We are taking this app around the track to find out what’s under the hood! We’ll tell you if it’s worth your time, if what we find is any good. If it happens to be free, doesn’t mean download you should. As we tie up our shoelaces, we will put it through the paces. What follows is our verdict on what the case is, so stay tuned you should!
Overview: Brainscape, the cognitive science behind a family of apps such as GRE Vocab, Learn Spanish Vocab, SAT Vocab, US Geography and many more, is a product of nearly a century of research in the science of learning and memory. It is based on the simple premise: When you study, each concept should be repeated with in the amount of time that is just long enough for your maximum memory encoding. Repeating an easy concept to soon risks wasting your time, while repeating a difficult concept to late risks your having to learn it all over again. Escape is unique in that it allows you to determine such repetition intervals by accessing your own confidence in each piece of knowledge. By trusting you, the user, Brainscape has created a learning environment, which makes the most effective use of your study time than ever before.
Pros: This family of Apps has a very simple user friendly design upon which it presents it’s content. GRE Vocab, which I used for this review, gives you a nice progress meter so that you can see your progress at a glance. Each flash card follows another that gives you a definition and a sentence showing you an example of how the word is used. This process is repeated until you remember it.
Cons: The app lacks a built in pronunciation feature, although you can use the speak feature on your iPad or Android tablet or phone to over come this shortcoming. Some users have also noted that this is not a good app from cramming days before a test. It’s designed for long term memory retention, so if you’re a constant crammer this may not work for you.
Conclusion: Brainscape has a family of Apps available on IOS and Android phones & tablets on multiple subjects as mentioned above. I found it to be effective not just as a long-term study tool for students but for those who want to expand their vocabulary or knowledge on a particular subject.