Choice and Mental Effort
One of the factors that can affect how we feel about completing a task is how much choice we had in the matter. A recent study by Wahlers et al. (2025) examined how autonomy (the degree of choice) influences the experience of mental effort while completing a reading comprehension task (2). In the first experiment,…
A Practical Guide to Exam Taking Strategies
Writing PhaseRead the questionsWhen the exam starts, carefully read the questions. Think about what the focus of the question is and if there are any terms you need to define or distinguish between first. Pay attention to the depth of the question. Some questions are shallower and ask for definitions, but others will require you…
Thank You To Our 2025 Community!
Today is (American) Thanksgiving so we wanted to take the opportunity to thank our community! We are so grateful for the continued support, encouragement, and contributions of our community.Thank you to our Patreon sponsors! Your support keeps our email subscription service and podcast production going. The Learning Scientists is an entirely volunteer effort and we…
The Box Metaphor for Working Memory
In a way, I have a few of those ring boxes stored in a shoe box for motor neurons. While I am no neuroanatomy expert, I do have an organizational scheme for some of this information. So when I see motor neuron, I’ve already chunked a bunch of extra information and understanding with that one…
A Framework for Training Students to Better Use Evidence-Based Learning Strategies
Cover photo by RDNE Stock project on PexelsBy Megan SumerackiIf you read our blog, even sporadically, you are almost certainly aware that investigations into evidence-based learning strategies have been ongoing for quite some time. In fact, as we near the end of 2025, I’m realizing that Ebbinghaus’ work on spaced practice was published 140 years…
How Do You Like Them Apples? On the Importance of Teaching in the Time...
Before my little doom machine distracted me, I was going to write this blog post about deliberate practice and expertise development. About the importance of teachers (experts) in helping learners (novices) in developing metacognitive awareness through deliberate practice (1). About how becoming an expert is about more than just knowing more. About how becoming an…
Motivation Effects and Efficiency of Retrieval Practice over Lecture
Taken together, what does this tell us? 1) We need to be paying attention to the interaction of learning strategies on motivational factors. Motivation matters both for student participation in course material but also for self-directed learning. 2) Jumping straight to practice is (maybe) ok to do. When I first read this article, I was…
Adult Learners with ADHD
by Althea Need KaminskeCover Image by Robin Higgins from PixabayAs of last October, the CDC estimates that approximately 1 in 16 adults in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD (1). Despite the high prevalence of ADHD in adults, there are few resources for adult learners with ADHD. Many resources online are designed for…
Interleaving Is Less Effective When Taking Notes
References:(1) Taylor, K., & Rohrer, D. (2010). The effects of interleaved practice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(6), 837-848.(2) Wahlheim, C. N., Dunlosky, J., & Jacoby, L. L. (2011). Spacing enhances the learning of natural concepts: An investigation of mechanisms, metacognition, and aging. Memory & Cognition, 39(5), 750-763.(3) Kornell, N., & Bjork, R. A. (2008). Learning concepts…
Cognitive Networks: Exposure Matters
Cover photo by Gerd Altmann from PixabayBy Megan SumerackiIn my last blog, I wrote about cognitive networks and implicit bias. The gist of the post was that our systems allow us to categorize and generalize, flexibly and automatically, and that this generally helps us. For example, we have some general rules about what a chair…
