Day 29: Learning Technique 15: Overlearning

Today we discuss our learning technique #15, Overlearning, which is the idea of practicing beyond perfect as additional practice beyond what is required to perform adequately can increase the length of time that memories are stored. You will learn what this technique is, the science behind it, why you should use it, and finally how you can apply it to accelerate your learning.

Resources for this lesson:

• Transcripts
• Worksheet
• List of Scientific References

Summary

What is Overlearning?

Overlearning is the idea of practicing beyond perfect.

• Additional practice beyond what is required to perform adequately can increase the length of time that memories are stored.

The basic idea of this is that you're learning a certain skill and practicing it to the point that you can do it correctly.

Why it matters: Practice makes perfect. Overlearning makes masters. Spending that extra time learning a skill beyond proficiency makes performing it second nature to you.

What does the science say?

Overlearning can be an effective method of studying for short-term returns.

• Traditional experiments [1] have shown that the effectiveness of overlearning might be quite short, really helping in the first week or two of recalling.
• Experiments [2] are done with activities like assembling a rifle or going through an emergency checklist, allowing the participant to practice that skill enough times till they can do it correctly.
• Subjects are allowed different amounts of overlearning or practice that continues after the first correct application.
• Since subjects are already doing the skill correctly, performance doesn't necessarily improve past this point but the overlearning can extend the durability of the memories.

However, if you're able to combine overlearning with other techniques [3], like spaced repetition, interleaving and proceduralization, retention can be increased in for long term memory.

Why should you use it?

If you can apply overlearning with other techniques, skills will be more easily linked into long term memory.

How do you use it?

The first core practice of overlearning is:

• Practicing a skill continuously and refining the core elements, specifically the foundations of the skill that do not change over time.
• Best done through immersion or working on extensive projects in new contexts after the initial learning phase has been completed.

The second strategy of overlearning is:

• Doing advanced practice, going one level above a certain set of skills, so that the core parts of the lower level skills are overlearned as one applies them in more difficult contexts.

When applying overlearning use other techniques like spaced repetition and interleaving that repetition in different contexts.

• Far transfer occurs when information learned in one context is retrieved and applied in a very different context.
• Overlearning key principles that underlie the relevant material with key examples in different contexts helps you to understand when that knowledge should be applied.

Try using different material to help you practice the same concepts, learning those concepts from as many different perspectives as possible to try and gain complete understanding.

• The more you approach something from different perspectives, the better, more holistic understanding you'll have of it.
• With repeated and increasingly detailed exposure, your brain is able to figure out where the details fit into the bigger picture.
• This practice also demonstrates that it's okay to not understand something the very first time we.

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Activity

Start overlearning the learning techniques we have covered in this course. Practice them until they become second nature to you. This will serve you in every other skill you approach to learn.

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Skill Lesson Mastered

Demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills presented in this lesson by applying it to the above activity. If, and only if, you have a full understanding and have mastered the knowledge and skills presented in this lesson, select the next lesson in the navigation.