Research words, in plain English

9 terms

D

deliberate practice

Practice designed to build specific skills, using feedback to find weaknesses and work on them, rather than simply putting in hours.

Checked against: K. Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool, excerpt from Peak, Salon (2016)

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan

E

episodic memory

Memory for things you experienced yourself, tied to a particular time and place.

Checked against: APA Dictionary of Psychology, 'episodic memory'

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan

I

interleaving (also: interleaved)

Mixing different kinds of problem in one practice set, so that two problems in a row need different strategies.

Checked against: Rohrer et al., 'A randomized controlled trial of interleaved mathematics practice', Journal of Educational Psychology (2020), abstract

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan

M

meta-analysis (also: meta-analyses)

A study that pools the results of many earlier studies on the same question, so their findings can be weighed together.

Checked against: NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms, 'meta-analysis'

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan

R

randomised controlled trial (also: randomised trial, randomised trials, randomized controlled trial, randomized trial, randomised study)

A study that splits people into groups by chance, so the groups start out alike and what each group receives can be compared fairly.

Checked against: NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms, 'randomized clinical trial'

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan

retrieval practice (also: testing effect, practice testing)

Learning by pulling information back out of memory, as in a quiz, which helps you keep it longer than rereading it for the same time.

Checked against: APA Dictionary of Psychology, 'testing effect'

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan

S

self-explanation

Explaining to yourself, while you study, why something is true or how one idea connects to another.

Checked against: Bisra et al., 'Inducing Self-Explanation: a Meta-Analysis', Educational Psychology Review (2018), abstract

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan

spacing effect (also: spaced practice, distributed practice)

The finding that spreading study over several shorter sessions leads to better long-term memory than cramming it into one.

Checked against: APA Dictionary of Psychology, 'spacing effect'

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan

successive relearning

Practising material until you get it right in one session, then doing the same again in several later sessions.

Checked against: Rawson, Dunlosky & Janes, Educational Psychology Review (2020), abstract

Explained in: How to Learn Faster: What the Research Supports, and a 4-Week Plan