Learning Efficiency: Identifying Individual Differences in Learning Rate and Retention in Healthy Adults

item.page.doi

Abstract

People differ in how quickly they learn information and how long they remember it, yet individual differences in learning abilities within healthy adults have been relatively neglected. In two studies, we examined the relation between learning rate and subsequent retention using a new foreign-language paired-associates task (the learning-efficiency task), which was designed to eliminate ceiling effects that often accompany standardized tests of learning and memory in healthy adults. A key finding was that quicker learners were also more durable learners (i.e., exhibited better retention across a delay), despite studying the material for less time. Additionally, measures of learning and memory from this task were reliable in Study 1 (N = 281) across 30 hr and Study 2 (N = 92; follow-up n = 46) across 3 years. We conclude that people vary in how efficiently they learn, and we describe a reliable and valid method for assessing learning efficiency within healthy adults.

Description

Full text access from Treasures at UT Dallas is restricted to current UTD affiliates (use the provided Link to Article).
A free downloadable EPub version is available on the publisher's website (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797618772540)
Full text access from Treasures at UT Dallas is restricted to current UTD affiliates (use the provided Link to Article).

Keywords

Individual differences, Learning Curve, Learning, Memory, Adulthood

item.page.sponsorship

Rights

©2018 The Authors

Citation

Collections