I'm curious to know what you guys do to retain the information you read. Some people are able to remember a lot of information just by reading something once, but unfortunately I'm not like that.

take notes on main ideas and ignore everything else.
after you read, verbally summarize the key points.

wear shako in RL to improve memory

read books that are less concise. i've read some very concise books where an author fits 1 page of information on 1 page, and every sentence matters. i've also read books where an author fits 1 page of information across 10 pages. since you're reading the same info over 10 pages, it's similar to reading 1 sentence 10 times with breaks in between. the repetition keeps it to memory.

or just read books you like. i remember more about novels i enjoy than nonfiction.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Nov 6 2014 08:21pm

theres a lot you can do:
1. understand what is written down.
2. imagine what is written down by picturing images and thoughts about it while reading (what most people do)
3. speed read to enhance getting the whole in a grip. For some people speed reading can actually enhance understanding. (not for me, because i usually have a good quote of remembering around 60+% of the texts crucial points ). With speed reading the average person (~10-30%ish) can get to 30-50%ish)
if u wanna practice speed reading: get a pencil and then "slowly" move it along the lines. You want your eye to get used on not backtracking what it already has read.
Also stop your inner dialogue if possible.
Later on you can use different techniques, for example: get the pencil between every second lind and read 2 lines at once. or just look at the line at 1/3 and 2/3 in, then skip to the next one.
You can also read one line left to right and the next right to left.
whatever you feel.

It depends on the material for me, if I'm genuinely interested in what I'm reading it becomes so much easier to read obviously.

For things I have trouble remembering, I review, review, and review some more. Definitely take notes on key points and look over them.

I usually focus on central themes and key points before anything else, because the vast majority of shit you read nowadays just acts as filler. If i really do have difficulty retaining the information just from reading, I'll write down some notes and re-read them later on.

Try to connect what you read with prior knowledge that you have. Doing this will allow you to have more recall points and be able to recall the information more simply.

Some useful reading on memory. Second link should be more informative.

http://www.simplypsychology.org/memory.html

http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~ashas/Cognition%20Textbook/chapter5.pdf

This. If you take your time to read and understand why what you read is true, it (at least for me) helped me remember.

Write definition
Write definition again
Repeat
Repeat until you can write definition without looking at it
Repeat lines 1-4
Wait one hour
Perform line 4 if not repeat lines 1-4 until proceeding to 5

Repeat for multiple definitions until memorized

Thats what I've done for my weekly math definition quizzes