Learning To Learn (Efficiently)

[riley876]

This post isn't specifically about skating (though in general it is), I hope it's OK to post it here.

So, have just taken up the piano.   Not really seriously,  just tink(er)ing on my own at this stage.   I've become fascinated by the process of learning.   Between this and skating and a handful of other impossibly hard hobbies, I have come to a bit of a realisation about the stages of learning a thing.

- Stage 1:  Working out what you're supposed to actually do ("What the ...? Do that again, coach?")
- Stage 2:  Getting action programmed into "muscle memory" ("For heaven's sake, coach! My leg is turning to jelly!")
- Stage 3:  Doing different stuff that overrides what's in "muscle memory". ("Yes coach, I *know* I'm not supposed to do a three turn there")
- Stage 4:  Flow. i.e. Making it look/sound/feel good  ("Coach,  I'm doing all the right steps at the right times! What more do you want from me!")

I think maybe that learning to learn is much like learning a thing itself.  i.e. it takes practice.  That you get better at learning stuff the more stuff you learn.   

Was wonder what you good people thought of all this, and more specifically what (meta-)strategies you employ to learn efficiently?

[Bill_S]

Very interesting post.

I am a university professor, and one of the things we discuss among ourselves how to better teach students to learn on their own. Learning to learn is important because it's guaranteed that whatever I teach today, it will be different tomorrow - at least in my field.

[amkw]

After reading your post, the first thing to pop into my head was this image I have saved on my phone. I tried uploading it and it wouldn't work but it said:

The Four Stages of Learning:
Unconscious incompetence
Conscious incompetence
Conscious competence
Unconscious competence

Remembering this helps me put my skating skills and other things I'm learning in perspective. I struggle with my confidence a lot returning as an adult and I find it motivating to remember these stages and reflect on my progress. It's easy to get caught up in everything you're conscious of being incompetent about but sometimes we forget to acknowledge all of our unconscious competence

[riley876]

New research into the way in which we learn new skills finds that a single skill can be learned faster if its follow-through motion is consistent, but multiple skills can be learned simultaneously if the follow-through motion is varied.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150108130057.htm

[riley876]

After reading your post, the first thing to pop into my head was this image I have saved on my phone. I tried uploading it and it wouldn't work but it said:

The Four Stages of Learning:
Unconscious incompetence
Conscious incompetence
Conscious competence
Unconscious competence

Remembering this helps me put my skating skills and other things I'm learning in perspective. I struggle with my confidence a lot returning as an adult and I find it motivating to remember these stages and reflect on my progress. It's easy to get caught up in everything you're conscious of being incompetent about but sometimes we forget to acknowledge all of our unconscious competence

Oh indeed!  I have to constantly remind myself that once upon a time I could barely stand up on a pair of skates.   The "I'm useless" syndrome is easy to get in the way of motivation and therefore progress.   Going back to absolute basics is probably a practical way to revisit ones competences (or not as the case may be!).

Skating, especially as a highly self-aware adult, is an odd beast as far as skills acquisition goes,  since fear is such a big impediment to learning.   Unlike just about any other skill you could learn (scared of falling off the piano stool?).    Techniques for getting over fear probably deserves a topic all by itself.    But personally I've come to the conclusion that for the level of stuff I do fear is almost always totally justified.  i.e. something is lacking in technique, that affects control.

I guess wisdom had to be employed to know if improvement can be achieved by working up to it, or only by working through it  (Fav Churchill quote:  "If you are going through hell, keep going!")

Nothing that the vast majority of people here haven't already figured out I'm sure...

[riley876]

Another line of thought:

Overthinking and underthinking.  (Both of which I do regularly)

Overthinking is probably the worst when muscle memory has barely formed, so is easiest to disturb a flow with (usually too slow and clumsy) executive thoughts.  Or worse thinking something completely opposite what the muscle memory is doing (trip, trip, smack!).   So, a better developed muscle memory of this thing might be the prime cure here, strong enough so random thoughts (e.g. thinking ahead) doesn't derail it. 

