Author: Carole Yue

  • Need to remember something? Try forgetting it!

    A friend recently asked me why our lab is called the “Learning and Forgetting Lab.” He pointed out, “I know learning is important, but why would you study forgetting?” That is an excellent question. Most people think of forgetting as a negative occurrence to prevent rather than an adaptive, beneficial function. In fact, forgetting something…

  • What’s in a font?

    How likely are you to remember this post tomorrow? The question above asks you to make a metacognitive judgment—that is, it asks you to evaluate your own thoughts. People use metacognitive judgments every day, whether it is to believe you know a route well enough to leave your GPS at home, decide that you know…

  • Desirable Difficulties and Inductive Learning

    Last month, Jeff Bye’s post on desirable difficulties in the classroom inspired some good discussion. One question that came up was, Do desirable difficulties only apply to rote memory tasks, or can we use them for other types of learning as well? I’m going to expand on that idea using inductive learning as an example.…

  • Study tips: Going beyond your learning style

    It’s fall again, and we know what that means—football, freshly sharpened pencils, and a (temporary?) surge of interest in making the most out of learning this school year. Parents and teachers tout the same advice: set goals, do all the reading, find one place to study and sit there at the same time every day,…