What Everyone Gets WRONG About Spaced Repetition
Summary
TLDRDr. Justin's video discusses the common misconceptions about spaced repetition, particularly with tools like Anki. He emphasizes that while spaced repetition has its merits, especially for memorizing isolated facts, it is not as effective for complex problem-solving or integrating knowledge. The video aims to clarify the limitations of spaced repetition and suggests that better encoding and alternative learning methods can lead to more efficient and long-lasting learning outcomes.
Takeaways
- 📚 Spaced repetition is often misunderstood; its benefits and limitations need to be clear.
- 🔄 Anki and similar tools are effective for memorizing isolated facts but have limitations.
- 🧠 Effective learning isn't just about repetition; understanding and encoding information is crucial.
- 💡 Many people use Anki but normalize its limitations and inefficiencies.
- 🚫 Spaced repetition is not ideal for complex problem-solving or integrating multiple concepts.
- 📈 Research shows spaced repetition works for retaining simple facts, but not for higher-order thinking skills.
- 🧩 Interleaving different study methods can be more effective than just spaced repetition.
- ⏳ Expanding retrieval intervals can improve long-term retention more efficiently than fixed intervals.
- 🔄 Repetition is necessary but should be complemented with other cognitive strategies for better encoding.
- 👩🏫 Continuous refinement and adaptation of study methods are necessary for effective learning.
Q & A
What is the main topic of discussion in the video script?
-The main topic of discussion is the concept of spaced repetition, specifically focusing on common misunderstandings about its effectiveness and limitations in learning.
What is Dr. Justin's stance on the effectiveness of spaced repetition?
-Dr. Justin believes that while spaced repetition has its merits, it is often overhyped and misunderstood. He suggests that its effectiveness is limited and that people should be aware of its good and limiting aspects.
What does Dr. Justin clarify about his position on Anki?
-Dr. Justin clarifies that he doesn't have anything against Anki itself, but rather believes that people often misunderstand its intended use and the underlying research behind it.
What is Marvin's experience with using Anki for studying?
-Marvin describes being a heavy Anki user, studying with 300 to 600 cards a day. While he saw some improvement in his grades, he also experienced frustration with information not sticking despite multiple repetitions.
What is the issue with normalizing the limitations of spaced repetition?
-Normalizing the limitations of spaced repetition can lead to the belief that inefficient learning methods are just how learning should be, rather than exploring more effective alternatives.
Why does Dr. Justin argue that spaced repetition might not be as effective as people think?
-Dr. Justin argues that if information requires multiple repetitions to be remembered, it suggests that the learning method is not as effective as it could be. He points out that the human brain is capable of holding onto information without constant repetition, especially when the information is relevant or meaningful.
What does Dr. Justin suggest is the problem with relying on spaced repetition for complex learning?
-He suggests that spaced repetition is good for holding onto isolated facts but may not be effective for problem-solving, complex understanding, or relating multiple concepts together, which are often required in higher levels of education.
What is the alternative to spaced repetition that Dr. Justin hints at?
-Dr. Justin hints at the need for more effective encoding processes and the use of techniques that promote deeper understanding and the ability to relate and apply knowledge in various contexts.
What is the concept of 'encoding' in the context of learning discussed in the script?
-Encoding in the context of learning refers to the process of effectively registering and storing information in the brain in a way that allows for long-term retention and efficient retrieval.
How does Stephanie's experience with Anki compare to Marvin's?
-The script does not provide specific details about Stephanie's experience with Anki, but it implies that she has a more technical knowledge of the techniques discussed, which might suggest a different perspective or experience compared to Marvin's.
What is the relationship between spaced repetition and the forgetting curve?
-Spaced repetition is based on the concept of the forgetting curve, which suggests that information is forgotten at a decreasing rate over time. By revisiting information at spaced intervals, the forgetting curve can be extended, slowing down the rate of forgetting.
What does Dr. Justin mean by 'opportunity cost' in the context of using flashcards and spaced repetition?
-Opportunity cost in this context refers to the time and effort spent on using flashcards and spaced repetition that could have been invested in more effective learning methods, potentially yielding better results.
What is interleaving and how does it differ from spaced repetition?
-Interleaving is a learning technique where different topics or skills are mixed within a single study session, as opposed to massed practice where one topic is studied in isolation. It differs from spaced repetition, which focuses on revisiting the same information at increasing intervals over time.
