(Almost) Forgetting something makes you more likely to remember it

It turns out that partially forgetting something, and then struggling to remember it is a necessary part of the memory formation process.

When we try to remember things, we’re exercising our brain and telling it that ‘this piece of information is important, store it somewhere safe and easily accessible!’. 

This is a key concept behind the ‘spaced repetition’ technique. Spaced repetition is a study technique whereby pieces of information are re-visited at set intervals in order to strengthen the memory