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The efficacy of the 'mind map' study technique

Article  in  Medical Education · June 2002

DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2923.2002.01205.x · Source: PubMed

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Research papers

The efficacy of the ‘mind map’ study technique

Paul Farrand,1 Fearzana Hussain2 & Enid Hennessy3

Objectives To examine the effectiveness of using the However this improvement was only robust after a
‘mind map’ study technique to improve factual recall week for those in the mind map group. At 1 week, the
from written information. factual knowledge in the mind map group was greater
Design To obtain baseline data, subjects completed a by 10% (adjusting for baseline) (95% CI –1% to
short test based on a 600-word passage of text prior to 22%). However motivation for the technique used was
being randomly allocated to form two groups: ‘self- lower in the mind map group; if motivation could have
selected study technique’ and ‘mind map’. After a been made equal in the groups, the improvement with
30-minute interval the self-selected study technique mind mapping would have been 15% (95% CI 3% to
group were exposed to the same passage of text previ- 27%).
ously seen and told to apply existing study techniques. Conclusion Mind maps provide an effective study
Subjects in the mind map group were trained in the technique when applied to written material. However
mind map technique and told to apply it to the passage before mind maps are generally adopted as a study
of text. Recall was measured after an interfering task technique, consideration has to be given towards ways
and a week later. Measures of motivation were taken. of improving motivation amongst users.
Setting Barts and the London School of Medicine and Keywords ANOVA; Education, medical, undergraduate/
Dentistry, University of London. *methods; educational measurement, *methods;
Subjects 50 second- and third-year medical students. London; *motivation; problem-based learning,
*methods.
Results Recall of factual material improved for both
the mind map and self-selected study technique Medical Education 2002;36:426–431
groups at immediate test compared with baseline.

representing the main study topic is initially drawn in

Introduction
the centre of the mind map. Extending from this central
Educational materials1 have recently emerged which image are several major branches containing keywords
aim to improve memory for medical information by representing the topic subheadings, which are accom-
representing facts in the form of ‘mind maps’. Mind panied by an image whenever possible. The important
mapping2 is a study technique in which information detail included under each subheading is written upon
from a variety of sources is converted into a diagram- smaller branches projecting from the subheadings with
matic representation of the important key words asso- more detailed information being connected to this
ciated with a study topic. During production, an image information. By undergoing this process, information
initially contained within passages of text becomes
1
hierarchically organized, with the most general infor-
Department of Human Science, Barts and The London School of
Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary College, University of London,
mation being presented in the centre of the mind map
London, UK (Now at Institute of Health Studies, University of and material of increasing detail being presented at the
Plymouth) extremes. When the mind map is read, the central
2
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen
Mary College, University of London, London, UK
image forms the starting point and the branch to the top
3
Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Barts and right-hand of the central image is the first branch
The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary College, inspected. When this branch has been inspected the
The University of London, London, UK
other branches are covered in a similar manner, work-
Correspondence: P A Farrand, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Health ing in a clockwise fashion. Throughout the whole
Studies, University of Plymouth, Earl Richards Road North, Exeter,
Devon, EX2 6AS, UK. Tel.: 01392 475 123; Fax: 01392 475 151; process, imagery, colour and the visual-spatial
E-mail: [email protected] arrangement of the material are emphasized. Whilst

426
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The ‘mind map’ study technique • P Farrand et al. 427