How does the concept of 'expanding gaps' in spaced repetition relate to the effectiveness of learning?
-Expanding gaps in spaced repetition involve increasing the intervals between review sessions. This can be more beneficial as it better simulates real-world retrieval needs and allows for more realistic testing of memory retention over time.
What is the importance of encoding in relation to the effectiveness of spaced repetition?
-Effective encoding is crucial for the success of spaced repetition. If information is not well-encoded initially, it will be forgotten quickly, reducing the effectiveness of spaced repetition and necessitating more frequent review sessions.
What are some strategies for effective encoding that Dr. Justin suggests?
-Dr. Justin suggests strategies such as creating analogies, relating new information to prior knowledge, and using various cognitive approaches like creating and answering questions, which can enhance the encoding process and improve long-term retention.
Outlines
🧠 Misconceptions About Space Repetition
Dr. Justin discusses the topic of space repetition, emphasizing its misunderstood aspects. He aims to clarify its limitations and correct misconceptions. Despite its benefits, unrealistic expectations can lead to disappointment. The video features Stephanie and Marvin, both students with different perspectives on space repetition techniques like Anki flashcards.
❓ Is Repetition Really Effective?
Dr. Justin challenges the idea that repetition equates to effective learning. He explains that needing to repeat information multiple times suggests inefficiency. The human brain is capable of retaining relevant information without constant repetition, unlike irrelevant data which it tends to forget. Effective learning should not rely solely on repetitive methods.
🔄 Limitations of Flashcards in Advanced Learning
Flashcards, while common, are not sufficient for higher-level learning that involves problem-solving and integrating multiple concepts. Marvin shares his experience of shifting from heavy Anki use to more effective techniques. Dr. Justin stresses the importance of understanding opportunity costs and exploring alternative learning methods that can yield better results.
🔍 Enhancing Learning Through Effective Encoding
Dr. Justin introduces the concept of the encoding process for better long-term memory retention. Instead of relying on rote learning through flashcards, he suggests comparing ideas and forming analogies to create deeper understanding. Effective encoding minimizes the need for repetitive practice and leads to more efficient learning.
📚 Building Analogous Relationships for Better Retention
Forming analogies between new information and existing knowledge can significantly enhance learning. Dr. Justin explains that by creating analogous relationships, students can better retain and understand new concepts without relying on flashcards. Over time, students can develop advanced organizational structures for information, reducing dependency on rote learning.
🔄 Interleaving vs. Space Repetition
Dr. Justin explains the concept of interleaving, which involves mixing different study topics and approaches to enhance learning. Unlike space repetition, which focuses on reviewing the same material at intervals, interleaving introduces varied contexts and angles. This approach helps in developing a more comprehensive understanding and improves cognitive flexibility.
⏳ The Importance of Spacing and Expanding Intervals
Spacing intervals and expanding gaps between study sessions are crucial for effective learning. Dr. Justin discusses the benefits of expanding intervals in space repetition. He highlights that better initial encoding allows for longer intervals between reviews, reducing the need for frequent repetition and preventing flashcard overwhelm.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Spaced Repetition
💡Anki
💡Encoding
💡Forgetting Curve
💡Interleaving
💡Cognitive Capacity
💡Problem Solving
💡Learning Efficiency
💡Opportunity Cost
💡Chunking
💡Expanding Gaps
Highlights
Dr. Justin discusses common misconceptions about spaced repetition and its effectiveness in learning.
Spaced repetition can be beneficial but has limitations that are often misunderstood.
Anki flashcards are useful but may not be as effective as people believe due to a misunderstanding of the underlying research.
The human brain is designed to forget irrelevant information, which is a limitation of using spaced repetition for learning.
Spaced repetition is good for retaining isolated facts but not effective for complex problem-solving.
Research shows that spaced repetition may only be useful for those operating at a lower level of cognitive capacity.
Top achievers use spaced repetition, but it's not their secret weapon; there are other factors at play.
The importance of understanding the opportunity cost of using spaced repetition techniques like Anki.
Alternatives to spaced repetition should be considered for more effective learning.
Interleaving, a different approach to learning, is introduced as potentially more effective than spaced repetition.
Interleaving involves approaching a topic from multiple angles in different study sessions.
The difference between spaced repetition and interleaving is clarified to avoid confusion.
The effectiveness of creating and answering one's own questions as a form of interleaving.
The inefficiency of massed practice compared to interleaving and spaced repetition.
