Testing, to the many sighs and grunts of students, is one of, if not the best method of testing your understanding. Despite this, testing has only been seen largely as a measure for grades instead of a study method.Learning is related to the efforts in attempting to understand new information. Elizabeth and Robert Bjork coin the term Desirable Difficulty. When learning, make sure it's not too easy to be boring, but not too hard that it's incomprehensible.You can learn how to study. The most effective learning methods, interestingly, may not be intuitive.

Learning is Misunderstood

There are many influences to proper retention to be wary of.Imagination Inflation occurs when certain details are exaggerated or omitted based on feelings.Suggestion is when a question is asked in a leading manner.Intervention is when an action is interrupted and the memory may be erroneously remembered.The Curse of Knowledge assumes that everyone shares the same base of knowledge to make their opinions. This explains why two people debating may be distraught at the others opinion.Reflection and Reviewing is important. Your own memory may be incorrect to begin with. Be wary of your own memory.

The Illusions Of Fluency

Although cramming or studying intensely in a short time frame may bring great results, of up to 80% when tested in the short-run, it does not hold in the long-run.Moreover, blocked practice, as in doing multiple questions of one concept and then another, appears to also result in less retention. With tests showing a 20% correct rate vs a 63% correct rate with two study groups.The solution is to space out practice so it does not feel like simply reciting the info.Another method is interleaving, switching the study subject to another to encourage acriverecall when returning to each subject.

The Myth Of Massed Practice

It's one thing to feel confident of your knowledge; it's something else to demonstrate mastery

The notion of being better suited to kinesthetic, auditory, or visual learning aids to learning has no empirical evidence to support it, despite its wide acceptance.Rather, the focus is better on the subject rather than the student. Math would better be mainly taught on paper rather than through movement; sports better through movement than listening.Learning is active engagement and making connections which contextualize other information. When the subject is taught in a manner which can best fits the nature of the subject, it is a better way of maximizing your learning.

The Myth of Learning Styles

Mike Ebersold had to save a hunter who's head had been hit by a bullet. The bloodflow from the Sinus veins was severe and flowed fast. Mike sutured two pieces of muscle to suture the gunshot wound, as to not tear nearby tissue.This method was found through experimentation and thinking over and over of what could be done. To which, Mike claims you will not find his solution written anywhere.Some of the greatest progress in learning comes from careful and repetitive contemplation and reflection over an event with what you know. In doing so, new perspectives may open.

Careful and Repetitive Reflection

In a study at Columbia Middle School, a single class was subjected to testing on class material. These tests were sprinkled across the year in random intervals.The results show that students who had this teaching method scored at least full grade higher than other classes.This is attributed to the Retrieval effect, where active recalling over rereading showed higher rates of retention. On the other hand, passive learning did not show the same esults.Another effect is the Generation Effect. The idea being that completing info with one's own input helps retention more than simply reading.

The Testing-Retrieval Effect and Active Recall

The Dunning-Krueger effect refers to the fact that people, often incomptent, tend to overestimate their abilites and vice versa.In their study, they found that the people who scored in the twelfth percentile often assumed they were in the sixty-eighth percentile.This was presumed for many reasons, one being no one wishes to be a bearer of bad news to one's incompetency. Such as being the last one chosen in a game of dodgeball for your friend's team.It is important to seek outside opinion beyond one's own in regard to one's ability. No one would wish to acknowledge their own incompetency.

The Dunning-Krueger Effect and Outside Perspectives

Mneumonics are a technique where a piece of information is linked to a cue for easy recall. Here are a few,Method of Loci: Imagine a place where each idea is linked to an object. People have easier time recalling images than words alone. Furthermore, the house gives structure and an order to recallingPeg-Words: This functions as a cue for a to-do list. For example, 1 is bun (go to the bakery), 2 is shoe (buy new shoes), etc.Acronyms: Names representing ideas, such as ROY G BIV, the colours of the rainbow, or I Value Xylophones Like Cows Dig Milk (The unique letters for Roman numerals)

Memory Cues

The ability to recall and retain can be explained through neurology. Axons and Dendrites connect to each other forming synapses, where neurons send information.The connection has a substance known as Myelin, where the thicker it is the easier it is to recall. Where after becoming second nature, the action is registered in the basal ganglia.These connections are formed through constantly learning and exploring. A growth mindset is based on this idea, where new neurons can be made and new info stored.Deliberate Practice, coined by Anders Ericsson, is practice with goals in mind with consistency.

Neuroplasticity, Growth Mindset, and Deliberate Practice

The appeal of cramming can be understood due to the feeling of progression when solving each question in succession. This blocks deeper conceptual understanding being only repetitionThe solution is varying practice and concepts. In a study with cornhole, someone who throw at 2 or 4 feet was more accurate at 3 feet then someone who only practiced 3 feet.Though doing so may not feel like making progress, you are. The brain needs time to consolidate newly learned info to realise it beyond the illusion of fluency.Thus, it can be understood that aggressive action may not always be effective action.

The Familiarity Trap: Aggresive Action Vs Effectice Action

Make It Stick aims to help offer a new perspective towards memory retention, from which more effective study methods can be adopted.

To most of us, learning something "the hard way" implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners. Memory plays a central role in our ability to carry out complex cognitive tasks, such as applying knowledge to problems never before encountered and drawing inferences from facts already known. New insights into how memory is encoded, consolidated, and later retrieved have led to a better understanding of how we learn. Grappling with the impediments that make learning challenging leads both to more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned. Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. More complex and durable learning come from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. Speaking most urgently to students, teachers, trainers, and athletes, Make It Stick will appeal to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.

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Peter C. Brown is a writer and former management consultant.

Peter C. Brown

Henry L. Roediger III is James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Henry L. Roediger III

Mark A. McDaniel is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE) at Washington University in St. Louis.