supports the learning and retention of the new infor-

Key learning points mation. Additionally, the distinctiveness of information
influences its memorability. New information which is
Mind maps are an effective study technique when
more distinct, or which is made so during processing, is
used to improve factual recall from written mate-
recalled more easily than information for which the
rial.
memory trace resembles that of information already
Concern exists regarding levels of motivation resident in memory.11
amongst the medical students using mind maps. Whilst the effectiveness of different study techniques
for improving memory has been shown empirically, the
Whilst the mind map technique would seem to be
implications of the results for the design of educational
particularly suited to problem-based learning
materials have been disappointing. Often the study
(PBL) curricula, effective training is required to
techniques have been limited in application to the recall
both encourage and motivate students in its use.
of ordered lists of keywords.12,13 When attempts have
been made to apply these strategies to improving the
many of the components used in mind maps have been recall of written information, they have been largely
individually incorporated into commonly used study unsuccessful.14,15 Furthermore, whilst many of these
techniques, their efficacy of use when combined within study methods have been shown to improve memory
a single study technique has not been examined. performance on a test of immediate recall, longer-term
Study techniques which have separately incorporated improvements have been more elusive.16
imagery, colour or the visual-spatial arrangement of The limitations of many of the commonly adopted
keywords have each been reported to significantly study techniques are particularly problematic if such
improve recall when compared with simple note taking techniques are applied to medical curricula based on
or rote rehearsal. For example, spatially arranging a problem-based learning (PBL). Due to the emphasis in
series of keywords into a distinctive pattern prior to PBL upon a self-directed approach,17 students need a
making associations, as would be common in study study technique which will help them improve their
techniques such as spider diagrams, significantly memory for written material whilst complementing the
improved recall.3 The use of study techniques based deeper level of learning obtained with PBL. Such a study
upon imagery, such as the method of loci,4 improved technique is particularly important given that a current
the recall of 40 words in a study in which students were weakness of PBL is that students perform worse on tests
trained to associate each word with a particular campus requiring the recall of factual material when compared
location during learning.5 Furthermore, study with students undertaking lecture-based curricula.18
techniques based upon visual imagery have been shown Additionally, the greater degree of organization of
to be even more effective when colour was additionally information afforded by mind maps may potentially
used to enhance the self-generated visual image.6,7 overcome the further weakness of PBL in that know-
That recall improves when study techniques incor- ledge acquired tends to remain largely unorganized.19
porate the use of these components is, however, not Although mind mapping may be a particularly
surprising. Even when used separately, these compo- effective study technique within PBL curricula, its
nents can all be seen to support cognitive processes efficacy needs to be established before such a technique
which have been reported to improve memory. The is recommended to students. This paper examines
theory of levels of processing8,9 proposes that the level of whether mind mapping is efficacious as a study tech-
processing used whilst learning new material dictates nique and whether it overcomes many limitations
the success with which it will later be recalled. The identified with previous study techniques.
theory suggests that a deeper level of processing, such as
that achieved when meaning is extracted from incoming
Methods
information, will result in a better level of recall than
shallow processing, used when information is simply
Sample
rehearsed or written down. The elaboration of new
material has been proposed as another mechanism to A total of 50 second- and third-year medical under-
improve recall.10 Elaboration requires associations to be graduate students, attending Barts and The London
made between the new incoming information and School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Lon-
information already resident in memory (proactive don, volunteered to take part in the study after viewing
facilitation). When such associations are made, the a recruitment poster. Their mean age was 20Æ1 years,
connection to information which has already been learnt and there were 31 women and 19 men. Participants

Blackwell Science Ltd ME D I C A L ED U C A T I ON 2002;36:426–431

428 The ‘mind map’ study technique • P Farrand et al.

were alternately assigned to the between subjects to return 30 min later. Subjects in the mind map
conditions (mind map vs. self-selected study technique) condition however, were given a 30-minute lesson in
based on the order in which they presented for the the mind map technique. The lesson used material
study. The allocation of students resulted in groups totally unrelated to the study text to demonstrate the
with similar characteristics with the exception that there best ways to produce and memorize mind maps and
were slightly fewer men in the mind map group (see gave subjects the opportunity to ask questions about the
Table 1). There was no subject drop-out from any of technique.
the sessions. During session 1, subjects were exposed to the study
text again for an additional 10-minute period. Subjects
in the mind map condition were advised to divide the
Materials
time between reading the study text and producing a
A 600-word sample of text was taken from an article mind map and studying it. Subjects forming the self-
which had appeared in Scientific American. The topic of selected study technique condition were advised to
the sample was unusual forms of transportation and had divide their time between reading the text and using
been chosen to minimize the possibility that subjects their existing study methods. None of the subjects in
had prior knowledge about the material to be tested. the self-selected study technique condition used mind
Three question sets containing 15 questions each were maps as their preferred method of study. Following a
developed from the study text. All questions were of a mental arithmetic task all subjects were again given
similar length and required the recall of a specific piece 5 minutes to complete the question set. Additionally all
of information presented in the text (for example, ‘Who subjects were requested to complete a 5-point scale
ordered the cancellation of the atomic plane program?’). which assessed level of motivation in studying the
Question sets were extensively piloted to ensure that material (1 ¼ very unmotivated, 5 ¼ very motivated).
ceiling or floor effects did not arise, and each set At the end of this session the mind maps were collected
reflected a similar level of difficulty. The order of from the mind map group and all the subjects were told
presentation of the question sets was fully randomized about session 2 and requested to attend 1 week later.
by both subject and session throughout the study. At session 2, all subjects were given 5 minutes to
complete the final question set without any additional
exposure to the study text.
Procedure