Expanding gap retrieval is suggested as more beneficial than fixed intervals for spaced repetition.
The importance of initial encoding quality on the effectiveness of spaced repetition intervals.
The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to take the first steps in exploring more effective learning methods.
Transcripts
hey everyone it's dr justin here again
uh and we're talking about
space repetition uh again and it's a
very juicy topic i know and we i cover
this a lot um
but we're gonna focus in on just what
people uh misunderstand about space
repetition and i know that i've covered
this before but i feel that i need to
cover this again to really clarify a few
things and to convince the people that
are not convinced i guess about what the
issue with space repetition is because
there are good things it's just that you
have to understand what the good things
are and then what the limiting parts are
because if you think that it's going to
get you you know all these amazing
results you frankly just statistically
that's unlikely to happen and i'm just
gonna in this video today uh we went
through this conversation
my goal is to try to just make that
really really clear where it is just so
logical that that could not be the case
uh we've got stephanie here
who's a student that's going through the
course has that you know sort of more
technical knowledge about some of the
techniques we've got marvin here who is
a professional
as well as a student looking at things
from a slightly different angle and so
i'm going to start off by asking both of
you what is your experience personally
in your own studying uh with space
repetition space retrieval and using
techniques especially you know things
like just anki anki flash cards well let
me make this very very clear because i
don't want to get sued
i don't have i don't have anything
against anki in itself
i think it's good for what it was
designed to do i just think people don't
understand what it is designed to do or
the actual underlying research behind it
and the extent and limitation of where
that research starts and ends
okay so let me just make that super
super clear all right so there's nothing
wrong with anki it's about how you're
using the tool all right so what's your
experience with that
so yeah it's it's a quite interesting
question because i'm a heavy anki user i
used to be
i did i don't know in between 300 and
600 cars a day and
fed like
yeah okay i have to go through i only
have to go through my anki cards every
day and then i will be good
and yeah i improved to be honest so from
cs i made it to
a minus to be not minus in in in terms
of degrees um
but
from time to time i felt like oh my god
the information
do not stick and
i i repeat the same question on the same
day five times and i'm like how the hell
i ca i really can't
memorize these things so am i dumb
it's a regular question i ask myself
super super common and i would actually
you know ask the audience listening to
this right now like how many of you
resonate with that story because i've
already heard you know this story or
it's variations you know
thousands of times you know your
experience marvin is probably the
quintessential experience of most people
that use anki most people that use anki
are not finding that it's like
completely catastrophically failing them
most people are finding yeah it's
getting me some results
and it's actually better than when they
weren't using it but then there are all
these sort of limitations and the
problem is that we start normalizing
these limitations we say oh that's
that's just how learning is
it just has to be this way that's really
interesting because for me i actually
didn't really use anki a lot i
first heard about space repetition maybe
four or five years ago but even before
that i think
it's really popular for people to use
flash cards and honestly speaking i
think i've always thought that it was
overhyped i mean i had my own ways of
studying before i joined the course
and didn't really use flash cards or
anki or anything of that sort and i saw
my looked at my friends
all spending hours and hours and hours
on flash cards and meanwhile they still
weren't getting
grades nearly as good so i was wondering
something's clearly not right here so
the reason that you thought it was
overhyped
i did because i saw so many people
wasting time and i felt i don't see the
need but then when i got introduced to
anki and the whole theory of space
repetition i thought okay
extending the forgetting curve that
makes sense you should have a regular
revision schedule makes sense so i
decided to give it a try
but here's the thing i did
give it my best i went into the whole
um
rabbit hole tried and to tinker around
with the settings but i realized i ended
up wasting more time setting up anki and
actually studying with it and in the end
i still felt like i remembered nothing
and i figured okay i'll just go back to
my regular way of studying here's the
thing um i want to focus in on like one
specific point that we talked about
first which is the idea of like but it
works
right it works for me like
sure you're saying that the theory of
like space repetition and stuff has got
its limitations sure most people can
accept that but it works for me what can
i do in addition to this actually i was
running a workshop yesterday and um
someone asked me this very very same
question they said well it works for me
um so what can i do in addition to what
i'm already doing
but here's the thing
if you need to do something
like five or six times
in repetition
for it to work
is it actually working
or not
see the only way that we can justify
that it works is if we normalize the
idea that information has to be repeated
multiple times
for it to stick
if that is the if we rely on the
fundamental premise that the only way
that you are able to learn effectively
is through multiple repetitions then yes
it's very effective because it does