Underthinking.   Where you're not fully considering the physics of the situation.  e.g. Asking is this free leg motion helping or hurting balance & flow at this point?   Are my shoulders checking in a useful way here?  i.e. analysing what forces/accelerations are happening and what opposing forces are needed, and how to get them.   It's tempting (for me at least, if I'm stuck) to just "give it a whirl" over and over,  wasting valuable learning time.    Use recorded frame by frame comparisons to a competent skater might be helpful.  Or a coach with a good eye (LOL, revolutionary!).

[riley876]

Learning long sequences (e.g. music or choreography or whatever)

I've been experimenting with learning music by using Spaced Repetition Systems (SRS).  i.e.  a computer based virtual flashcard program.  ("Anki" is good and free).  The idea is that because the brain is associative (i.e. stimulus in, provokes memory keyed on that stimulus) sequences can be memorised step-by-step by creating flashcards with:

Front Side:  Everything you just did before you reached step N.  (i.e. maybe the last 2 or 3 things).
Flip Side:  Summary of the execution step N.

i.e. the front shows you context about what has just been done just upto the point where step N is needed.   The flip side serves to confirm or refresh your remembrances.

Virtual flashcard systems are great because they don't waste your time re-showing you flashcards you have a history of answering easily.   And they reshow you cards before you forget them again.   They do need daily dedication though.   SRS systems were invented for second language vocabulary learning,  where you typically have a MOUNTAIN of stuff to learn (5000+ words for a basic conversation) - where you can't afford the time to mess around with ad-hoc learning systems.   But there's no reason why anything you can break down to association-response pairs can't be memorised with one.

[riley876]

http://uxmag.com/articles/you-are-solving-the-wrong-problem

Take aways:

a) Make sure you are solving the right problem
b) Find a way to iterate faster

[riley876]

Only vaguely related to learning,  but maybe interesting with regard to skating, and in particular coming up with creative programmes:

The study, to be published May 28 in Scientific Reports, also suggests that shifting the brain's higher-level, executive-control centers into higher gear impairs, rather than enhances, creativity.

"We found that activation of the brain's executive-control centers -- the parts of the brain that enable you to plan, organize and manage your activities -- is negatively associated with creative task performance," said Reiss

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150528084158.htm

[Query]

Having taught a little, the one thing I'm certain of is that it can be very different, person to person.

It also helps to know whether you are talking about learning to play from music, or memorizing the music.

E.g., one person learns best just by watching, then doing. Another wants to be guided through something. Another wants to be told what to do. Another wants to understand why something works before they can do it.

Memorization may be even more different than physical skills, person to person.

Some people memorize by listening, over and over.

For me, I think music is best learned in short sequences, which are then grouped together in slightly longer sequences, then in longer sequences than that, and so on.

For a person with more of a music theory bent, it may help to analyze the phrase and chordal structure, and see how chord progressions relate to the specific note patterns. Maybe for you it helps to understand how the music is written, maybe not. One of the advantages of this, is that if you analyze the music down into frequently repeated sub-patterns, you don't have as many macro-patterns to recall, as if you look at each note as a macro-pattern. It's like learning phonemes, then learning a vocabulary of words, higher level vocabularies of word phrases, then learning specific word presentations based on those phrases.

I.E., it helps to learn you you specifically learn, and not worry too much about how someone else learns.

[riley876]

Sure, some people are better at a certain style of learning, but why settle for that?   Why assume that it's fixed in stone, or that it's necessary to trade one style off against the others?   

Why not develop the style of learning that's most suited for the subject at hand.   Why can't you LEARN a learning style?   Ideally improve your aptitude at ALL learning styles.   Then you'd be able to master anything with ease.    That's gotta be a good investment.

I thinking stuff along the lines of visualisation drills and eidetic memory drills.

[Query]

I thinking stuff along the lines of visualization drills and eidetic memory drills.

That makes sense. Do you know any drills that have worked for you or anyone you know? Where?

[riley876]

That makes sense. Do you know any drills that have worked for you or anyone you know? Where?

Learning a second language has helped me with my auditory eidetic memory.  i.e. The ability to mentally replay a sentence I just heard but didn't understand.   I've found I can actually replay at a slower speed, which helps immensely.   I've found this very applicable to playing music too.

There's a software package called "solfege" which is an ear training tool, possibly useful for developing auditory skills.

