Have you ever crammed for a test and immediately forgot what it is you learned afterwards. This is something I struggled with when first getting into college. I would study right before a test or some important assignment. I would get the topic down for the short period of time that I needed it but then when I try to recall it after a longer period. It was hard for me to remember, I used to blame my memory being bad, but I have come to realize it is just the way I was studying that was the problem. Well, that is because I was not trying to understand the information but just memorize it. One of the better ways to study is to understand. And that is exactly what the purpose of elaboration is. Elaboration is a technique that I learned that has helped me study and succeed within the learning environment.
So, what exactly is elaboration in learning psychology? Well elaboration is a couple different things all listed under the umbrella term that is elaboration. Elaboration is simply making meaningful connections between the new knowledge and knowledge you already know and understand. So, there are a multitude of different ways you can do that. Not only that but there are an endless number of topics and studies that this could apply to. Typically, it is applied to more complex topics such as Science, History, and Psychology. Let me give an over simplified example for you. Let’s say we are talking about evaporation, the way we would apply elaboration to evaporation is simple. Thanks to The Lion King many people and young kids know what the circle of life is. So, you can begin by explaining that the way water moves around the world is very similar. Water has its own cycle. Beginning with rain, you can technically have it begin at any part because it is a circle but for now, we will say it begins with the rain. When it rains there are puddles and water all over. But once the sun comes out the puddles and water start to dissipate. Then it builds back up to the clouds. This is the process of evaporation. The way to elaborate on it is to create a strong image in their head and to base it on something they may know. So, a way I could elaborate on it is through cooking. Say I am boiling a pan of water, and this pan has a lid. As the water starts to heat up it begins to turn into vapor. Once the vapor floats to the top and hits the lid it collects into small little water droplets. And it falls back down into the water in the pan and then it repeats. That is an example that my brain already understands. I can then use it to understand this new topic. I not only elaborated on what a cycle is with The Lion King but also with a mental image that I have understood since I was a young kid.
This works much better than just trying to repeat something until you memorize it. Because once you stop keeping it in the front of your mind or in your working memory you tend to lose the ability to recall it. So, to keep it easier to recall it’s about relating it and understanding it so that way it stays in your long-term memory.
It is like creating intricate webs in the brain. Where it takes new information constantly and linking it to knowledge already understood. Instead of taking single facts and storing them. They are correlated and that creates a network of connections to make them easier to recall. Like placing all the pieces of information in a book and each page is a progression of knowledge. If anyone watches black clover it is like the Wizard King’s magic book. It has no cover to it; therefore, it is a never-ending book one that can develop and grow with the user. This is exactly how the brain works. It has no known limit to what it can learn. The only limitation it has is how the person in control uses it. And if they do not practice learning new information to relate it to known information, it will never grow. It gives structure to the brain which gives it the foundation it needs to expand. Just like a house needs a foundation to expand on top of it. Because if it doesn’t get that it risks collapse. Going back to my reference about Black Clover (The best anime ever), there is another good metaphor in it for knowledge and the brain. A character names Rades, he is gifted in power, but his grimoire is limited to one page. limiting how far he can go. Good thing our brains are more like Julius Novochrono “The Wizard King” and his grimoire.
So to summarize, elaborative learning is much more effective for long term memory. This is because it focuses on understanding rather than memorization. It simplifies complex concepts for easier understanding by forming connections and adding meaning to the information, it becomes easier to retain and then recall after long periods of time. It improves comprehension while breaking down complex concepts into simple relatable ideas.
Works Cited
Becker, L. B., Welter, V. D. E., & Großschedl, J. (2021). Effects of Strategy Training and Elaboration vs. Retrieval Settings on Learning of Cell Biology Using Concept Mapping. Education Sciences, 11.
Gascon, C. D. (1998). The Spanish Psych Verb Construction: Beginning and Intermediate Learners’ Patterns of Usage. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 3(3), 69–84.
Joel R Levin, Elaboration-based learning strategies: Powerful theory = powerful application, Contemporary Educational Psychology,Volume 13, Issue 3, 1988,Pages 191-205,ISSN 0361-476X, https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-476X(88)90020-3.
Kichan Park. (2024). Facilitating Incidental Vocabulary Learning: The Effects of Bimodal Presentation and Lexical Elaboration. English Teaching, 79(3), 3–30.
Warat Khaewratana. (2022). Word Games for Education: Investigating the Effectiveness of Adding Elaboration Tasks to Crosswords for Learning Technical Vocabulary. In ProQuest LLC.
Image #1. IMG_4748.JPG. original photo taken by Courtney Hart August 2023