exactly that
except that's not the case and in fact
we know that's not the case in fact if
you think about it we know that you're
not having to
always repeat things over and over again
for literally everything that you learn
we know that you don't have to always
learn in this way we know that some
piece of information we're able to hold
on to
for a long time without doing repetition
especially when it comes to things like
instruments or hobbies or your favorite
movie or your favorite book or sports
that you play you're not having to
memorize this through repetition and the
human brain did not adapt to be to need
to do that you know you
the example i often give is like
back in like the the gatherer hunter
days when we're like living in caves and
stuff like we weren't walking around and
then like
you know at the fire pit every single
night like having our stone flash card
tablets was like what is the angle at
which i need to stab a deer like
where are the blueberries located like
you're not having to space repetition
this in order to hold in our heads like
human brain adapted to be able to
actually learn very effectively but it's
only able to learn effectively it's
stuff that it's meant to hold on to
because if you just learn literally
everything that you're
exposed to your brain will just explode
there's just so much so your brain is
having to actively filter things out and
so if it's irrelevant it will forget it
so the problem here is that we're saying
learning what i'm studying is irrelevant
to me and my brain wants to forget it
let me just smash it into my brain over
and over again so that it holds on to
the information and therefore we're
saying that this is effective learning
right so some people often think that
flash cards and space repetition and
anki is effective but it's not time
efficient
but actually it's the same thing
if it worked you wouldn't have to do it
so much
you wouldn't have to over compensate
with more repetitions and more time
investment
so the reason it's not time efficient is
because it is not effective
so the reason that we have this huge big
fixation of space repetition and things
like anki and this research it was all
based on was that the early research on
spacing and actually still research and
spacing now shows that there is a
positive effect on your retention and
your learning outcomes when you have
space retrieval it's a good thing to
have you should have some space
repetition in there
what we're saying is not that you
shouldn't have it what we're saying is
that we need to know what it achieves
and what it doesn't achieve
and so
the later research coming out even in
the just last sort of couple years
is saying that space retrieval and
things like anki
they're good for holding on to isolated
random facts and information that seem
seemingly irrelevant
but we do not think that it's good for
problem solving we do not think it's
good for answering questions or
retrieving on information in a more
complex way we do not think it's good
for relating multiple things together so
any type of curveball question you get
asked in an exam anki's not going to be
good for that
we do not even know if it's useful for
things
for for larger more complex pieces of
information in itself
something like learning concepts we
don't even think that it actually works
for that and research is even showing
that it may only be useful for people
that are operating at a lower level of
cognitive capacity
so
really
what we know is that
space repetition of flashcards is an
extremely common technique that's used
by a lot of top achievers
it's also an extremely common technique
used by every other type of achiever
including the people that fail
so it's just a common thing that's used
by everyone it doesn't mean that it's
the secret weapon of top achievers it's
just literally the
weapon that everyone uses you know it's
like it's not the bringing the gun to
the knife fight it's like wearing the
shoes to go outside it's like everyone
is doing it if you're not even wearing
the shoes like you know you're probably
at a disadvantage but it's not gonna be
the thing that sits you at the very top
there's something else that's going on
there
um
and so when we're thinking about how
we're actually assessed on this
information
as we get especially higher in education
levels the way that we're assessed is
often not just at these lower levels of
just you know recalling a single fact
it's more about bringing multiple facts
and multiple concepts together creating
kind of a web of understanding and
expressing that it's about discussing
these ideas in more detail
right we often have to do a lot of
comparison between the ideas
we'll have to actually evaluate the
quality of these ideas and concepts we
have to represent some of these
different structures with each other and
any type of question that asks on that
which is especially senior high school
onwards if you're trying to reach higher
grades that's almost exclusively the way
that you differentiate it from other
students
something like flashcards is not going
to help with that at all in fact it's
actually worse because it's going to
take time away from you doing something
else that actually would have been more
effective
because marvin as you're sort of talking
about how if you're doing three to four
hundred flash cards a day you do not
have time to do anything else you barely
have enough time to just breathe or
exist let alone like find a new method
of studying it's actually going to work
for you
so that's the key is understanding this
opportunity cost like what are we losing
by doing that and understanding that
there are actually alternatives
so the question there is usually well
what are the alternatives and the answer
to that as well
that's rather complicated and there's a
lot that we can talk about there and i
do talk about in other videos and i'm
not going to go through in depth right