During the baseline session of the experiment, subjects

Results
received the study text and were told to study it using
their existing study techniques. Exclusively, the tech- Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, with
niques spontaneously used were to write down the key group (mind map vs. self-selected study technique) as
words, re-read or underline key words. No participant the independent variable and number of items correct
used a method resembling mind mapping at this stage. at session 1 and session 2 separately as the dependent
After 10 minutes the study text was collected and variables. In both cases baseline was included as a
subjects were given a 5-minute mental arithmetic test to covariate to account for differences between groups,
prevent rehearsal of the study text. During recall, sub- and in neither case were there statistically significant
jects were allowed 5 minutes to complete one of three differences in the mean change from baseline in the
question sets. At the end of the baseline session, sub- number of correct items, although it approached
jects in the self-selected study technique condition were significance for the results after 1 week (P ¼ 0Æ07)
informed about session 1 of the experiment and asked (Table 2). Non-adjusted data are presented in Fig. 1.
Significant differences however, existed between the
levels of self-reported motivation for the groups
Table 1 Characteristics of the mind map and self-selected study
technique groups (tdf¼48 ¼ 2Æ35, P ¼ 0Æ02), with the mind map group
surprisingly reporting lower levels of motivation (mean-
¼ 2Æ8, SD ¼ 0Æ67) than the self-selected study technique
Mind map Self-selected study technique
group (mean ¼ 3Æ2, SD ¼ 0Æ78) group. As there were
differences in motivation, the original data were reanal-
Number 25 25
ysed with motivation used as an additional covariate.
Mean age, years 20 20
Male, % 32 44 With adjustment for baseline performance and
Baseline score 5 4Æ8 motivation, a significant difference in performance was
found between the mind map and the self-selected

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The ‘mind map’ study technique • P Farrand et al. 429

Table 2 Difference in mean correct answers (95% CI) between mind map and self-selected study technique groups, at session 1 (day 1)
and session 2 (day 7)

Difference between mean % difference in proportion of P value

correct answers correct answers

Session 1(day 1)
Adjusted for baseline 0Æ8 ()0Æ6 to 2Æ3) 5Æ5 ()4Æ3 to 15Æ9) 0Æ26
Adjusted for baseline and motivation 1Æ7 (0Æ3 to 3Æ1) 11Æ3 (2Æ1 to 20Æ4) 0Æ016
Session 2 (day 7)
Adjusted for baseline 1Æ6 ()0Æ2 to 3Æ4) 10Æ7 ()1Æ1 to 22Æ5) 0Æ07
Adjusted for baseline and motivation 2Æ3 (0Æ5 to 4Æ1) 15Æ3 (3Æ3 to 27Æ3) 0Æ013

were, however, smaller for the mind map group, only

reaching full significance at session 1 (rdf¼22 ¼ 0Æ41,
P ¼ 0Æ023; rdf¼22 ¼ 0Æ30, P ¼ 0Æ07, respectively). Cau-
tion should be exercised when interpreting these partial
correlations, however, because of the small sample size
for each group (n ¼ 25). (Additionally, all analyses
were further replicated with sex as a covariate, but this
did not change any of the conclusions.)

