Long-term learning vs. short-term performance Long-Term Learning:
-Improvement that lasts
-Visible in any context
Short-Term Performance:
-Immediate improvement
-Visible in practice context
Simon & Bjork press experiment Key Patterns:
Group 1
-master and then move on
Group 2
-randomized practice
Result
-Group 1 had less errors in practice
-Group 1 predicted less errors in both practice and after
-Group 2 had less errors when tested later by a significant margin
Intuitions about what study strategies will be most effective wrong
are often _______
Is highlighting/underlining common? yes, it is very common
Fowler & Barker study & results Highlighting
Tested on article material
G1: Reads the article
G2: Reads and highlights the article
G3: Reads the highlighted article
Highlighting didn't help
Peterson study & results Highlighting
Tested on article material
G1:
Initially underline article
Review marked article
G2:
Initially underline article
Review clean article
G3:
Initially no underlining
Review clean article
Factual material:
all performed the same
Conceptual material:
Students who underlined did worse
2 reasons highlighting isn't effective 1. Highlighting may cause us to focus on ISOLATED FACTS and ignore bigger
connections
2. Students may struggle to distinguish CENTRAL ideas from PERIPHERAL
information
Is rereading common? Yes, it is extremely common
, PSYCH 240 Exam 1 Questions & Answers
Rothkopf study & results Rereading
Asked to fill in missing words of article
G1: never read before
G2: read once before
G3: read twice before
G4: read 4x before
after 2 exposures, no increase in comprehension as you read more
3 problem with rereading 1. Doesn't improve COMPREHENSION or performance on INFERENCE-BASED
questions
2. Rereading a SECOND OR THIRD time doesn't help
3. Can give students the MISTAKEN IMPRESSION that they've mastered the
material
How are people who use rereading deceived? Recall:
Who were the last three vice presidents?
1. ____________
2. ____________
3. ____________
Recognition:
Which of these were the last three vice presidents?
-Dick Cheney
-John McCain
-Elizabeth Warren
-Mike Pence
-Nancy Pelosi
-Mitt Romney
-Joe Biden
Generating explanations Coming up with explanations for why concepts are true, or how they relate to what
you already know
Presley study & results Generating explanations
The strong man carried a shovel. The toothless man wrote a check.
G1: NO explanation
G2: GIVEN explanation
G3: GENERATE explanation
The group who GENERATED their own explanations performed about twice as well
as the other groups
Interleaved practice Mix up problems and jump back and forth from one topic to another
Blocked practice Study one topic until you have mastered it and then move on to the next topic
Roher & Taylor study & results Interleaved practice
Learning volume formulas
Blocked group
vs
Interleaved group
-Blocked group was better in practice
-Interleaved group had better accuracy when tested at the end
, PSYCH 240 Exam 1 Questions & Answers
Distributed practice/spacing Spreading out your study over time with breaks
Bahrick study & results Distributed practice
G1: 6 sessions in 1 day
G2: 6 sessions in 6 days
G3: 6 sessions in 6 months
Final test one month from last study session
-G1 had best performance in practice, worst in final test
-G3 had best performance in final tes
Testing One of the most effective ways to learn
Butler study & results Testing
Phase 1: Study text passages
Phase 2:
-G1: Test on half of the passages
-G2: Re-study half of the passages
Phase 3: Test on all of the passages after a week
Practice Tests performed better in every category
Ways to use TESTING to study more effectively 1. Don't just REREAD
2. Have a FRIEND quiz you
3. Make FLASHCARDS
4. Use the CORNELL NOTE-TAKING SYSTEM
Low effectiveness study methods Highlighting & Rereading
Moderate effectiveness study methods Generating questions & Interleaved practice
High effectiveness study methods Distributed practice vs Testing
Desirable Difficulties -VARYING the conditions of learning
-INTERLEAVING instruction on separate topics
-SPACING study sessions on a given topic
-Using TESTS as study events
Varying the conditions of practice Children who practiced at varying distances throwing a ball were better when tested
at a random distance than children who practiced at one distance
Varying environmental setting in which studying happens
Spaced study/practice vs massed Spaced practice benefit long-term retention
Can produce good exam performance AND good long-term retention as opposed to
just maybe producing good exam performance
Seeming better vs actually being better People in Bjork's art differentiation study thought they did better after blocked
practice, when they actually did better after interleaved