The key ideas

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel, 2014

You read, you underline, you reread, and a week later you remember almost nothing? Two cognitive psychologists and a writer explain why the usual ways of studying can create an illusion of knowing, and what memory research suggests instead: testing yourself, spacing out your practice and mixing problems up. Stories of a pilot, a neurosurgeon and eight-year-olds tossing beanbags show how it works.

Who it is for

For students at school and university, their parents and teachers, and anyone learning on their own: a language, a profession or a new skill.

Learning is deeper and more durable when it takes effort.

What the book is about

You read a chapter, underline the important parts and reread your notes before the exam. The text feels familiar, almost your own. A week later, a couple of words are all that's left.

The authors of this book offer an unexpected explanation. The ways of studying that feel productive sometimes work less well. And the ones that feel hard, like you're getting nowhere, can build more durable knowledge.

Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel are cognitive psychologists who have studied memory and learning for decades. Peter Brown is a writer who turned their research, and the work of their colleagues, into stories. The book's advice is what the authors conclude from experiments, and the effect may vary from person to person.

Ahead, for example, is a puzzle: why children who never once threw a beanbag from the target distance hit the mark more accurately than those who practiced at exactly that distance.

Idea 1. The trap of the familiar text

Why is rereading so pleasant? The second time through, the text goes down more easily. The words are familiar, and you recognize each idea before you finish reading it. That ease feels like understanding, and it's easy to mistake it for the real thing.

According to the surveys the authors cite, rereading is one of students' favorite strategies. But in the studies they refer to, rereading right away does little for long-term memory compared with other methods.

The authors have a name for this trap: the illusion of knowing. Recognizing a text when it's in front of you and recalling it without a prompt are two different skills.

You're reading your notes for the third time before a job interview, and everything seems clear. But when someone asks you to explain it in your own words, the answer falls apart.

The feeling of "I know this" can come simply from how easily you read. A more reliable test of knowledge is trying to recall it when the text isn't in front of you.

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About the author

Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel are American cognitive psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis who have spent many years studying memory and learning. Peter Brown is a writer and co-author who helped turn their research into a book for a wide audience.

All books by this author: Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning Quiz

Terms from the book

  • calibration
  • Desirable difficulties
  • Illusion of knowing: The feeling that you've mastered the material; it can come from a text being familiar or easy to read. You check it by trying to recall the material without a prompt.
  • Retrieval practice: Learning by trying to recall material: testing yourself, flashcards, retelling from memory. According to the research the authors cite, it helps long-term memory.
  • Spaced practice: Reviewing with breaks long enough for the material to be partly forgotten, instead of studying in one sitting.
  • Interleaving: Practice in which different types of problems or skills are mixed together rather than grouped in blocks.

All terms

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