Levels-of-Processing Effect
Deeper cognitive processing produces more durable memories than shallow processing.
The levels of processing effect (LOP) describes memory recall of stimuli as a function of the depth of mental processing. Deeper levels of analysis produce more elaborate, longer-lasting, and stronger memory traces than shallow levels of analysis. Craik and Lockhart proposed this in 1972 as an alternative to the standard multistore model of memory. Processing a word for its meaning (deep) produces much better recall than processing it for its sound (shallow).
What it looks like in the wild.
- Everyday life Elaborative Encoding Students who create stories or vivid mental images to encode vocabulary retain words far longer than those who repeat them mechanically.
Recognising a definition is not the same skill as spotting it.
Two scenarios from the app, with distractors drawn from the same family of biases — which is what makes them hard.
A student is learning a new language. He just repeats the vocabulary words aloud without trying to form sentences or think of personal connections to the words. A week later, he can't use them in conversation.
While training a new employee, Mark reads the policy manual aloud to them. The employee nods along but fails to apply the procedures correctly later.
Biases rarely arrive alone.
Understand more. Assume less.
188 biases, 18,869 scenarios, and a record of how you actually decide.
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