WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Cramming 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:06.520 Hey, you welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh and 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.879 on behalf of Chuck. Who's here? Say hi Chuck an 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:16.080 uh Dave see the producer Jerry the mega meta uber 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:20.680 producer Uber with an oom loud Even that was a 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:24.800 good Jerry. Um. This is short stuff, the stuff you 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.120 should know, A short version of stuff you should know, 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:30.560 but shorter, that's right. And this has to do with 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:37.760 something that I have been guilty of from grades kindergarten 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:43.519 through my undergraduate degree, which is to say, cramming for 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:48.159 the test. I've always procrastinated when it comes to my 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:53.200 school testing. I always crammed. I always did pretty good. 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:57.040 It's a sort of a B student, and I never 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:01.120 thought it mattered much, and now I feel terrible about it. 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:04.160 Right until that time the cop pulled you over and 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:09.840 asked you how to explain Pythagoras Pythagoras theorem, and you 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.120 were like, oh, man, I knew this, I knew this, 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:16.080 and I forgot it. Yeah, because cramming is uh, it 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.039 sort of works if you're looking to skate by and 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:23.080 make that grade in and like walking in there minutes 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:25.759 after you finished studying. You might do okay, but you're 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.120 not gonna learn anything, and you're not going to remember 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:31.039 that stuff. And that's the point. Like, yes, you can 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.399 cram and do okay on a test, you could even 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.479 get through college or high school like that. And that's 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:39.959 why a lot of people who cram say, well, whatever 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.040 it works, I'm fine with it. But the point of 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:45.960 learning all this stuff is to actually learn it. So 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:47.760 when you look at it like that, like you don't 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.800 actually learn anything, you just are are doing rote memorization. 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:54.120 And then then it kind of makes sense to look 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.000 for other ways. And luckily, um, they figured out that 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:00.560 there are plenty of other ways to learn aside from cramming. 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.040 Before we get into that, let's talk about exactly why 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.800 cramming is terrible. Yeah, so you know, obviously we're saying 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.440 you're really not learning much. It's there have been studies 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:11.760 done and there are a lot of people who study this. Uh. 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:14.480 One of these guys from the House Stuff Works article 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:16.960 is Dr Robert A. Bork from u c l A 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:21.320 psychology department, and he's like, there's a dramatic forgetting rate 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.000 after you take that test. And you might think, well, 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:27.959 who cares, man, I pasked the test, but uh, that's 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.840 a big deal when that test is a building block 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:33.480 for more lessons, Like if it's a language class he 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:37.000 points out, or math class, all of that stuff matters. 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:39.919 You gotta learn that stuff. You can't cramp. I mean, 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.359 I guess you can cram for a language final or 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:44.519 a language test, but it's not gonna do any good 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:46.840 when the next test comes around and you never learned 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.320 the first stuff. Yeah, you'll never be a French major 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:54.679 like that. You SAP know what's SAP in French? Exepp 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.079 perfect um. And then the other part is when you're 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:06.200 cramming too. Usually you are you're you're adjusting your normal 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:11.320 schedule to like really debilitating degree. You're not cramming from 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:16.160 you know, um nine am, two ten pm the day 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:21.400 before the test. That's that's studying. Cramming usually involves like 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.360 just like squeezing whatever time you have out of the 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.239 handful of hours right before the test. Maybe you sleep 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.400 for a little bit right before and then going to 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:34.440 take the test. In my experience, it's always just been 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:39.119 going in and taking the test right after you finished studying. Yeah, 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:43.760 remember God, just remember this the Family Ties when Alex 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:48.320 pe Keaton took speed, it's so great. Every study. Every 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:52.360 family sitcom has always had somebody take speed, and it's 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:57.360 always to study. Remember Jesse Spanoh, Jesse, I saved by 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:01.320 the bell where she's like, I'm so excited. That's so excited. 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:04.040 They were doing a performance of that song and she 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.000 was like freaking out about getting it wrong. So she 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.920 was rehearsing and rehearsing and taking speed. I know, like, 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:14.320 you're too fast. I don't remember. It's it's great. It's 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:18.280 one of watershed moments in television history, Jesse collapsing in 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:20.760 Zack's arms because she's so excited. But I think that 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:24.120 shows coming back. It is in the same stars are 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:29.880 going to be like teachers, so cramming. Uh yeah, you 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.080 cram right until the last second. No good, you're not 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:35.719 learning long term. And there are some interesting ways to 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:40.240 combat this though. And should we take a break now? Yeah, 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:42.080 I think that's right. All right, it's a little early, 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:43.880 but it's a perfect place, so we'll be right back. 0:04:44.000 --> 0:05:00.360 All right. Well, now we're on the road, driving in Chuck. 