Is spaced repetition software a good tool for skill development or good practice reinforcement?
I was recently considering using an Anki prompt to do a mental move rather than to test my recall, like tense your muscles as though you were performing a deadlift. I don’t actually have access to a gym right now, so I didn’t get to put it into action immediately. Visualizing the movement as vividly as possible, and tensing muscles like the movement was being performed (even when not doing it) are common tricks reported by famous weightlifters.
But I happened across an article from Runner’s World today which described an experiment where all they did was tell a group of runners the obvious things that everyone already knows about preventing injury. The experimental group saw ~13% fewer injuries.
This suggests to me that my earlier idea is probably a good one, even though it isn’t memory per se. The obvious hitch is that what I am after isn’t actually recall—it isn’t as though runners forget that overtraining leads to injury if you were to ask them, and I have never forgotten how to do a deadlift.
Rather the question is how to make it as correct and instinctive as possible.
This feels like a physical analogue of my earlier notion about Ankifying the elements of a problem, so as to integrate it into my perspective and notice relevant information.
Maybe a better way to say this is using an Anki prompt to help respond to a physical prompt, that being the task itself.
A physical action in response to the physical task instinctively already has a name; it is called muscle memory.
Personally I’ve found the biggest problem with spaced repetition for skills and habits is that it’s contextless.
Adding the context from multiple skills with different contexts makes it take way more time, and not having the context makes it next to useless for learning the skils.
Personally I’ve found the biggest problem with spaced repetition for skills and habits is that it’s contextless.
Could you talk a bit more about this? My initial reaction is that I am almost exactly proposing additional value from using Anki to engage the skill sans context (in addition to whatever actual practice is happening with context).
I review Gwern’s post pretty much every time I resume the habit; it doesn’t look like it has been evaluated in connection with physical skills.
I suspect the likeliest difference is that the recall curve is going to be different from the practice curve for physical skills, and the curve for mental review of physical skills will probably be different again. These should be trivial to adjust if we knew what they were, but alas, I do not.
Maybe I could pillage the sports performance research? Surely they do something like this.
My take is pretty similar to cognitive skills: It works well for simple motor skills but not as well for complex skills.
My initial reaction is that I am almost exactly proposing additional value from using Anki to engage the skill sans context (in addition to whatever actual practice is happening with context).
My experience is basically that this doesn’t work. This seems to track with the research on skill transfer (which is almost always non-existent or has such a small effect that it can’t be measured.)
I have some cards in my Anki collection that ask me to review dance moves, and I have found that it is helpful for making sure my body remembers how to do them
Is spaced repetition software a good tool for skill development or good practice reinforcement?
I was recently considering using an Anki prompt to do a mental move rather than to test my recall, like tense your muscles as though you were performing a deadlift. I don’t actually have access to a gym right now, so I didn’t get to put it into action immediately. Visualizing the movement as vividly as possible, and tensing muscles like the movement was being performed (even when not doing it) are common tricks reported by famous weightlifters.
But I happened across an article from Runner’s World today which described an experiment where all they did was tell a group of runners the obvious things that everyone already knows about preventing injury. The experimental group saw ~13% fewer injuries.
This suggests to me that my earlier idea is probably a good one, even though it isn’t memory per se. The obvious hitch is that what I am after isn’t actually recall—it isn’t as though runners forget that overtraining leads to injury if you were to ask them, and I have never forgotten how to do a deadlift.
Rather the question is how to make it as correct and instinctive as possible.
This feels like a physical analogue of my earlier notion about Ankifying the elements of a problem, so as to integrate it into my perspective and notice relevant information.
Maybe a better way to say this is using an Anki prompt to help respond to a physical prompt, that being the task itself.
A physical action in response to the physical task instinctively already has a name; it is called muscle memory.
Gwern covers a bit of research here on when spacing does and doesn’t work:
https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition#subjects
Personally I’ve found the biggest problem with spaced repetition for skills and habits is that it’s contextless.
Adding the context from multiple skills with different contexts makes it take way more time, and not having the context makes it next to useless for learning the skils.
Could you talk a bit more about this? My initial reaction is that I am almost exactly proposing additional value from using Anki to engage the skill sans context (in addition to whatever actual practice is happening with context).
I review Gwern’s post pretty much every time I resume the habit; it doesn’t look like it has been evaluated in connection with physical skills.
I suspect the likeliest difference is that the recall curve is going to be different from the practice curve for physical skills, and the curve for mental review of physical skills will probably be different again. These should be trivial to adjust if we knew what they were, but alas, I do not.
Maybe I could pillage the sports performance research? Surely they do something like this.
It is hard to find, but it’s covered here: https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition#motor-skills
My take is pretty similar to cognitive skills: It works well for simple motor skills but not as well for complex skills.
My experience is basically that this doesn’t work. This seems to track with the research on skill transfer (which is almost always non-existent or has such a small effect that it can’t be measured.)
Ah, the humiliation of using the wrong ctrl-f inputs! But of course it would be lower level.
Well that’s reason enough to cap my investment in the notion; we’ll stick to cheap experiments if the muse descends.
I have some cards in my Anki collection that ask me to review dance moves, and I have found that it is helpful for making sure my body remembers how to do them