Retrieving information strengthens memory more than re-reading it does.
Roediger and Karpicke's 2006 finding: students who read once and tested repeatedly outperformed those who read repeatedly, despite feeling less confident. The feeling of fluency is what misleads.
In practice
- A trainee who closes the manual and writes down what they remember retains more than one who reads it four times.
- The feeling of fluency is what misleads: re-reading feels like learning and retrieval feels like failure.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Learning & Education
- Essay
- What works in learning, and what schools can and cannot change