Your Brain Can't Read Your Mind: the SAID Principle

In Sports Medicine, the acronym SAID stands for: Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. The SAID principle basically says that all training is specific to a particular task. While this principle concerns the physiological adaptation of the human body to the specific loads placed on it (e.g. weight training, aerobic training, endurance training), recent research suggests that a similar principle may apply in relation to more intellectual matters.

What this research showed was that, at least in science learning, practicing retrieving and reconstructing knowledge works more effectively than elaborative study with concept mapping. Effectively, if you want to remember something then practice remembering it. This is the principle underlying flashcards: you repeatedly test whether you remember the answer to the question on one side of the cards and practice more the ones you have the most trouble retrieving.

The lesson here is that if you want to learn something you need to keep in mind how you are going to use the information. If you need to recall it, then you need to practice recall, if you need to apply it in some way then you need to practice applying it.

The fact is that your brain can't read your mind. It can only respond to the stimuli to which you expose it. So if you practice recall as part of your study then your brain will take it that the critical thing is recall and build connections accordingly. Target your practise for intended use.

This implies that two people learning the same thing may focus on different kinds of practice. For example, if a person is learning a dance move so that they can freely incorporate it into their social dancing then they will need to practice it as a precursor or follow on to a variety of different moves to permit that flexibility. But another person learning the same move for a routine need only practice it as part of that specific sequence.

It also means that you learn more by doing than you do by watching, partly because by doing we are practicing what we want to do and partly because doing involves greater sensory input.

The other thing the brain needs to know is: what is important? And it works this out by what you focus on, and on the strength of your emotional response. This is one reason why paying attention is important and why it is also of value to find something interesting in what you are learning. The brain also takes into account effort (which to a great extent is a product of attention, and repetition.)

In The Owner's Manual for The Brain, Pierce Howard remarks:

It's funny, when we were in school, we made a point of trying to remember. As adults we casually read or observe without similar efforts at remembering, such as taking notes or reviewing, and then we lament that we are "losing our memory" when we can't remember ... Balderdash. We're expecting results like those from our school days without exerting a similar effort.

So the key principles to keep in mind are:

• practice for intended use
• maximise brain stimulation through focused attention, emotional engagement, and repeated effort.

By employing these principles, you will make your learning more effective by making your brain's job easier.