Discussion
Analysis of the data indicates that, as a strategy to
improve memory for written information, the mind map
technique has the potential for an important improve-
ment in efficacy. With the mind map technique there is
an estimated increase of 10% without any change in
motivation, and an increase of 13% if there were such a
change. Mind maps are unlikely to worsen the learning
process as the lower end of the 95% confidence interval
excluded a deterioration of more than 1%, and it is likely
in practice that those who did not like the technique
would continue with the one they currently used. At
Figure 1 Mean unadjusted correct recall (maximum score ¼ 15),
both session 1 and session 2, the mind map technique
using mind map and self-selected study techniques. resulted in correct recall of a statistically significantly
higher number of items than the self-selected study
technique, when adjustments for baseline score and
study groups. For both session 1 and session 2, the motivation were made. Importantly, the recall ad-
mind map group recalled significantly more correct vantage with the mind map technique was robust over a
items than the self-selected study group, showing a week, resulting in a 24% proportional increase in correct
clear study advantage when the mind map was used, recall when compared with baseline score. Recall
which was robust over a 1-week time delay (see performance in the self-selected study technique was
Table 2). actually a little worse (–6%) over the week. That
That motivation may have differentially affected the improvements in recall at a week re-test remained evi-
mind map and self-selected study technique groups is dent with just a single exposure to the mind map tech-
further supported by a different pattern of partial nique suggests a real benefit of this study technique
correlations with baseline performance controlled. compared with other memory strategies where benefits
Motivation was significantly correlated with perform- have been confined only to tests of immediate recall.16
ance at both session 1 and session 2 for the self-selected That differences exist between the groups in
study technique group (rdf¼22 ¼ 0Æ57, P ¼ 0Æ002; memory performance suggests that improvements that
rdf¼22 ¼ 0Æ45, P ¼ 0Æ039, respectively). Correlations arise with mind maps are likely to be dependent upon

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430 The ‘mind map’ study technique • P Farrand et al.

improvements in cognitive processing. Whilst it is interested in the material being studied.29 It should be
beyond the scope of this study to identify the nature of noted, however, that if successful efforts were made to
the cognitive processes supported when mind maps are counter the reductions in motivation encountered when
used, it is likely that mind maps encourage a deeper the mind map technique was used, significant further
level of processing than that obtained with the other, recall benefits of mind mapping would be expected.
more conventional study techniques adopted in the This paper has shown the efficacy of using mind
self-selected study technique. A deeper level of infor- maps as a study aid, even when use has been limited to
mation processing has been associated with better a single exposure. The increased use of mind maps, and
academic performance by medical students.20 It has the emergence of educational materials supporting the
also been acknowledged, however, that fostering a use of mind maps, within medical curricula, should
deep level of learning is very difficult because students therefore be cautiously welcomed. The mind map
do not spontaneously adopt strategies that foster such technique would seem to be particularly suited to
learning.21 medical curricula based around PBL, as both approa-
A highly surprising finding was that motivation in the ches support, and encourage students to adopt a deeper
self-selected study technique group was significantly level of learning. Nevertheless, before mind maps were
higher than that in the mind map group, even though recommended as a study technique, a way of providing
participants in the latter group received training in the effective training would need to be established so that
mind map technique. students were encouraged and enthusiastic about
Straightforward relationships between training and adopting this approach in preference to other more
motivation have been extensively reported,22,23 with conventional study techniques. With this aim in mind,
previous research also indicating that that the provision one possibility would be the incorporation of a mind
of task training is often accompanied by increased map training course into the first few terms of the
motivation in engaging with and using a study tech- medical curriculum, accompanying other sessions in
nique.24 Training is believed to focus individuals study skills often provided during the initial stages of a
towards directing their efforts to working on the task PBL curriculum.
given rather than dividing their attention between other
tasks, and to increase the amount of time the individual
Acknowledgements
chooses to spend completing an activity.25 For both
groups, the well-established relationship between Thanks are due to Richard Rowe for comments on an
motivation and recall performance26 was supported. earlier draft of this paper.
This relationship was weaker for the mind map group,
however, and was only marginally significant (P ¼ 0Æ07)
Contributors
at session 2.
A possibility which might account for the lower level Contributions to the paper were as follows: Fearzana
of motivation in the mind map group is that there is Hussain originated the idea behind the research and
resistance to using memory strategies as study aids. conducted the experimentation; Paul Farrand designed
Students, especially males, have been reported to be the experiment and wrote the paper, whilst Enid
reluctant to use many memory strategies, preferring to Hennessy conducted the statistical analysis.
adopt more conventional techniques such as rehearsal,
repetition and summary elaboration, techniques
Funding
exclusively adopted by the students in the self-selected
study group.27 Motivation in the mind map group may The research was completed without external funding.
therefore have been lower than in the self-selected study
group as students were trained and instructed to use a
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