How Your Brain Works: State-Dependent Learning

An illuminating introduction to the phenomenon of State-Dependent Learning and how to use it to prepare for an exam or performance.

Table of Contents

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Prerequisites

LOVE of music and the discipline to study and practice the right things the right way.

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Lesson Goal

To learn the importance of state-dependent learning and how to use it to enhance your ability to remember, especially under pressure, preparing for a performance.

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What is State-Dependent Learning?

State-Dependent Learning, also called state-dependent memory, is the phenomenon that people remember and perform things better when they study and practice these things under the same conditions than they expect to recall or perform them.

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How State-Dependent Learning Works

Remember that we have the capacity to learn both consciously and unconsciously. When we are immersed in any environment, there are countless numbers of things that lie beyond our conscious attention. And any number of these things–location, time of day, state of mind, health, clothes you’re wearing, mood, drug usage, hormone levels, and others–have the potential to become unconsciously associated with the conscious behaviors we are studying or practicing. Therefore, any of these things has the potential to become a memory trigger. So, if one of these memory triggers disappears when we move to another environment or if we are surprised by an unexpected trigger, there is a risk that our memories will suffer or fail completely. This phenomenon is particularly important when preparing to recall complex information or perform a difficult task under pressure.

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Examples of State-Dependent Learning

1. Pre-season scrimmages for sports teams.
2. Dress rehearsals for theater companies.
3. Final hour exam prep by psychology majors. (Visit any upper-level college psychology class an hour before an exam and notice how many psych majors are studying in the very same classroom, with the same lighting, and in the very same seat in which they are about to take their test. No kidding!)

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Implications for Students and Teachers

When preparing for performance…

1. Practice in under several different environments and conditions so that your behavior generalizes to all environments and conditions. If you can, practice playing the same piece on different pianos.
2. Practice in the very same environment, on the very same piano on the very same stage, with the very same lighting, while role-playing your entrance, in front of a small real or imagined audience.
3. Practice having stage fright (see: Performance Anxiety: Stage Fright Practice).

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learn more… How Your Brain Works