Study should not be too simple or too complicated: in both cases we will not be able to get new knowledge. Why is this happening?
How often we manage to carry out the planned? There are probably lucky ones who practically do not know failures, but there are clearly a minority. Most are faced with all sorts of difficulties daily. Consultants in the store are refused by buyers, articles of journalists are sent for revision, actors and models indicate the door during the casting.
We know that only one who does nothing is not mistaken, and our mistakes are an integral part of any work or study. Having not achieved the desired, we still get confirmation that we are active, try, do something in order to change the situation and achieve goals.
We go to achievements, relying not only on talent, but also on the ability to work hard. And yet, defeats are almost always adjacent to victories on this path. Not a single person in the world woke up with virtuoso, before that, never holding a violin in his hands. None of us became a successful athlete, the first time throwing the ball into the ring. But how are our non -attached goals, unresolved tasks and theorems incomprehensible from the first time affect how we learn the new?
15% for an excellent student
Science considers failure not only inevitable, but also desirable. Doctor of Psychology, specialist in the field of cognitive sciences Robert Wilson and his colleagues from universities of Princeton, Los Angeles, California and Brown found out: we learn best when only 85% of the tasks are able to solve correctly. In other words, this process goes the fastest when we are mistaken in 15% of cases.
During the experiment, Wilson and his colleagues tried to understand how quickly computers master simple tasks. The cars divided the numbers into even and odd, determined which more and which are less. Scientists have set different difficulties settings to solve these problems. So it turned out that the car learns the new faster if it solves the tasks correctly only in 85% of cases.
Researchers studied the results of earlier experiments on teaching various skills in which animals took part – and the pattern was confirmed.
Boring – enemy of good
Why this is how it turns out and how do we achieve the optimal “temperature” for training? “The tasks that you solve can be simple, complex and medium. If I give you really simple examples, your result will be 100% correct. In this case, you will have nothing to learn. If the examples are complex, you decide half, and it will still turn out that you have not learned anything new. But if I offer you tasks of medium complexity, you will find yourself at the point that will give you the most useful information, ”Wilson explains.
Interestingly, the conclusions of American scientists are largely echoing with the concept of stream proposed by a psychologist, researcher of happiness and creativity Mikhay Chiksentmihaii. Stream state is a feeling of complete inclusion in what we are now doing. While in the stream, we do not feel the running of time and even hunger. According to the theory of Chiksentmihai, we are happier when we are in this state. And getting “into the stream” while
studying is also real – subject to some conditions.
In the book “In Search of the Stream. The psychology of inclusion in everyday life ”Chixentmihai writes that“ most often people fall into the stream, trying to cope with the task that requires the maximum application of forces. At the same time, the optimal situation is created if the correct balance between the expanse for the activity and the abilities of a person to complete the task is achieved “. That is, the task should not be too simple or too complicated for us. After all, “if the call is faced with a person too complicated, he feels depressed, upset, worried. If the tasks are excessively simple – on the contrary, relaxes and begins to get bored. “.
Robert Wilson explains: the results of a study conducted by his team do not mean that we should strive for “four” and deliberately reduce our result. But remember that too simple or too complex tasks can reduce the quality of training, or even completely reduce it to nothing, is still worth it. However, now we can proudly say that they really learn from mistakes – moreover, faster and even with pleasure.