Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Effective studying requires effective study strategies and techniques, but it also requires the right conceptualization of what studying is.
Join my online learning community: benjaminkeep.com/community
00:00 Introduction
00:54 The big misconception
1:54 What makes human memory different from a computer's
3:47 Some benefits and drawbacks to the human memory system
4:39 The key question
How forgetting works: youtu.be/uv7uhI8nsbs
More effective studying: youtu.be/iW7Fp9Mtq1Y
Better note-taking: youtu.be/cRQqH18wJgw
Free recall: youtu.be/FatnXnlwAc4
Exam prep: youtu.be/GoTYyn3WWxI
REFERENCES
The laundry passage comes from this famous 1972 paper, and is often used as a simple example of the power of prior knowledge.
Bransford, J. D., & Johnson, M. K. (1972). Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 11(6), 717-726. http://www.ebbinghaus.ru/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Bransford__Johnson_1972.pdf
The two-different-senses-of-foot demonstration comes from this paper, where the group who were cued to think of two different senses of the to-be-remembered word remembered it better than those who only were cued to think of one sense of that word.
Gartman, L. M., & Johnson, N. F. (1972). Massed versus distributed repetition of homographs: A test of the differential-encoding hypothesis. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 801-808. sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022537172800161
Both of these are also cited in a Robert Bjork paper from 1979. Worth reading. Going to do a full video on this paper soon.
Bjork, R. A. (1979). Information‐processing analysis of college teaching. Educational Psychologist, 14(1), 15-23. researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Bjork-2/publication/261581257_Information-Processing_Analysis_of_College_Teaching/links/5d260916458515c11c23fa01/Information-Processing-Analysis-of-College-Teaching.pdf?_sg%5B0%5D=started_experiment_milestone&origin=journalDetail
If you're interested in witness misidentifications, check out www.innocenceproject.org. Eyewitness misidentifications are the leading cause of wrongful convictions, and there are some pretty simple steps to prevent them from happening: innocenceproject.org/eyewitness-identification-reform
Effective studying requires effective study strategies and techniques, but it also requires the right conceptualization of what studying is.
Join my online learning community: benjaminkeep.com/community
00:00 Introduction
00:54 The big misconception
1:54 What makes human memory different from a computer's
3:47 Some benefits and drawbacks to the human memory system
4:39 The key question
How forgetting works: youtu.be/uv7uhI8nsbs
More effective studying: youtu.be/iW7Fp9Mtq1Y
Better note-taking: youtu.be/cRQqH18wJgw
Free recall: youtu.be/FatnXnlwAc4
Exam prep: youtu.be/GoTYyn3WWxI
REFERENCES
The laundry passage comes from this famous 1972 paper, and is often used as a simple example of the power of prior knowledge.
Bransford, J. D., & Johnson, M. K. (1972). Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 11(6), 717-726. http://www.ebbinghaus.ru/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Bransford__Johnson_1972.pdf
The two-different-senses-of-foot demonstration comes from this paper, where the group who were cued to think of two different senses of the to-be-remembered word remembered it better than those who only were cued to think of one sense of that word.
Gartman, L. M., & Johnson, N. F. (1972). Massed versus distributed repetition of homographs: A test of the differential-encoding hypothesis. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 801-808. sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022537172800161
Both of these are also cited in a Robert Bjork paper from 1979. Worth reading. Going to do a full video on this paper soon.
Bjork, R. A. (1979). Information‐processing analysis of college teaching. Educational Psychologist, 14(1), 15-23. researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Bjork-2/publication/261581257_Information-Processing_Analysis_of_College_Teaching/links/5d260916458515c11c23fa01/Information-Processing-Analysis-of-College-Teaching.pdf?_sg%5B0%5D=started_experiment_milestone&origin=journalDetail
If you're interested in witness misidentifications, check out www.innocenceproject.org. Eyewitness misidentifications are the leading cause of wrongful convictions, and there are some pretty simple steps to prevent them from happening: innocenceproject.org/eyewitness-identification-reform
