Two Types of Knowing

The Two Types of Knowing

Declarative Memory

    Definition

    Examples

    Effective Study Strategies

    Things to Avoid

Procedural Memory

    Definition

    Examples

    Effective Study Strategies

    Things To Avoid  ​

Short disclaimer: There are way more than two types of knowing things.  However, this article is going to focus on just two types of knowledge and their associated memories (procedural and declarative).  That is because these two ways of knowing things are the most relevant for doing well in an AP class.

In AP history classes, you spend the whole year preparing to take an exam in May.  Ideally, most of your readings, assignments, quizzes, and exams are designed to move you closer to the goal of preforming well on that exam.  So if we understand what kinds of knowing are tested on the exam, then we can have clarity about our purpose.  That clarity can guide our decisions around using our time.

On the AP exam, you will be tested on two things:

• Your understanding of a topic. This could be something like remembering how gunpowder helped empires expand between 1450 and 1750 CE.
• Your ability to do a task. This includes writing a historically defensible thesis that advances an argument.

Declarative memories are memories of things we can easily use language to describe.  These memories shape our understanding of topics and the world around us.

Most of the time, we need to engage a particular part of declarative memory.  This type of memory is called semantic memory.  Semantic memories include facts, names, events, definitions of terms, and other similar information.  We use language to declare this information to other people.  I can tell you, "The Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453 CE."  I wrote an article about a technique to engage another part of the declarative memory, the episodic memory, while studying.  You can read that here.  But know that the semantic memory really is the star.  ​

Here are some example of declarative memories you want tucked away in your brain for the AP exam:

• Broad Historical Trends.  For example, the Enlightenment shaped new ideas about government.
• Specific Examples of Historical Trends.  John Locke proposed there were three specific natural rights: life, liberty, and property.  This is an example of a new idea about government shaped by the Enlightenment.
• Time Periods Associated with Trends and Examples.  In AP World History, the Enlightenment falls into the third time period (1750-1900 CE),  In AP US History, it is part of Period 3 (1754-1800 CE).
• How to Earn Points.  For example, you can earn one point for writing a thesis statement.  Your thesis statement must be "historically defensible" and "[establish] a line of reasoning."  ​

In order to engage our semantic memory, we have to give it information in a way that will encourage our brains to take action.  After we do that, we have to practice getting that information back out of our brains.  Both parts are critical.  It's no good spending time on things that don't engage your brain.  You may as well do nothing.  It's also not helpful to have something stored, but be unable to explain it.

Or, to put it another way:

If you can't declare (meaning explain or describe) information using nothing but your brain, you have not formed a strong declarative memory.  That's why it's critical to not skip the part where you declare what you understand.  If you omit this, you've got Schrodinger's Memory.  Maybe you learned, and maybe you didn't.  You can't know until you try to explain it.  If you can't explain, then you should not expect that information to be readily available on the exam.

Have no fear!  Good strategies are here!  

Any of the following techniques are effective for strengthening your declarative memory:

One last note, the nature of declarative memory is also why a few study strategies often backfire.  These strategies all take a lot of time, but don't require you to declare anything.  That means you can't be certain that you've retained the information.

• Reading and Rereading.  This one is both insidious and common.  So, for the record, our ancestors invented writing so they wouldn't have to remember things.  They could write the information down and safely forget it.  Nothing about the reading process forces you to declare anything.
• Watching Videos.  After our ancestors got done experimenting with writing, they invented a bunch of new methods to store information.  Again, the goal was not needing to remember all the information they needed.  Pictures and videos were one of them.  If you're not declaring, you can't know if you know.
• Taking Practice Tests.  Practice tests have their place!  But they aren't for learning, at least not in AP classes.  AP-style exams are relatively poor ways to test knowledge because they are skills-based.  They test doing and knowledge, and that makes it difficult to use them to test your knowledge specifically.  ​

Procedure is a specific way of doing things or steps in a process.  Therefore, procedural memories are memories of how to do things.  

Procedural memories are a type of non-declarative memory.  This means that is is difficult to fully capture how to do something using just words.  The more complex the task is, the more difficult it is to explain.  Consider riding a bike.  It's relatively easy to name the parts of a bike or tell a story about riding a bike.  Both of these tasks pull on our declarative memory.  On the other hand, it is challenging to explain how to balance, pedal, or turn a bike.  You can get a close approximation.  But we put training wheels on bikes so children can learn what it feels like to balance a bike.  That practice helps children develop a skill that would be much more challenging and frustrating if we could only explain it to them.

Another key trait of non-declarative memories is that we often are consciously aware of developing these kinds of memories.  This means that it can be tricky to know if you're on the right track because its less obvious when you are progressing.  Finally, non-declarative memories are formed and stored by different parts of the brain than declarative memories.  These two traits of non-declarative memories mean that you cannot use the same strategies that work for declarative memories.  At least, you can't if you wish to avoid frustration and stagnation.  ​

If you want to get good at doing something, you have to pick different strategies than if you want to get good at knowing something.  This is where students can get stuck.  Many people can explain a task, but then struggle to carry it out.  Unlike with declarative memory, being able to explain a task is not the ultimate measure of having mastered the task.  Instead, doing the task well (quickly, efficiently, accurately) is the measure of success.

That means you want to spend your time doing the activity you are trying to master.

Here are some concrete strategies to make this process easier and smoother:

• Watch and Mimic Experts.  You can use this strategy with a teacher, tutor, YouTube, or even a peer with stronger writing skills.  You can get even more benefits if the person you are watching explains their process.  However, beware of just falling down the YouTube rabbit hole.  You need to take their steps and suggestions and apply them to your work.  It's not enough to passively watch.  You have to shift into practice mode.
• Get Feedback From an Expert.  Experts can also provide feedback on your process.  You are more likely to improve quickly if there is a relatively short gap between doing the process and getting feedback on it.  Ideally, the feedback happens while you are working on the skill.  This helps your brain make connections, and also people forget what they did if too much time passes.
• Break It Until You Make It.  Answering one multiple choice question requires successfully completing specific steps.  Essays test multiple skills at once.  To rapidly improve, break those big tasks down into a list of skills or steps.  Then, focus on one step or skill.  Drill that repeatedly, until it is easy and boring to complete.  That could look like writing a thesis statement (and nothing else) for ten LEQ prompts.
• Consistency!  Try to develop one way of completing the task.  It's easier for your brain to store a pattern than a hodgepodge of random stuff.  It also prevents you from skipping something important.  Once you settle on a procedure, you can create a checklist, mnemonic, or standard operation procedure (SOP) to cue each step until it's a habit.
• Practice Makes Permanent.  It's really critical to spend time practicing the skill.  It's best to do this after you've developed a good method, but don't skip it!  Practice tests are a great tool for this stage.  Practice helps move information into our long-term memory, which has basically infinite storage.  Even better, long-term procedural memories are used without our awareness.  If you do this right, every time you encounter this problem in the future, your brain will take over and do the steps without you even knowing it.  It's like magic!  ​

There are some common errors that can stall your progress.  It's best to avoid these pitfalls when you can:

• Relying on Written Words. Procedural memories are non-declarative memories.  This means that we struggle to use words to convey or understand the full task.  If you can watch someone complete a task, that's usually works out better.  Doing the task, especially with feedback, is even better.
• Practicing Bad Habits.  As I said earlier, practice makes permanent.  But it's doesn't make perfect, contrary to the common saying.  Practice makes bad habits permanent just as easily as good ones.  Get the method right before you double-down on practice.

I help ambitious students improve their skills and master the AP exam.  Learn more here!

You may also like these articles on effective study skills for AP students.

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