now here because there is a lot but you
know we we do talk about that and
obviously those of you that are just
wanting to jump into it you can just
jump onto the course
um that i've got but you know there are
alternatives and they do work
and in fact i think it'd actually be
useful
if you guys share a little bit about
your experience about
how you found it maybe marvin moore you
because definitely you sort of weren't
really into the whole anchor space to
begin with but marvin like how did
things change for you when you started
using some of the alternatives
it was it was crazy because i felt
disarmed as you mentioned anki is a
weapon and the meter or the most people
are using at the moment this weapon
because of
several videos
which are out there
till the point that you are end up in
anki hell
reddit users slow progress uh i changed
the whole system and now
anki is only super very superficial for
me it's more like i jump into a lecture
i did my pre-study thing in the lecture
i make the right notes i put it into a
chunk map and it sticks
it's so crazy it's like magic and before
that i had like
six to eight or maybe 10 anki sessions
um
and then it felt it sticked but only
it stick for the exam and afterwards it
went directly straight to garbage
yeah you know that it's kind of like
magic it's like it's actually not even
magic it's just literally how your brain
works
when your brain feels the information is
relevant and worth holding on to it will
naturally hold on to it because that's
literally what it was designed to do
it's just that this entire system of how
we study is built on really outdated
research
you know this is like
50 to 70 years old you know the research
and then now if you were to look at just
the research in the last five years
more and more researchers are starting
to realize it's not actually producing
consistent results a minority of
students using this technique are
actually getting these results are
actually getting good results
there's something that's not working
here people are just dying or why is
upset but experience anecdote like real
world practical experience and research
always is delayed there's usually a 10
to 20 year delay between that once
practitioners realize something's up
before the research can pick up on it
because you have to get like funding and
do the research and conduct the studies
and publish it it takes a long time so
when researchers decide to figure it out
it's already been there someone's
noticed it for years
right and so now over the last couple of
years world-leading researchers they're
publishing on this the limitations of
space retrieval and
and and spacing what it does do well and
what it doesn't do well
but what is the smoothest transition
into a more effective way of space
repetition
it depends on how entrenched you are in
the anki system if like your be-all
end-all is anki
and you know again i'm not necessarily
talking about the app i'm talking about
the kind of the process you know space
retrieval there's other apps that do the
same thing right uh but you know this
whole just like exit like heaps and
heaps of flash cards space retrieval
type algorithm
um if your whole system is based on that
that's going to be very difficult to
extract yourself from okay to be honest
because
so much of it is dependent on that
i would say that a good first step to
take
is to
[Music]
look at
your you know existing deck of anki
cards or the next time you're about to
make anki cards
instead of straight away what you would
normally do which is maybe to you know
condense some notes and chuck them on
empty or flash cards or whatever it is
that you're attempting to do
instead of doing that spend a little bit
of time just to try to compare some of
the ideas
against each other and find a way that
you can make it almost a little bit more
like obvious what we're basically doing
right is
i mean this is like a super simplified
version but it's really just that first
single step that you know someone could
take what we're basically doing is we're
saying with the sensory information
coming in
and when that sensory information comes
into our brain
we have the opportunity at that point to
change the way that we think about that
information
so that we activate a more efficient
what we you know often called the
encoding process
okay which
is this blue error the encoding process
and when we do that well we're able to
store that information in our long-term
memory okay and if we can do it really
well we're even able to store that
information and use and apply that
information at a higher level of
knowledge mastery and depth you know a
level of depth that most people can only
reach after studying something for
months or even years you can achieve
after studying it for maybe even you
know a couple of days if you think about
it in the right way you know there are
certain cognitive shortcuts and there's
certain pathways that you can forcibly
activate that achieves this right it's
very complicated i'm not going to talk
about it in this video
so we have the opportunity to use
various techniques to activate more
efficient encoding pathways and put in
the long-term memory
when we are saying that we're just going
to offload this onto flashcards instead
we are essentially saying to ourselves
this is not possible
what i am going to do is i am instead
going to use a rote learning process of
repetition and i'm going to offload that
into my flashcards okay so this is my
deck of
cards
and
we want to stop that decision
we want to be a little bit more aware of
that cognitive pathway we want to
actually make a decision about what it
is that we think can
be learned in a different form and what
we have to resort to with using rote
learning rote learning learning through
repetition is necessary for some types
of information
and
the information that it is
suitable for depends on your ability to
do the encoding process if you're really
