you may not fully understand. Constantly trying to absorb all the information in front of you about a subject can do more harm than good when it comes to learning. This is because simply reading information creates a false sense of understanding. The material may seem familiar while it's right in front of you, but that familiarity quickly fades once you no longer have access to it. True understanding comes from being able to recall and apply what you've learned on your own, hence why active recall is so effective. Active recall takes a different approach to learning by forcing you to retrieve information from your memory. This strengthens your understanding of the information, making it easier to remember and apply what you've learned in the future.

The science behind active recall is rooted in how our brains form and strengthen memories. When you first learn something, the memory is relatively weak and can be quickly forgotten. However, each time you actively retrieve that information from your own memory, the neural pathways connected to it become stronger, making it easier to recall in the future. Psychologists refer to this as the testing effect, a phenomenon in which retrieving information from memory leads to better long-term retention of the information. Unlike other study methods such as reading notes, which mainly rely on immediate recognition of the information, active recall forces the brain to reconstruct the information in a way it can understand. This allows the brain to avoid relying on external sources to help recall the information it learned. 

Now if you feel like this method is not working for you, there is no need to fret. Research shows that even unsuccessful attempts at recall can enhance learning, because the struggle signals to the brain that the information is important and worth reinforcing. Consequently, the catch phrase “practice makes perfect” is often used when referring to this method. This is because each attempt to retrieve information helps strengthen the memory, even if the answer is not correct. Over time, these repeated attempts at retrieving information make it easier for the brain to access the right information more accurately and quickly.

Students can use active recall in a variety of simple, but effective, ways. One of the most common methods is using flashcards, where you look at a question or term and try to recall the answer before flipping it over to check. These can be created on paper or a popular digital learning platform called Quizlet. Another method of active recall is completing practice questions. This method is highly effective because it forces you to retrieve the information as well as apply it in a realistic test-like manner. Lastly, another useful active recall technique is teaching the material to someone else or explaining it out loud to yourself. This approach is a great way to check how well you actually understand a topic, since you have to turn your knowledge into explanations rather than just recognize it on a page. All of these methods of active recall are extremely effective because they shift learning from passive review to active application, helping your brain build a stronger and longer-lasting memory of the material.

Overall, active recall is a highly effective study method because it forces the brain to actively retrieve information rather than passively reviewing it. Although it may feel more challenging than traditional study methods, that difficulty is what leads to a stronger understanding and better long-term retention of the subject. By consistently using active recall techniques like flashcards and practice questions, students can significantly improve how well they retain information.

It is undeniable that active recall stands out as one of the most effective study methods, making it a strategy worth employing next time you need to learn something.

Bibliography

Birmingham City University. “Active Recall for Revision.” Birmingham City Exams and Revisions, 11 Mar. 2025, www.bcu.ac.uk/exams-and-revision/best-ways-to-revise/active-recall. Accessed 13 June 2026.

Bryan, Patrick. “Active Recall to the Memory Rescue | Thrive Center.” Thrive Arizona , 27 Feb. 2024, thrive.arizona.edu/news/active-recall-memory-rescue. Accessed 13 June 2026.

Lange, Bob. “Why Top Students Swear by Active Recall (and You Should Too).” Nscs.org, The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, 8 Oct. 2025, nscs.org/blog/top-students-swear-by-active-recall. Accessed 13 June 2026.

Postman, Leo, et al. “An Experimental Comparison of Active Recall and Recognition.” The American Journal of Psychology, vol. 61, no. 4, 1948, pp. 511–19. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1418315. Accessed 15 June 2026.

Xu, Joy, et al. “Active Recall Strategies Associated with Academic Achievement in Young Adults: A Systematic Review.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 354, no. 1, 1 Mar. 2024, pp. 191–198, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38461899/, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.010. Accessed 13 June 2026.

---

Blurting - A Study Method to Supercharge Your Memory

by Sara Mohsin

Blurting can help improve retention of content, providing a faster route to success. Photo by Headway from Unsplash

Ever felt scared about an upcoming test? Planning out studying, revising, and pacing are the most important parts of preparing for major tests and exams, something all students eventually face. Whether it’s studying for tests, quizzes, or just checking for understanding, making sure that you are planning and studying efficiently is as important as the studying itself. Unfortunately, many students rely on outdated methods such as handheld flashcards or rereading notes. These studying techniques are often suitable for content that is not thorough or complicated, making it harder to pass tests using these study techniques as a student progresses through school.

There are many forms of studying such as taking notes, rereading information, and active recall. Active recall is periodically quizzing yourself on knowledge without any help. Active recall is better than re-reading because it tests if your brain truly knows the knowledge (testing effect). By using study techniques scientifically shown to improve retention, you can improve your chances of succeeding. Blurting is a form of active recall and is a common study technique. It involves blurting out as much knowledge one knows about a certain topic, to see what they need to revise further and what they might not know about at all. 

Blurting is effective at letting a student know what concepts they are strong in, and what they need more revision in, rather than taking the time to go over everything. Blurting helps a student improve the longevity of their knowledge, since they periodically review it. It is also shown to not just improve memory, but improve learning skills and ability. Instead of rereading notes or highlighting obsessively, blurting improves memory skills by testing your brain over and over on whether it remembers the same content, which helps to improve memory retention skills. Additionally, blurting is more time efficient because it indicates to students what topics they truly know and what they need to work on. Also, it can help students realize how deeply they know the content of a certain topic.

Since blurting is such an effective and easy study technique, here’s how you should actually be using it. First, organize your study materials. Make sure you have all the study materials open that your teacher or class provided, as well as other materials such as paper and pencils. Next, read and take time to absorb the material. This will be considered the initial read-through of your content. After, blurt out what you can remember (out loud or in your head). You can make a list of each topic and the subtopics and cross off what you were able to blurt, revising the topics you could not remember. If you did blurt something out (and believe you got it right), make sure to double check with your original notes and content to make sure it was correct, and you did not get it mixed up with something else. Finally, keep reviewing and repeating until you can remember all the material. Doing this periodically (such as every afternoon leading up to a test) is helpful because it ensures long term retention, which is crucial for big tests and exams.

Pairing blurting with the right study tools can also help enhance its helpfulness. For example, you could use AI (within safe bounds) to summarize notes, create topics and subtopics to organize your studying, and create a studying/review calendar. Additionally, setting digital reminders and alarms can help students stay on track. Blurting is easy because it can be done in multiple ways. Saying the information in your head, speaking it out loud, writing it down, or even pretending to teach it to a stuffed animal can work!

In conclusion, blurting is among many popular study techniques used to supercharge learning rates. Next time you are faced with a daunting test or quiz, try accessing your toolbox of study methods to see what works best for you. 

Bibliography

Pastötter, Bernhard, and Karl-Heinz T. Bäuml. “Retrieval Practice Enhances New Learning: The Forward Effect of Testing.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 5, 4 Apr. 2014, p. 286, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00286.

‌ Yang, Chunliang, et al. “Enhancing Learning and Retrieval of New Information: A Review of the Forward Testing Effect.” Npj Science of Learning, vol. 3, no. 1, 11 Apr. 2018, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-018-0024-y. 

‌ “What Is the Blurting Method of Studying and How to Use It | Adobe Acrobat.” Adobe.com, 2026, www.adobe.com/acrobat/resources/blurting-method-of-studying.html