the book of learning and forgetting

I´m always a bit hesitant to believe, or even read, articles on the latest education reseach and theories. This is mostly because, like most pop psychology, I can be pretty sure that there will be a similar article out in about a month which will directly contradict the first one. But so goes modern science.

Anyhow, I took a look at one such article in the times today, and pulled some interesting quotes.

“The idea is that forgetting is the friend of learning,” said Dr. Kornell. “When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively, the next time you see it.” ....

The harder it is to remember something, the harder it is to later forget. This effect, which researchers call “desirable difficulty,” is evident in daily life. The name of the actor who played Linc in “The Mod Squad”? Francie’s brother in “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”? The name of the co-discoverer, with Newton, of calculus?

The more mental sweat it takes to dig it out, the more securely it will be subsequently anchored.

Outdated cultural references aside (the Mod Squad? really, NYT?), the article makes some interesting, albeit totally unverifiable, claims. (Yes, yes Im sure there will be plenty of "studies". What I mean is that there is no way for me to really be sure about its validity.) Interesting all the same, though.

Hopefully this means that, while I find it impossible to remember most czech words, I will one day be a czech genious who never forgets how to speak it. Well, a girl can dream.