bad at doing the encoding process and
that's not because you're just an idiot
but because you just never learned how
to do it properly which is by the way
most people right a lot of people think
that they're like you know like a a huge
idiot because they don't know how to
encode properly but it's not the case
like most people are not able to encode
effectively because they were never
ever taught partially because
the research on how we can actually
teach this has only been available for
like the last five years i just almost
coincidentally happened to be like nick
deep in this right at the moment when
this research was coming out and i was
having the experience and consolidating
it really really quickly
so
if you don't have a high level of the
encoding process it's not actually
possible for you to activate some of
these pathways yet
and you can train yourself to do it
better and better and better over time
but right now there's going to be a
limit to how much you can do
and so
if that's not
uh possible
then we would have to resort to this
rote learning
but if we can start detecting
what types of information we are able to
encode more effectively through another
alternative method
if we can start seeing how information
can be organized and consolidated
and make it not require repetition if we
can make it so that rote learning
through flashcards is the last resort if
that's the frame we come from
then that just starts opening the door
for other possibilities
and that last resort in the early stages
you may need to use that last resort 90
of the time
because you have no other resorts that
you've created
but then you can invest a little bit
more into practicing these alternatives
and as you get better and better and
more proficient at other methods of
encoding you will have more results
before the last resort and therefore you
will be able to spend less less and less
and less investment into just rote
learning through things like flashcards
and less things through repetition and
eventually a very small percentage of
the information you will have to resort
to using flashcards and most of the
content you'll be able to find ways of
learning it you know through other means
and for the very very beginner
what i would say is just try to take the
information and find a way to think
about it that makes it seem really
obvious you can try to relate the
information to your prior existing
knowledge
okay this is something that in the
education space we often talk about as
creating an analogous
relationship and yes that's exactly the
same analogous as when we say analogy
creating an analogous relationship where
we're saying hey this is kind of like
this other thing that i learned or that
i know about
finding that way of understanding it
finding those analogies look for that as
an opportunity and if you can find that
you don't need to put it on the flash
card just get used to not putting it on
a flash card you can write it down in
some other notes if you're really
insecure about it
and eventually you may not even need to
put it down in those other notes
at some point but you can start by just
offloading it onto something else and
just slowly getting used to the idea of
processing the information to a greater
and greater depth and what will happen
is that eventually you will have more
and more methods and techniques through
which you can access this not just
analogous relationships but you'll be
able to form more complex and advanced
organizational structures you'll be able
to find more ways of you know that thing
that we often call chunking uh we'll be
able to find more effective methods of
condensing and compressing information
forcing relevance and encoding it as we
practice it and we will feel more and
more secure about that process over time
and not need to rely on something like
space repetition and anki and i think
it's very important that anyone that's
watching this you're not trying to fix
everything in a single go because you're
probably not going to be able to because
the skill hasn't been developed but it
doesn't mean you can't develop the skill
what it means is that you need to focus
on what is the immediate next step that
you can take that gets you one step
closer because you just keep taking
those steps and eventually you're going
to be at where you want to be
but if you don't start taking those
first steps that time is going to pass
regardless
and three four months from now you're
either going to be there or you're not
going to be there and if you're not
there you may regret not having taken
just those first few steps which by
themselves may not have seemed very
big or impressive
but they were the first steps on that
journey and that's the most important
thing and that's the thing that i would
say if i okay anyone to take away from
that is to really focus on that how is
space repetition different from
interleaving because a lot of people
mistake interleaving
with space repetition yep a lot of
people think that interleaving
just means like oh i'll study maths for
30 minutes science for 30 minutes
english for 30 minutes instead of doing
and then i'll repeat that three times
instead of doing a block one hour
formats one hour four signs for now for
english so interleaving is actually
quite an interesting sort of concept
because it's not um a single sort of
thing so often when we look at research
on interleaving it's comparing
interleaving to something called massed
practice a massed practice
like m-a-s-s-e-d just talks about just
practicing something all in one block
like you have a single long study
session where you cover everything
interleaving is talking about kind of
breaking that up and and and kind of
spreading that with other things in
between
but there's another aspect of
interleaving um so if you look at some
of the older research on interleaving
what we're talking about there is not
necessarily the idea of practicing one
thing
