Study gurus promote active recall and spaced repetition to maximize learning. But is it all its cracked up to be? In the brain, retrieval and encoding processes interact to produce learning. The trick is doing them right.

00:00 Introduction
01:17 Our brain’s memory systems
02:38 Justin’s beef with active recall
03:29 Spaced repetition systems, “active recall”, and spaced retrieval practice
04:35 Why flashcard systems kind of suck
05:12 Justin’s recommendation
05:35 What are “desirable difficulties”?
07:03 The alternatives to flashcards
08:35 A good question to ask yourself when studying
10:02 An example study comparing elaborative encoding to retrieval practice
11:25 A true statement

Here are some of my other videos which are relevant to the discussion:

How forgetting works:    • Forgetting doesn't work like you think.  
Free recall demo:    • How to do free recall (AKA active rec...  
Questions about free recall answered:    • How to Use Free Recall to Learn More ...  
Example of encoding from reading using organization:    • Learn More From Every Paragraph | Act...  
What researchers knew in 1979:    • 3 Forgotten Studying Secrets from a 1...  
Advice about learning on your own:    • 7 Tips For Learning Anything On Your Own  
Other myths about learning:    • The Five Biggest Myths About Learning  
Desirable difficulties:    • Desirable Difficulties - How Learning...   (my first youtube video!)
Flashcards:    • The Drawbacks of Flashcards  
Interleaving:    • Secrets of Interleaved Practice | How...  

Sign up to my email newsletter, Avoiding Folly, here: https://www.benjaminkeep.com/

To read more about retrieval practice, check out: https://www.benjaminkeep.com/the-wick...

Justin Sung's video on retrieval:    • The PROBLEM with Active Recall and Sp...  
Justin Sung's video on encoding:    • Study More Efficiently With These 2 B...  

The pro baseball footage is from:    • Padres vs. Dodgers NLDS Game 2 Highli...  

REFERENCES

The article I showed in the video comparing elaborative encoding to retrieval practice is:

Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772-775. bit.ly/3S5i9KP

Below, one of the classic pieces on retrieval. It's really an illustration of why you shouldn't just stop trying to remember something just because you have successfully recalled it in the past:

Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger III, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. science, 319(5865), 966-968. http://psychnet.wustl.edu/memory/wp-c...

This is a meta-analysis on the testing effect, which I haven't read in-depth lately, but is worth checking out if you're into this stuff:

Rowland, C. A. (2014). The effect of testing versus restudy on retention: a meta-analytic review of the testing effect. Psychological bulletin, 140(6), 1432. https://bit.ly/3VwGpII

There's quite a bit of support for the idea that you want to be operating at a "high level" (e.g., synthesizing, applying, critiquing) early in the game. It's not like you need to learn all these rote facts first. A point that Justin makes eloquently in his video on encoding. The piece below is a great discussion of that.

Agarwal, P. K. (2019). Retrieval practice & Bloom’s taxonomy: Do students need fact knowledge before higher order learning?. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(2), 189. https://bit.ly/3T5Va3r

Some have argued that retrieval is only good for simple materials (like remembering new vocabulary words) and not complex materials (like understanding how Newtonian physics works). Although many of the early studies do focus on "simple" materials, there's plenty of studies that establish the effect of retrieval is just as strong for complex materials.

Karpicke, J. D., & Aue, W. R. (2015). The testing effect is alive and well with complex materials. Educational Psychology Review, 27(2), 317-326. https://link.springer.com/article/10....