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Steve Magness

13 Apr, 21 tweets, 5 min read

Learning is a skill.

Yet, most of us fall back on cramming or mindless repetition. Practices that make us feel like we are learning, but don't really help much.

How do we make things stick?

THREAD on the science of learning better 👇👇👇

Take rereading text over and over:

It FEELS like we must be learning. It becomes easier over time to read through the same passage. But, we're tricked by short-term fluency. The feeling that it's easier when what we're after is long-term ingrained.

We suck at knowing what works

So what actually matters when it comes to learning:
1. Attention
2. Emotion
3. Repetition- Not the mindless kind...
4. Errors

1. Focus!
In order to learn just about anything, attention is required.

It seems obvious, but we need to have our focus directed at a particular topic so that our brain realizes, yes, we are paying attention to this, so it must be important.

Deep focused attention also coincides with the release of some beneficial neurochemicals (noradrenaline, dopamine, acetylcholine) which help to prime your brain to learn: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

2. Emotion is an amplifier of attention.

It acts as an alarm directing our brain where and what to pay attention to, focusing us on where the emotional reaction is coming from or what triggered it. Our brain seems to assume that the higher the emotion, the greater significance

3. Repetition:
Not surprisingly, the more we perform a behavior or read about a topic, the more it becomes ingrained.

But it's not just mindless and endless repetition...

As the authors of a great book Make it Stick stated, "Rereading creates the illusion of learning."

Research shows that’s that spaced and interleaved practice works best.

Spaced= Time between learning. Like interval training for your brain
Interleaved= Switching between domains for blocks of learning

In other words, that famous formula comes into play: Stress + Rest = Growth

3. Make Errors

Frustration is central to learning.

In order for us to get adaptation (i.e. learn) we need to signal that something is wrong/was missed, yet important to correct. Struggling with something is that signal.

Just like struggling to lift a weight (and the 'errors' that come with it) are a signal to grow stronger.

We don't want to struggle so much that it's near impossible. We want a just manageable challenge. Push to the point of frustration, not well beyond it.

Dopamine plays a central role in this error-driven learning.

Dopamine is released in relation to what's called the Reward Prediction Error. When there's a mismatch between expectation and reality. This error drives us to learn, to update our beliefs.
nature.com/articles/s4158…

The need to feel frustrated also explains why over-eager tutors don't help.

In one study, When the tutors stepped in as soon as the student began to struggle and showed them the way, the students showed little learning from the tutoring.

When the students were allowed to struggle and come to the point of almost giving up on the problem before the tutors stepped in, the students learning increased.

To learn, we need to struggle. Just a bit.

There are ways to prime and take advantage of these principles...

For example, moderate levels of arousal enhance working memory and improve the signal-to-noise ratio of your attention/perception.

Noradrenaline is largely the driver behind this.

Too much arousal, though, leads to increased attentional switching, decreased concentration, and eventually our Prefrontal Cortex going offline...

So it's about creating the right performance state.

The same applies to stress, emotion, and learning. It can enhance learning if applied at the right time.

Emotion binds the memory.

Another strategy is to use sleep as a break.

In one study, when they compared studying twice in the same day versus studying at evening, going to bed, then studying the next morning, the group who had the sleep break learned more. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…

Finally, learning is remaining humble

Once you think you know all the answers, you stop searching. You shut down. Your curiosity gap is closed, so you don't get that dopamine hit that drives you towards doing the work

So if you want to learn more, drop the know it all arrogance

So what's the takeaway?

Have you been to a church?
-Attention is on the preacher or pulpit with not much else to distract you.
-High energy/emotion with music blaring, band playing, singing, etc.
-Repetition- Interleaved and spaced reading/practice/struggle throughout.

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