已领丨ASimpleTrickToImproveYourMe

　　source：bbcbyTOMSTAFFORD
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　　IfIaskedyoutositdownandrememberalistofphonenumbersoraseriesoffacts，howwouldyougoaboutit？There’safairchancethatyou’dbedoingitwrong。
　　Oneoftheinterestingthingsaboutthemindisthateventhoughweallhaveone，thaveperfectinsightintohowtogetthebestfromit。Thisisinpartbecauseofflawsinourabilitytothinkaboutourownthinking，whichiscalledmetacognition。Studyingthisselfreflectivethoughtprocessrevealsthatthehumanspecieshasmentalblindspots。
　　Oneareawheretheseblindspotsareparticularlylargeislearning。Wreactuallysurprisinglybadathavinginsightintohowwelearnbest。
　　ResearchersJeffreyKarpickeandHenryRoedigerIIIsetouttolookatoneaspect：howtestingcanconsolidateourmemoryoffacts。IntheirexperimenttheyaskedcollegestudentstolearnpairsofSwahiliandEnglishwords。So，forexample，theyhadtolearnthatiftheyweregiventheS。Theycouldhaveusedthesortoffactsyoumightgetonahighschoolquiz（e。g。Whowrotethefirstcomputerprograms？AdaL），buttheuseofSwahilimeantthattherewaslittlechancetheirparticipantscoulduseanybackgroundknowledgetohelpthemlearn。Afterthepairshadallbeenlearnt，therewouldbeafinaltestaweeklater。
　　Nowifmanyofuswererevisingthislistwemightstudythelist，testourselvesandthenrepeatthiscycle，droppingitemswegotright。Thismakesstudying（andtesting）tyetlearnt。It’saplanthatseemstomakeperfectsense，butit’saplanthatisdisastrousifwereallywanttolearnproperly。
　　KarpickeandRoedigeraskedstudentstoprepareforatestinvariousways，andcomparedtheirsuccessforexample，onegroupkepttestingthemselvesonallitemswithoutdroppingwhattheyweregettingright，whileanothergroupstoppedtestingthemselvesontheircorrectanswers。
　　Onthefinalexamdifferencesbetweenthegroupsweredramatic。Whiledroppingitemsfromstudydidn’thavemuchofaneffect，thepeoplewhodroppeditemsfromtestingperformedrelativelypoorly：theycouldonlyrememberabout35ofthewordpairs，comparedto80forpeoplewhokepttestingitemsaftertheyhadlearntthem。
　　Itseemstheeffectivewaytolearnistopracticeretrievingitemsfrommemory，nottryingtocementthemintherebyfurtherstudy。Moreover，droppingitemsentirelyfromyourrevision，whichistheadvicegivenbymanystudyguides，iswrong。Yvelearntthem，velearntifyouwanttorememberthematthetimeofthefinalexam。
　　Finally，theresearchershadtheneatideaofaskingtheirparticipantshowwelltheywouldrememberwhattheyhadlearnt。Allgroupsguessedatabout50。Thiswasalargeoverestimateforthosewhodroppeditemsfromtest（andanunderestimatefromthosewhokepttestinglearntitems）。
　　Soitseemsthatwehaveametacognitiveblindspotforwhichrevisionstrategieswillworkbest。Makingthisasituationwhereweneedtobeguidedbytheevidence，andnotourinstinct。Buttheevidencehasamoralforteachersaswell：smoretotestingthanfindingoutwhatstudentsknowtestscanalsohelpusremember。