Myth: Short-term memory is the bottleneck of learning

Myth

The main learning bottleneck is short-term memory, hence SuperMemo is not needed. Some educators live by the wrong conviction that it is the short-term memory that is the bottleneck of learning. This comes from common daily observations of devastating leaks in memory of things we receive on input. We retain only a fraction of what we perceive

Fact

The opposite is true. Short-term memory is indeed very leaky. However, we can retain in short-term memory far more than we can retain over the long term. The myth is partly derived from the conviction that long-term memory is virtually limitless. The error comes from noticing the huge long-term storage, while neglecting the difficulty with which we retain knowledge in that storage. An advanced student will quickly learn all mnemonic tricks necessary to retain far more in his or her short-term memory than (s)he is able to convert into lasting knowledge See: How much knowledge can human brain hold

Myth busting is an important mission at SuperMemo Guru. We tackle myths about memory, learning, creativity, SuperMemo, and incremental reading. Please write if you want a myth busted or if you disagree