Old dogs and new tricks: Human learning and forgetting

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Old dogs and new tricksHuman learning and
forgetting

• Dr Greg Yates
• University of South Australia
• Part A Introduction
• Part B Story of 2 mnemonists
• Part C Story of the Spitfire
• Part D Our problem of forgetting
• Part E Can we do anything about forgetting?

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Part A Humans as limited information processors.

• We are NOT computers. Human learning is
  remarkably different from how computers learn.
• Learning causes stress. We get overloaded. We
  are subject to emotions and self-evaluations
  which often harm more than help.
• We are overly confident.

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Kruger, J. Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and
unaware of it How difficulties in recognising
oness own incompetence leads to inflated
self-assessments. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 77, 1121-1134.
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Part B Story of SF and DD

• Students volunteered for memory testing
• SF developed incredible skills, which he then
  taught onto DD
• Extra-ordinary skills
• But how do we interpret such data?

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HOW DID THEY DO IT?

• Input .4 2 0 7 9 9 8 1 0 6 9 3 8.
• 420. I said a flat mile, a good high school
  mile
• 799 I said 79 was an age, almost 80
• 810 And 810 was a 2-mile, and I said it was a
  really fast two mile
• 6938 Then this was a 10-mile, it was up there, a
  really slow 10-mile.

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Part C Story of the Spitfire (1935 to 1945).

• In WW2, Britain needed to build new planes to
  match German technology. Many contracts let,
  including one to the Supermarine Company.

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Spitfire traits

• huge engine,1500 to 2000 hp
• highly sensitive controls (sensitive equals
  difficult)
• light and highly manoeuvrable
• Hence, it was projected
• this plane would be impossible to fly
  operationally
• pilots cannot handle such power
• with such fine controls, this plane is too
  temperamental, dangerous

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But it worked. Why?

• pilots young, healthy, and developed ethos
• they trained on another highly sensitive plane,
  Tiger Moth, of 132 hp
• no-one told them it was impossible

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Outcomes

• pilots approached the boundaries of human limits
  with remarkable intelligence, for example,
  learning to control blackouts
• they experienced intense emotions
• they shared information and goals, and adopted a
  group approach. (learning goals, rather that
  performance goals).

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Reflections

• This is an example of human learning at the raw
  limits.
• The pilots were given a machine that exceeded all
  known rules, and had insufficient training
• But what training they had was crucial in
  allowing them to graduate to this plane
  successfully.
• And they then kept training themselves. They
  learned from each other.

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Part D. Our universal human problem Forgetting.

• No single theory of why we forget skills, as all
  known theories correct.
• Mainly (a) disuse (b) interference (c) overload.
• High level of forgetting attributable to
  failure to learn (Overconfidence, again).
• Much forgetting when skills involve discrete
  acts, which rely on specific informational
  recall.
• But low forgetting when procedural acts cue a
  reliable sequence (ie actions are chained into
  the next one, e.g. many motor skills).

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Forgetting in the real world

• Classic studies by McKenna Glendon (1985, 1988)
  into loss of CPR skills over 3 year period (much
  lost within 6 months).
• Citation McKenna, S. P. Glendon, I. (1985).
  Occupational first aid training Decay in CPR
  skills. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 58,
  109-117.

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Part E. Can you stop forgetting?

• Input factors Pay attention at moment of
  learning. Allow considerable time to learn.
  Control your eye gaze, and focus the mind.
• Be aware that Spacing effects are dramatic.
  Massed learning creates rapid memory loss (which
  you do not know about).
• Consciously change Develop new patterns out of
  old patterns, and practice this deliberately over
  several trials (e.g. five times). I used to do
  it this old way, but I now do it a new way.
• Use memory aids abundantly Take notes. Write
  things down. Use mnemonic tricks. Keep a diary.
  Use external memory cues rather than relying on
  mental only cues.

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Part F Dolphin Test for Stress in Medical Staff

• Two seconds exposure time. You see two dolphins,
  jumping together.
• Unstressed people often report they see the
  dolphins as identical.
• The more differences you pick up, the more
  stressed you are.
• FOCUS NOW

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