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:03.640 Want to learn a thing or two from Josh Man 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:12.120 Chuck stuff you should know? All right, all right, I 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.000 jumped the gun. We took an early break, but here's 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:18.560 the deal. If you want to study effectively. Uh, they 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:22.960 say that, you know, studying something twice is obviously the 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.760 best way, and even three times and more is the 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.880 best way to retain something and really learn something. But 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.240 it gets even more specific. It's called the spacing effect. 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:35.000 They say, if you study some and then you go 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:37.320 and take a break and do something else and then 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.120 come back to studying that same thing, you're gonna retain 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.080 even more than if you just did it twice in 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:46.440 a row. That's right. So this is like really really 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:50.600 important to remember, because if you want to learn anything, 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.159 there's just a certain thing you have to do and 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.159 that is not cramp And like this could even be 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.480 I didn't, I didn't see anywhere like how far spaced 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.440 out it needs to be. But I got the impression 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.440 that there's a sweet spot too far. And it's basically 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.359 like seeing the material like brand new again and you 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.520 don't even remember the first time, but too close. And 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.960 studies have shown that you actually, um don't uh, you 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.960 don't see it differently than you did the time before. 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:20.400 Like if you read a chapter and then go back 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:23.320 and read the chapter again, you're not doing anything to 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:26.000 help yourself you want to space it out some and 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:31.279 in doing that, you're they think you're you're encoding things differently. Yeah. So, 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.200 like you said, if you do something twice in a row, 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:35.839 it's so familiar to you, you're encoding it in the 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.800 exact same way. If you take that little break, you'll 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:43.160 encode it differently and remember it longer. And not only that, 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.800 but there are different ways to encode uh. And they 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:49.440 suggest like changing your um like where you study, Like 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:51.960 if you sit down in your favorite fat chair in 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.559 your office to study your thing, take a little break, 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.320 go to a different room for the second take, and 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.520 that will just mix it up in your brain enough 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:03.040 so you'll encode it more permanently. That's right. Um, So 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.400 that's pretty cool. That's a that's a good, good bit 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:08.680 of advice. And there's there's there's other reasons why they 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.640 think this works, um really well. Another one is that 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:16.960 like if you struggle to recall um, whatever the information 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.480 is for some reason, you're that that exertion of brain 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.000 power UM makes you learn it more. And there's this 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:27.240 there's a pretty good example in this article from House 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.680 to Folks, where like if you meet somebody, um and 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.080 you have to remember their name like thirty seconds later. 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.200 That's great, and you'll probably remember their name because it's 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.520 right there in your working memory. But the next day 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:39.960 you're probably not going to remember it. But if you, like, 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.360 you meet somebody and then an hour later you have 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.200 to recall their name and you really try to recall it, 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:49.080 you're probably going to remember it the next day because 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:51.920 they think you're struggling with that recall. You're exerting an 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.480 effort with recall. And it makes sense because you know, 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.600 if you're like, what's that person's name again, and you 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.880 don't even bother to try to recall, um, you will, 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:02.000 You're not You're not going to learn it. Or if 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:03.800 you even if you ask the person what their name 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.280 is over and over again, you're not just getting it 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.200 in there. Um, You're you're never going to learn it either. 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.559 So it makes sense struggle struggle to recall might help 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.680 with this, uh this learning. Yeah, I'm the worst with 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:19.800 names like that, and I've tried. I know we both are. 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:22.440 We I've tried all the things I try to remember 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:28.200 to think of pneumatic devices, pneumonic devices, pneumatic and uh, 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.840 I just can't do it. So you hear a lot 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:35.760 of hey Man out of me, and it's no offense. 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:38.800 I never forget a personality or a face, so you're encoded. 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.600 It's just those names. I think everyone should wear name tags. 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.439 But they've done plenty of studies about this. There was 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:47.080 one in two thousand nine from u c l A 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:50.880 from Dr Nate Cornell with a K and found that 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:55.840 spacing was more effective than cramming for nine of participants, 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:58.240 which is I mean, there it is, there's your proof. 