This a translation of an article about SuperMemo 7 for Windows published in German Chip, February 1995 (p. 82-84).
Elisabeth Reisch, translation by Carsten Haerle
No matter if you study, go to
school or participate in a foreign language course, a
sophisticated learning method eases the acquisition of the
subject considerably. The learning program SuperMemo implements
the theory
of biologist Piotr A. Wozniak, which says that any acquired piece of information
affects synaptic connections in the brain.
These interconnections will be deleted after a certain period of
time, and with them the memory. It is therefore important to make
repetitions to stabilize the connections and to provide them with
a protection from deleting.
Wozniak's model is based on the continuos repetition and also
helps determine when repetitions should take place. The period of
time between repetitions should accurately be chosen: short
enough for the subject not to be forgotten and long enough for
effective repetition and to prevent waste of time.
Another essential aspect of the model is to split the information
into item of information that are as small as possible. Theses
items will then be presented as question-answer pairs in
SuperMemo. All items belonging to a certain subject form a
database.
After selecting such a database SuperMemo starts its
question-answer process. The question is presented on the screen
and the answer displayed after pressing Enter. The user
chooses a grade between one and five to say how closely he has
remembered the answer. This rating is the basis for determining
the frequency with which particular questions will be asked in
future sessions. After the user has answered all questions, he
will have another opportunity to repeat wrongly answered
questions until all questions are answered correctly.
Naturally, SuperMemo develops its highest efficiency only then
when it is used regularly and frequently. This is because the
program computes new frequencies for every item basing on the
entered rating. The success of learning can be measured by
various statistics.
SuperMemo
CD-ROMs include databases
for learning several foreign languages. The German-English
database for example includes about 3000 items and provides a
good material for beginners. If basic English skills have already
been acquired, databases for business, economics and technical
English can be used.
The pronunciation is supported by various databases providing
audio feedback. The question is presented in a written form, the
wanted term can be read and heard. Audio Guide to Advanced
English includes 85 items on individual vowels and consonants,
whereas Audio Advanced English database includes nearly 40000
items. A soundcard is required to use the speech support. With
some basic English, one is also able to learn Swedish, French,
Spanish, Dutch and Esperanto with SuperMemo. All databases can be
extended by the user and it is also possible to create one's own
databases.
The SuperMemo World company offers a variety of other databases. The user can even sell his own database
to SuperMemo World for further distribution. Currently most
databases are only available in English or Polish - mainly
because SuperMemo is not yet sufficiently known in Germany. This
is an unfortunate fact as SuperMemo presents a good conception
and implementation and the impact on learning success is
considerable. This is probably the reason why, according to the
authors, SuperMemo is currently the most frequently pirated
program in Poland today
Elisabeth Reisch