Revising through the map: blank reconstruction

The illusion of rereading

Rereading a map produces an immediate feeling of mastery and almost no learning. It is the same trap as highlighting: the fluency of the document is mistaken for knowledge.

The reason is mechanical. Rereading is recognising. And recognising is infinitely easier than retrieving, and retrieving is what will be asked of you in a meeting, an exam or a conversation.

Blank reconstruction

The protocol comes down to four moves.

1. Turn the map over, or close the file.
2. On a blank sheet, redraw it from memory: centre, main branches, then whatever detail comes back.
3. Compare with the original, and spot what is missing.
4. Mark the gaps in red on the original map.