
On the Forgetting of College Academics: At “Ebbinghaus Speed”? [pdf] - SQL2219
http://cbmm.mit.edu/sites/default/files/publications/CBMM%20Memo%20068-On%20Forgetting%20-%20June%2018th%202017%20v2.pdf
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closed
As a memory researcher, I'm a bit puzzled by their criticism that for
different learning approaches, few studies qualified for studying long term
memory (where long term is defined as 2 years).

If there is a difference in retention between two groups at 1 week or 1 month,
then I would be very surprised if it reversed upon testing 2 years later.

Moreover, I'm not sure what the theoretical justification would be for
extending the test period from say 1 month to 2 years (not to mention how low
reliability probably is at 2 years).

~~~
gwern
Since their concern is about retention of course degree material, which
_ostensibly_ we're spending 4 years and many thousands of dollars learning
because it'll be so useful in our careers, the long-term forgetting curve may
look different if career demands create repeated rehearsals of learned
material. You might forget a bunch of material from your compilers course, but
the rest of it becomes periodically useful in your web dev career and the
total loss flattens out. Then testing you on the trivia shortly after your
compilers course will paint a misleadingly pessimistic picture. This is why
they spend all that space wondering about how rehearsal affects connected
concepts - how specifically do any of these concepts have to be rehearsed
before it counts as a refresh for the spacing effect? Do even vaguely related
career demands suffice to draw on and preserve other course material?

