Learning & Memory
Experimental research on how people learn, remember and build skills, with each claim checked against the replications.
6 articles
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Learning & Memory
Spaced Repetition: Should Review Gaps Grow? Studies Disagree
Spaced study beat massed study on average in classrooms. In one lab’s abstracts, growing review gaps didn’t beat equal gaps on delayed tests. See the studies.
Published 2026-11-06
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Illustration: Feedback & Forgetting. Generated schematic illustration — not a photograph or historical record. © Feedback & Forgetting, all rights reserved.
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Learning & Memory
Forgetting Curve: It Measured Relearning, Not Recall
Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve tracks how much faster he relearned nonsense syllables, not what he recalled. See the 1885 data, the 2015 replication and a CSV.
Published 2026-11-06
Picture credit
"Zeitschrift fur Psychologie, 1909: Herman Ebbinghaus" by Wellcome Collection — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zeitschrift_fur_Psychologie,_1909;_Herman_Ebbinghaus._Wellcome_L0003734.jpg — CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); modifications: cropped mount, padded
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Learning & Memory
Active Recall: Quizzing Beat Rereading Later in a 2006 Study
In the 2006 study, self-testing beat rereading on delayed tests while rereading felt surer. The reviews, read at abstract level, and a week-long recall plan.
Published 2026-11-06
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"Mental Arithmetic. In Public School of S. A. Rachinsky" by Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bogdanov-Belsky_Ustny_Schet_(Tretyakov).jpg — Public domain (PD-Art; painter d. 1945 (EU: from 2016; US: published before 1931, per the Commons file page)); modifications: cropped
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Learning & Memory
Do Learning Styles Work? A 2008 Review Found Few Fair Tests
In a 2012 survey report, over 90% of 242 UK and Dutch teachers backed learning styles. Few studies ran the right test, and those read here found no clear gain.
Published 2026-11-06
Picture credit
Illustration: Feedback & Forgetting. Generated schematic illustration — not a photograph or historical record. © Feedback & Forgetting, all rights reserved.
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Learning & Memory
Feynman Technique: Its Parts Were Studied Under Other Names
The Feynman technique’s moves were studied as self-explanation, learning by teaching and the illusion of explanatory depth. What held up, and how to try it.
Published 2026-11-06
Picture credit
"Blackboard" by Winslow Homer — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winslow_Homer_-_Blackboard_(1877).jpg — Public domain (painter Winslow Homer d. 1910 (Prouts Neck, Maine); watercolor on wove paper, 1877, signed and dated Homer '77; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1990.60.1; public domain in the EU (70 years after the author's death, from 1981) and in the US (published or registered before 1 January 1931 according to the Commons file page licensing template, and in any case author dead more than 70 years for an unpublished work); faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional work (PD-Art); photograph source National Gallery of Art online collection (file page source field). First publication of the watercolor not checked); modifications: cropped, resized
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Learning & Memory
Learning Myths and Neuromyths: Some Began as Real Findings
A scorecard of learning myths and neuromyths, from learning styles to the learning pyramid: the study behind each claim, if one was found, and its status.
Published 2026-11-06
Picture credit
Illustration: Feedback & Forgetting. Generated schematic illustration — not a photograph or historical record. © Feedback & Forgetting, all rights reserved.