How to Get the Most Out of Studying: Part 2 of 5, "What Students Should Know About How People Learn"

Main ideas and lessons

• Accurate beliefs about learning matter. The video tests a common assumption with research to identify what most strongly predicts successful learning.
• Intent to learn doesn’t guarantee learning.
  • In a classic study (Hyde & Jenkins, 1969), participants’ forewarning/intention to recall words later did not improve recall.
• “Depth of processing” is the key factor.
  • People who process information deeply (meaningfully) remember far more than people who process it shallowly (superficially).
  • Deep processing improves recall even without an intention to learn.
  • Shallow processing leads to poor learning even if someone strongly wants to learn.

Depth of processing: the core concept

• Levels of processing concept

  • Memory benefits from processing that ranges along a continuum from shallow → deep.
  • Shallow processing: focusing on superficial, meaningless features (e.g., rereading mindlessly, memorizing without meaning).
  • Deep processing: interpreting meaning, relating to prior knowledge/experience, making connections, or forming mental images.

• Orienting tasks drive the level of processing

  • An orienting task forces you to process at a certain depth:
    • Shallow orienting task example: checking whether a word contains a specific letter (e.g., “e”).
    • Deep orienting task example: rating how pleasant a word is (forces meaning-based, experience-linked processing).

Misconceptions the video rejects

• Learning styles (visual/auditory/kinesthetic) lack strong evidence; students should practice learning in multiple ways.
• Attention/engagement alone are not enough if processing stays shallow.
• Time alone is not sufficient—time must be paired with comprehension and deep processing.

What “the single most important factor” comes down to

The video argues the correct choice is: depth of processing (not intention, attention, learning styles, or time by itself).

• If you study without comprehension, you’re using shallow processing and won’t truly learn.
• If you make meaningful connections, you’ll learn whether or not you intended to.

Method / framework presented

• Use “depth of processing” when studying

  • Prefer strategies that require you to:
    • Interpret the material’s meaning
    • Connect new information to prior knowledge/experience
    • Think about how ideas relate to each other
    • Create mental images or otherwise represent the meaning

• Avoid shallow processing strategies

  • Don’t rely mainly on:
    • Mindless re-reading
    • Memorizing definitions without understanding
    • Superficial feature checks (e.g., “Does this contain the letter e?” type tasks)

• Design or choose study activities that function like deep “orienting tasks”

  • Examples of study prompts that push deep processing:
    • Ask yourself what the concept means
    • Relate it to a personal experience or known concept
    • Explain it in your own words and identify connections
  • Avoid prompts that only trigger shallow processing:
    • Tasks that focus on surface characteristics rather than meaning

• Don’t assume these will automatically fix studying

  • Intending to learn (desire) is not enough
  • Being attentive is not enough if processing stays shallow
  • Learning styles aren’t supported as a reliable guide
  • Spending more time alone won’t guarantee learning without comprehension

Speakers / sources featured

• Dr. Stephen Chew (professor of psychology, Samford University)
• Thomas Hyde & James Jenkins (1969) (the psychology experiments discussed)
• “Hyde and Jenkins” study design described in the video (5 groups; intentional vs incidental recall; shallow vs deep processing tasks)