What Everyone Gets WRONG About Spaced Repetition

Summary

Dr. 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

00:00

🧠 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.

05:02

❓ 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.

10:03

🔄 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.

15:04

🔍 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.

20:05

📚 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.

25:07

🔄 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.

30:08

⏳ 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.

Keywords

💡Spaced Repetition

Spaced Repetition is a learning technique that involves revisiting and reviewing information at increasing intervals over time. It is designed to optimize the process of memorization and retention. In the video, Dr. Justin discusses the common misconceptions about spaced repetition, emphasizing that while it has benefits, it is not universally effective for all types of learning and may have limitations.

💡Anki

Anki is a popular digital flashcard tool that utilizes spaced repetition to help users memorize information. Dr. Justin mentions Anki as an example of a tool that is often misunderstood in terms of its design purpose and the underlying research. He clarifies that the issue is not with Anki itself but with how people use it and the expectations they have from it.

💡Encoding

Encoding in the context of learning refers to the process of converting information into a format that can be stored and retrieved from memory. The video emphasizes the importance of effective encoding for long-term retention. Dr. Justin explains that if information is not properly encoded initially, spaced repetition may not be as effective, as it requires multiple repetitions to stick.

💡Forgetting Curve

The Forgetting Curve is a concept that illustrates the rate at which information is forgotten over time if not reviewed. Dr. Justin references the forgetting curve to discuss the inefficiency of spaced repetition when encoding is poor, as the rate of forgetting is so high that the technique becomes time-consuming and less effective.

💡Interleaving

Interleaving is a learning technique where learners mix the practice of different topics or skills in a single study session. The video script contrasts interleaving with massed practice, suggesting that interleaving can be more effective for certain types of learning and problem-solving, unlike spaced repetition which is more suited for memorization of isolated facts.

💡Cognitive Capacity

Cognitive capacity in the video refers to the brain's ability to process, store, and retrieve information. Dr. Justin suggests that spaced repetition might be more effective for individuals operating at a lower level of cognitive capacity, implying that it may not be the best method for complex learning or higher-order thinking.

💡Problem Solving

Problem solving is the ability to analyze a situation and come up with a solution. The script mentions that spaced repetition is not considered effective for problem-solving or complex information retrieval, as it is more suited for memorizing isolated facts rather than understanding and applying knowledge in a complex context.

💡Learning Efficiency

Learning efficiency refers to the effectiveness and time management involved in learning processes. Dr. Justin argues that if learning requires frequent repetition to be effective, it may not be time-efficient. He suggests that the time investment in spaced repetition could be better spent on alternative learning methods that enhance encoding and understanding.

💡Opportunity Cost

Opportunity cost in the context of the video is the potential benefit or value of the next best alternative that is foregone when a decision is made. Dr. Justin discusses the opportunity cost of using spaced repetition, suggesting that the time spent on this method could be better used to learn more effectively through other techniques.

💡Chunking

Chunking is a cognitive process that involves grouping individual pieces of information into larger units, or 'chunks', to facilitate better understanding and memory. The video mentions chunking as an effective method of condensing and compressing information, which is an alternative to rote learning through spaced repetition.

💡Expanding Gaps

Expanding gaps is a concept related to spaced repetition where the intervals between reviews are gradually increased. The video suggests that while expanding gaps can be beneficial, the flexibility to do so depends on the initial encoding of the information. If encoding is poor, there is less room for flexibility, as the rate of forgetting is too high.

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

reddit

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