Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Chapter 5 discusses the benefits and pitfalls of memory. The authors work through several processes that distort human memory and explain how these can hinder, aid, and altogether influence learning—with a focus on “perceptual illusions, cognitive biases, and distortions of memory that commonly mislead people” (103).

They cite a model described by scientist Daniel Kahneman that explains the way people analyze information. This process amounts to “two analytic systems” (105). System 1 is “automatic […] unconscious, intuitive, and immediate,” making quick assessments and judgments (105). Anything reflexive would fall under System 1. System 2 involves conscious effort, decision-making, and reasoning. System 2 can act as a check on System 1, the latter being highly subjective but very influential. The authors conclude that people shouldn’t habitually trust their intuition—their System 1 responses—because they are so faulty.

Because learning is a personal and malleable process, it is subject to distortion—the power of suggestion being one of them. Suggestion is persuasive even to efficient learners and can lead people to remember false or exaggerated details.

People might conflate memories as other information interferes with the initial ones; they might also be convinced of information simply from frequent exposure to it. In some cases, familiar information might even feel learned.