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Science

What research knows about learning.

Five of the best-replicated findings in the psychology of learning, and how Lexxington puts them to work.

Forgetting is predictable

Hermann Ebbinghaus showed in 1885 that learning fades quickly without review. Later work (Cepeda et al. 2006) confirmed that reviews at growing intervals make knowledge durable.

In Lexxington: flashcards and Quick 10 schedule each review just before you forget.

TimeRetentionwith spaced reviewno review
Forgetting curve and spaced review. Ebbinghaus 1885; Cepeda et al. 2006. Schematic diagram, not study data.

Retrieval is learning

Roediger and Karpicke (2006) found that testing yourself leads to markedly better retention after a week than rereading the same text, even though rereading feels safer.

In Lexxington: almost every feature is a test, not a read.

Retention after one weekRereadingRetrieval
Retrieval beats rereading. Roediger & Karpicke 2006. Schematic diagram, not study data.

Confident errors are valuable

Butterfield and Metcalfe (2001) described the hypercorrection effect: errors made with high confidence are corrected especially reliably after feedback.

In Lexxington: you rate your confidence before answering. The surprise of a confident error becomes a learning moment.

Later correctedunsuremediumconfident
Hypercorrection: confident errors get fixed more often. Butterfield & Metcalfe 2001. Schematic diagram, not study data.

Mix, do not block

Rohrer and Taylor (2007) showed that mixed practice looks weaker during training but wins clearly on the later test. Bjork (1994) called such hurdles “desirable difficulties”.

In Lexxington: the case trainer, speed round and Quick 10 mix topics, and the Lexxi method swaps positions.

Score on delayed testblocked, practiceblocked, testmixed, practicemixed, test
Interleaved beats blocked practice. Rohrer & Taylor 2007; Bjork 1994. Schematic diagram, not study data.

Short and daily

The same study time spread into many short sessions produces more durable knowledge than one long block (Cepeda et al. 2006).

In Lexxington: Quick 10 and the speed round fit into any break.

Total study timeDurable knowledge10 minutes dailyWeekend cramming
Short and daily instead of long and rare. Cepeda et al. 2006; Bjork 1994. Schematic diagram, not study data.

References

  • Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Über das Gedächtnis. Duncker & Humblot.
  • Bjork, R. A. (1994). Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings. In Metcalfe & Shimamura (Eds.), Metacognition. MIT Press.
  • Butterfield, B., & Metcalfe, J. (2001). Errors committed with high confidence are hypercorrected. JEP: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 27(6).
  • Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3).
  • Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning. Psychological Science, 17(3).
  • Rohrer, D., & Taylor, K. (2007). The shuffling of mathematics problems improves learning. Instructional Science, 35.

All charts are illustrative diagrams of the direction of the findings, not study data.

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