Benedict Carey

Benedict Carey's "How We Learn: The Surprising Truth about When, Where, and Why it Happens" is an often insightful and thought-provoking look at how people learn information. In contrast to many current ideas regarding learning, such as the importance of persistence or "grit" and the usefulness of repeated practice, Carey's book presents research from a number of different studies that portrays learning in a different light. Instead of single-minded focus, the research here suggests that show more things like taking breaks and distractions do not inhibit learning and can actually help people learn and remember concepts.

There are a number of things that I appreciated about Carey’s approach. Given the recent focus on grit, especially when it comes to learning and academic success, the information presented here is balanced. For instance, while the book notes that some distractions can be useful and that walking away when stuck on a problem can ultimately help us find and remember a solution, it also does not endorse constant slacking or procrastination. Instead, it suggests that focus is important, but that a prescriptive, regimented routine can be counterproductive. In other words, it urges us to take a grounded approach to learning. This is reasonable and achievable.

Also notable is Carey’s clear and accessible writing style. Learning and memory are both complex things, and making cognitive science and research understandable to laymen is a daunting task that holds a number of traps. The first is to simplify it so much that readers miss vital information. The second possible trap is to include so much detail that readers get bogged down and overwhelmed. Carey manages to avoid both problems, and the end result is that the book is informative without being too erudite. Additionally, his inclusion of anecdotes (from his experience and from the researchers and studies he includes) help prevent the text from being a dull slog from one set of results to another.

If there is a weakness in “How We Learn,” it is the lack of concrete takeaways that students (and teachers) can employ when it comes to optimizing learning. However, the blame here lies not with Carey or with the research he cites but with the complexity of the subject and of the human brain. Despite what some of the current literature suggests, mastering a concept and remembering it is not as simple as applying a set number of hours to a certain task. Instead, as with many things that involve the human element, the answer is messy, imprecise, and difficult to pin down. Carey and “How We Learn” portray this messiness in all of this imprecise glory. show less

"We all 'know' we need to be organized, to develop good, consistent study routines, to find a quiet place and avoid distractions, to focus on one skill at a time, and above all to concentrate on our work. What's to question about that?
A lot, as it turns out." (215)

Varying the setting in which you study, as long as you don't study in silent conditions, can improve your recall. Context cues are important. Distributed (or "spaced") practice is more powerful than longer and fewer periods of show more studying, with a longer period between sessions if the test is farther away. And forgetting something helps you learn it better the next time.

We do badly on tests because of the "fluency illusion," which is the belief that because we understand something now, we don't need to study it later. The best way to deal with the "fluency illusion" is to test right away. In fact, after preliminary memorization, a good two-thirds of your study time should be spent testing yourself. In fact, pretesting (taking a test before you learn anything) (as long as you get immediate feedback) has been shown to improve your later learning of the subject, even if you got everything wrong. And teaching the subject to someone else also helps.

Problem solving follows a different path from factual learning. The stages of problem solving include preparation (learning and studying the problem), incubation (walking away from it when you're stuck), illumination, and verification.

In fact, interrupting a job before it is finished tends to push it to the forefront of the mind and allows for percolation. The ideal pattern is interruption-percolation-reflection.

We believe in isolated practice, but varied practice (different circumstances, variations of the same problem) is more effective for both motor and verbal learning. Interleaving is also effective - "mixing related but distinct material during study" (163) It helps students decide on the appropriate kind of solution.

Sleep consolidates learning - REM improves pattern recognition, percolation, and interpreting emotionally charged memories; Stage 2 sleep improves motor learning; and Stage 3 & 4 improve retention and declarative memory.

In other words, in order to learn effectively, you need to include distraction in your environment and in your routines, you need to study less at any one time, you should take tests before and during the learning process, and you should start projects immediately instead of clearing the decks but interrupt them just when you get interested. You need to sleep on things, mix things up, and deliberately confuse yourself.

Or so Carey says. It's an enjoyable read, both as an overview of learning theory and as a set of things for teachers and learners to consider. show less

(17) Just OK. I may have been more fascinated by this in the past, but I have been exposed to these learning theories in the recent past as part of my job as an educator. I bought the book as a "prize" for a teaching competition at work and thought I should read it myself first. I think interesting for a novice educator without formal training and also maybe for a young adult student. I liked thinking about the mental conundrum of the one question you can ask the lying and truth-telling show more guards by the arena doors -behind one of which is the exit, and the other a lion. I am definitely not as clever as I once was.

Somehow, I always avoided fluency and figured out most of this on my own as a student - no one ever taught me. My conscientiousness made me start big projects early, study over time, test myself, and never pull all-nighters. Here I always just thought I was incredibly smart or had a great memory.

A few of the mentioned studies and fascinomas - like the man without a hippocampus, we quite interesting. But in general the book was a slog as many of these pop-psychology, self-helpy type books are for me.

I guess I will still include it as a 'door prize' - the information is truly interesting and a neophyte would likely enjoy, but it was just not new to me. show less

I try to avoid saying that a book is a “must-read”, but if you’re interested in learning science, you’ll probably want to read this one. There’s been a lot of progress in the field in recent decades, and Carey brings together the findings from numerous studies into an accessible and practical book for the layperson.

Each chapter is focused on a different aspect of learning and how it can be improved. The topics include spaced repetition (the ideal gaps between study sessions to show more maximize retention), the value of interruptions and deliberate breaks when working on a tricky problem, self-testing and how to avoid the illusion of fluency created by passive reviewing, the benefits of mixing up your study/practice sessions rather than focusing on the same skill for long chunks of time, and even the importance of sleep. All of these chapters include explanations of the studies that led to their conclusions.

Carey’s writing is very clear and readable, as you’d expect from a journalist, but I still found that this book took me a while to get through because there was just so much helpful information to take in. The theme throughout is that there are lots of specific techniques that we can use to improve our learning efficiency and ultimately learn more without making a huge additional investment of time. It’s a very encouraging message, and I’m definitely planning to keep this book around so that I can refer back to the specific techniques that he discusses. The book will be of particular interest to teachers and students, but I think pretty much anyone can benefit from applying these approaches in their daily lives. show less