in a block i mean it is practicing one
thing in a block but it's also the angle
and the way in which we are approaching
it at that time so a classic example
that's often given is throwing a
basketball
uh massed practice for basketball would
be to stay at the same spot same angle
of approach and practice throwing your
free
your free throws
okay and you practice each shot after
shot after shot
interleaving would be saying you're
gonna practice this five times and
you're gonna move one step to the left
and practice that five times and move
you know ten steps to the right and
practice it five times you're gonna
practice with someone actively trying to
block you you're gonna practice with you
know taking a step back you're going to
practice you know in these different
types of
angles and pressures and stresses
and so interleaving more broadly and
especially the way that i focus on it is
i really focus a lot more on the idea of
of breaking up a single session not
necessarily by time but the idea that
we're breaking up our approach with
multiple different angles of hitting the
same topic so um interleaving and
spacing go really really hand in hand
because in one session you can approach
it in this angle or in a couple of
angles cognitively and in the next
session you can approach it in a couple
of different angles the most common very
easy way of doing this would be like
saying first i'm going to create a good
structure and a frame for this and write
some notes about a topic and then
afterwards in my next session maybe a
couple of days later i'm gonna do some
practice papers
some practice questions for it same
content but you're approaching it in a
different way it's a very normal way of
interleaving that people do and people
that do this find that's a very
effective combo but that's just
that's just the surface you can get even
more effective than that right so for
example you could say instead of just
answering questions you make your own
questions so that's another angle it's
actually a different cognitive approach
creating questions for answering
questions you can even have a group of
friends
you create questions for each other and
you answer each other's questions but
then you don't have an answer sheet you
can make your own answer sheet making
your own answer sheet is in itself a
different angle and an approach in fact
in fact a very very effective approach
of learning
so there's all these different angles
that we can actually take to cover the
same types of information now i've just
talked about the ones that are the
easiest to understand but this i mean
there's a there's a ton i mean um those
of you that are already on my course you
know i've got the interleaving table if
you are my course make sure to look that
up um in the dashboard you can find the
interleaving table where there's this
huge list of all the different ways that
you cover a certain type of of topic for
different subjects
different contexts different time
availabilities there's so many ways that
you can hit information where it would
give you a really great
learning per
time like one hour spent doing that
gives you so much benefit it covers so
many gaps and prepares you for
assessments and exams or even your boss
grilling you at work it protects you
against more of those rather than
essentially what the worst thing that
you can do is
the worst thing that you can do while
doing space retrieval which is to do the
same method every time you just re-read
your notes again and again and again
just rewrite your notes and maybe
paraphrase it a few times that's not
really doing anything cognitively you're
reaching the saturation of what gain you
can get from that probably the first
time you're doing it
and then every time you do it afterwards
it's just a waste of time
because yes it may give you one or two
percent advantage but compared to the
possible 10 to 20 advantage that gets
you doing something else
that's not worth it the opportunity cost
what you're losing out on by doing that
cool
right
so with this in mind
um
now that we know that we can actually
incorporate interleaving
what's your opinion on the
spacing and the intervals between
each repetition is it really so
important to fine-tune your settings
right so um what we're talking about now
is this idea of um
you know spacing intervals and there's
uh
this sort of concept on top of space
retrieval which is called expanding gaps
based retrieval which just i mean it's
kind of self-explanatory right the gap
between each interval is expanding so
for example you do it after one day then
you do it after like two days and you do
after like five days and whatever like
anki and things like that have that
built into it and a few more things on
top of that algorithm
um okay so the research on this in
summary is like kind of inconclusive
but suggests that having longer gaps and
expanding that gap is a little bit more
beneficial
but
you don't have to get it down like super
razor sharp
but okay and this is really important
here
is that it depends a lot on how well you
encoded it in the first place
so
if we think about the forgetting curve
right for a second here our great friend
ipping house created this forgetting
curve that said that the first time we
look at information we're going to
forget it very quickly if we repeat it
again we're going to forget it much more
slowly and when we repeat it again we're
going to forget it you know even slower
than that right it's a very simple
concept to understand we intuitively
understand it this is what space
repetition is based on
so
the reason that we have the expanding
gap is because it doesn't really make
sense to have you know one here and then
one here so let's say that by this point
we have we're at 10
okay so we've forgotten 90 of everything
that we learned which is by the way kind
of bad and also it doesn't have to be
that way
but let's assume that that's just what's
happening we're getting 90 of what we