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:01.000 Well yeah, But the thing is they also surveyed those 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.000 participants and found out that basically all of them still 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:06.760 thought cramming was effective. And the reason why is because 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:11.040 it is effective, but it's not effective for long term learning. 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:14.480 So what they figured out in addition to spacing, um 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.080 that spacing is well, I guess in kind of in 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:21.040 conjunction with spacing, because another technique that really helps people learn, 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.160 and it's called inner leaving. I think it should be 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:28.440 called inter weaving. But whatever, it's where you take. You know, 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:33.200 let's say you have two hours to study math. You're 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.439 actually better off to study math for thirty minutes, then 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:39.840 go study, say French or something else for another thirty minutes, 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:44.199 and then yeah, and then right, and then study um 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.120 model airplane building for thirty minutes and then go back 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:49.240 to the math. You're gonna do better than you did 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.320 if you spent two solid hours on math, even by 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.320 breaking it up, which is very counterintuitive because it seems 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:59.600 like to be distracted. But hey man, the studies don't lie. Yeah. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:05.000 Is two thousand fifteen study that tested middle school kids 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:09.280 with algebra and geometry, two subjects at a very hard 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:13.680 time with and a day after their lesson was complete, Uh, 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:19.600 the students who enter wove or enter love scored better 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.160 than students who got regular instruction. And then here's the 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:26.160 real kicker. A month later, that interleaving group was up 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:28.960 seventy six percent. And that's kind of the whole point, 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.920 which is like long term learning something rather than just 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.439 recalling something for a test. Right. Yeah, that's there's your 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:39.200 proof right there. Seventy percent after a month is that's 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:41.439 all I needed to hear. So from now on, it's 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:46.920 inter leaving and encoding, uh, and spacing for me. Yeah, 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:49.680 And I try to do that because our job is 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:53.320 sort of like taking a test in ally, and I've 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:55.240 gotten into and I know we both have our own 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.520 sort of methods worked out now, But um, I've gotten 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:01.360 into a groove now where I will read stuff like 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.280 on the laptop and then not look at it for 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:07.440 a bit, and then read and highlight the printed version 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.520 and then leave it for a bit and then eventually 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:15.360 underline the key parts on the highlighted printed version. And 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:18.200 that in addition to just general like you know, videos 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.640 and other like ways of learning, that's kind of the 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:23.840 sweet spot for me. Yeah, because you're spacing it out 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.200 and that's it works. Yeah, I know, writing something down 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:30.240 has always been a suggestion, like if you write it out, 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:32.839 then you're more likely to remember it. That's a big thing. 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.200 Oh yeah, for sure. Like if there's a very difficult 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:40.120 concept that we have to explain, it's way easier to 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:43.720 write it out. On one hand, you're like proving to 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.360 yourself that you understand it, but you're also definitely like 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.200 re encoding it in a different way. And the other 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:51.560 thing I find interesting too is if you actually physically 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:53.840 move to like a different room or a different location 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:57.920 or something like that, Um, just being surrounded by that 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:02.160 different stuff or different sound, different smells, different sites. Even 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.640 if when you're learning the exact same information, your brain 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:07.600 is encoding it in a different way. I just find 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:11.200 that endlessly fascinating and it makes total sense too. Yeah, 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:13.559 and I've always, you know, seen over the years when 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:16.920 you said across from me that your signature Josh Clark 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.800 three point chicken scratch handwriting. No one else on the 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.800 planet can see without a magnifying glass or read even 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.840 with the magnifying glass. Yeah, I sometimes can't. I'm like, 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:30.559 what is I What did I say here? But the 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.439 point is it's not even to go back and reread 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:35.800 almost never is. If it is, then I make it 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.480 super legible. It's just writing it out. Help me remember it, 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:41.600 you know. Yeah, it's good stuff. We have her tricks. 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:45.839 Well that's it. Go forth and stop cramming everybody. You 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:51.000 will be a more well rounded, happier, smarter human being. Okay, okay, 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.839 And since I said okay twice, it's uh the end 0:12:54.840 --> 0:13:00.439 of short stuff and short stuff. Oh wait, Stuff you 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.120 should Know is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:05.800 For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.560 Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:09.280 favorite shows.