Ranschburg phenomenon
The Ranschburg phenomenon is an inhibition in the memory when retrieving learning material and was proven in 1905 by the Hungarian experimental psychologist and psychiatrist Pál Ranschburg . It is also known under the term similarity inhibition and describes a memory inhibition when reproducing similar learning content that was presented with insufficient differentiation (simultaneously or promptly). This memory retardation is not due to a lack of intelligence.
Memory inhibitions
There are various forms of memory inhibition that make it difficult to remember what you have learned or read. The similarity inhibition is considered to be a combination of certain other forms, which are further intensified when they occur simultaneously.
- The “proactive inhibition” disrupts the acceptance of new things by what is already known, for example relearning for drivers in a country with left-hand traffic.
- A “retroactive inhibition” occurs if, for example, the operation of the old cell phone, which was kept as a replacement for emergencies, is forgotten because the operation of the new one works completely differently. The new disturbs well-known learning content. The familiar may have to be learned again.
- In the case of similarity inhibition, these two forms of inhibition occur in a combined form (as forward-backward inhibition / pro- and retroactive inhibition). If the driver drives in quick succession in right-hand traffic and then without a break in left-hand traffic, this can easily lead to irritation. Or if a person reads two subject areas one after the other that are very similar, the similarity can lead to a mixture. It becomes harder to remember the information.
The more similar the subjects dealt with one after the other, the more likely it is that pro- and retroactive inhibition will occur together. These phenomena are often called interference .
see also: learning transfer
Practical learning aids
Learning and reading problems caused by memory inhibitions can easily be avoided:
- A short break between two topics is suitable to clearly separate the areas from each other.
- The order of the learning or reading material can be set so that similar topics do not follow one another. The more clearly a learning or reading material differs from the previous one, the better it is for the absorption of the material and the transfer of learning.
In order to adequately support students, teachers sometimes create their own teaching material, as the school and workbooks used often do not take the Ranschburg phenomenon into account. When learning several similar ingredients, it is important that only one form of them is initially practiced until the learner can safely handle the material.
Typical examples of similarity inhibition
Preschool
If “right and left” is practiced in preschool with the motto: “Left is where the thumb is right”, this means that both directions are practiced together. As a result, people are often still unsure as adults about which is right and left. The method with a “donkey bridge” proves to be more suitable: If the child receives a red colored dot on the right hand, it can associate: rr right-red. So it learns with the help of a memory aid and only one of the two learning contents at a time.
German
The joint practice of similarly pronounced letters in reading texts or the comparative development of the correct use of such letters when learning to write is problematic. This makes things even more difficult when children find it difficult to distinguish between these letters, which are similar to read, due to their dialect.
Examples are: "d and t", "b and p", "g and k", "s and ß".
There is also a widespread practice of teaching easily confusable words (such as "that" and "that") at the same time from the start, instead of letting the children get to know them separately first, so that confusion will continue for later life is most likely. If you want to avoid the Ranschburg phenomenon, you should first consistently teach the two words (which belong to different parts of speech) separately, and then only later to present texts in which both appear to check your acquired skills.
English
Words with unison (homophones) are problematic in an exercise next to each other:
their and there , wear and where , your and you're
Individual evidence
- ↑ netschool.de The Ranschburg phenomenon
- ↑ Kanisa (author) Reading during the study thesis / Department of Education 2001 Archive number: K12684
- ↑ Ibid. Kanisa 2001 Reading while studying