learned after let's say that the gap
here is two days
okay now research typically suggests
that after one week you forget 50 to 60
overall okay
but obviously it depends on a lot of
things
uh so if you are then doing it again
after two days
okay the amount that you may have
forgotten at that point maybe
you know here so it's like 50
so it may not actually be
as time efficient to do it after like
every two days
because
uh
when you leave it for a little bit
longer when the gap for retrieval is a
little bit longer it
allows you to
kind of replicate the more realistic
needs of your retrieval so for example
if you've got an exam in like a week
from now unless you plan on repeating
the same material like every two days
between now and the exam
um
you know you may not ever really test
your ability to retrieve it after you
leave it for a whole week so you kind of
want to know how much are you forgetting
after a week after two weeks after a
month so there's a strategic advantage
there and also you forget different
things at different times and that also
gives you an indication of the different
weaknesses that you have
however
if you have a low level of encoding
and you're forgetting things very
quickly and i'll say that in this
example if you're getting 90 of what you
learn after two days that's a very bad
level of encoding then you do not have
the option
of playing around with the expanding
interval very much
because every single day you are
forgetting so much
that if you don't get it on to if you
don't do your retrieval today
and you leave it tomorrow
then you may have forgotten so much more
in that time that you now have to do so
much tomorrow that you literally do not
have time and this is the idea of like
flash card overwhelm you like miss two
or three days when the cards are due and
you do them again later and now suddenly
you have like 600 additional cards you
need to do and you're not able to
complete it because you physically do
not have time or you know it's very it's
very like aggressive in terms of the
timing and the intervals whereas if
you're able to encode it better to begin
with you just fundamentally forget
things much slower and so there's no
need to even do a retrieval session here
you could do one over here and at that
point you still remember let's say 60 of
it
right so it means that when you encode
things better the first time around you
can afford to have a much greater delay
between your retrieval sessions instead
of having to do it every single day or
every second day you can now afford to
do it once after the first couple days
or the first three days whatever and you
can do another one roughly a week later
give or take a few days and you can do
another one roughly a few weeks later
give or take a week or two and it's not
really gonna matter the amount of
knowledge decay that you're facing is
only like five or ten percent difference
it's not going to be like 50 or 60
different
which is what would be the case if you
had poor encoding to begin with right so
it's kind of like a nuanced point there
but the other thing is also it's not
time efficient to not have expanding
gaps based retrieval regardless no
matter how good or bad your encoding is
having fixed intervals between your
spacing attempts is never going to be
time efficient because of the fact that
well most cases
you're always learning new information
so there's always more stuff that you're
going to need to retrieve on
so if you're doing something and if if
you're doing a fixed retrieval every
single however long as time goes on the
amount you need to cover just grows and
grows and grows and grows
right and so
uh that may actually be unnecessary
if you were to skip one and you were to
do it a little bit later
you may have consolidated enough on that
previous attempt that you don't actually
need to do it two days later you may be
able to do it only a week later
and so what that means is that frees up
additional time for you to invest in
doing better encoding the first time
around because you're now no longer
burdened by the need to have fixed
retrieval every single you know like day
or every couple of days
so it's not time efficient to spend
heaps of time on just fixed interval
space retrieval even if you're
forgetting a lot it's better to keep the
intervals expanded because the worst
case scenario is that you have a lot of
space retrieval that you need to do your
intervals are very short and therefore
you're never really encoding it properly
the first time around which means you're
always consuming more information than
you're consolidating which means that
the amount that you need to cover in
each retrieval session only ever grows
the fundamental problem is that the
encoding is going to be done wrong
or not good enough
and therefore as a result
you're going to forget more
and if you're trying to combat that with
just more and more frequent spacing that
actually takes away more and more time
from you to be able to fix the
fundamental issue which is how you're
encoding in the first place
so there's really a lot of things here
so in summary basically
have expanding gap space retrieval
to start with
but the timing of the spacing number one
doesn't really matter
but the room for flexibility of that
timing is directly proportional to how
good you were at encoding it in the
first place and again i'm not able to
get into all of that
in like a single youtube video or even
really on youtube as a platform in
general because it is just so specific
and deep and sequential it really is an
entire cognitive retraining schedule
that has to be followed
um so it is a little bit more
complicated so i can't go into that
right now
but i have lots of other videos where i
talk about that and again if you're
really keen on jumping through you can
just join the program properly and just
go through it from start to finish
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