I came across a visualisation test once, that involved mentally rotating a configuration of cubes.   I don't have any links to this, but maybe one day I'll write a practice app for it.   For the more skating mad one could freeze frame skating videos, and imagine (and even draw) what the skater would like from a completely different angle.

Kinaesthetic learning, I'm not quite sure what one could do for this.   Maybe take up dancing or a musical instrument or even ice skating     I suppose one could practice Kinaesthetic "visualisation".

Probably exploring the connections between these modalities,  e.g. interpreting verbal commands to build a mental (or real) picture of a configuration.

The ability to formulate and work with abstractions is probably best served by learning computer programming (I'd suggest starting with the language "python").

[riley876]

Brain pattern predicts how fast an adult learns a new language

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160510134304.htm

Maybe applicable to skating too...?

Highlights

    Resting-state EEG explained 60% of the variability in second language learning.

    Higher beta and gamma power predicted faster second language acquisition.

    Lower delta and theta power predicted with faster second language acquisition.

    Greater laterality of alpha and beta power predicted faster language learning.

    Working memory and fluid intelligence did not predict second language learning.

Abstract

Understanding the neurobiological basis of individual differences in second language acquisition (SLA) is important for research on bilingualism, learning, and neural plasticity. The current study used quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) to predict SLA in college-aged individuals. Baseline, eyes-closed resting-state qEEG was used to predict language learning rate during eight weeks of French exposure using an immersive, virtual scenario software. Individual qEEG indices predicted up to 60% of the variability in SLA, whereas behavioral indices of fluid intelligence, executive functioning, and working-memory capacity were not correlated with learning rate. Specifically, power in beta and low-gamma frequency ranges over right temporoparietal regions were strongly positively correlated with SLA. These results highlight the utility of resting-state EEG for studying the neurobiological basis of SLA in a relatively construct-free, paradigm-independent manner.

[Ethereal Ice]

I know zip about formal learning theories, but as someone who both plays and has taught piano, has long ridden horses and taught riding, and is a brand new adult learner to figure skating, this is an interesting question to me. I have taught both adults and kids in piano and riding, I strongly feel that adults incorporate new material differently than children, one of the biggest differences being the "why" of the matter. Kids can learn the technique first and tend to start understanding why the technique is the way it is at a later time, while adults will often want to know the reasoning behind techniques up front, it seems to help them pick things up more quickly.

To me teaching riding is much closer to learning to skate than teaching piano. Teaching piano is like teaching someone another language that they not only have to read and write, but that they must express that written piece through a physical movement (that muscle memory again) and they must train their ear to hear if what they are playing sounds right. They use all of these senses very intensely to play beautifully, and it is complex. Teaching riding and skating at least in the lower levels, seems more physical, and with physical stuff you have the above listed learning patterns of the tentative first steps, the more confidence building second step steps and the third steps of muscle memory being built. And as an adult, learning the "why" reasoning behind physical steps helps me.

The piano though....when I teach, I teach the person to read, write and play music all at once, in addition to listening to what they actually play. I think their listening is the most natural evidence of perhaps genetic type talent...some folks are able to listen from the onset and knew that something sounds wrong, others never quite get there, they always rely more on reading the music correctly. Truly experiencing playing music is a combo, IMO. But people will have strengths in certain areas just as with skating elements. Music learning with adults in particular is typically a slow process, but it teaches them correct counting, and fingering that will be used even in the highest levels of piano. I try to make my students have something new and enjoyable every lesson, a fun little relevant song to learn along with the other work, something to show what good can come from learning the more boring and sometimes frustrating theory and sight reading.

That said, my goals as a skater is in ice dancing with hubby, and I am hoping my musical counting and timing will come in handy with the steps, it has when I have done other types of dance on the past.

As a nurse by profession, I have experienced and observed the novice to expert transition that all new nurses make and they go along with standard learning theories described by many. I am often fascinated by the idea of innate talent in general. For instance, just as some have a tendency to hear music more effectively from the get go, some new nurses make clinical judgment decisions easier than others. Even when their experience is less, they may simply see nursing decisions as very much like common sense whereas some other nurses are pondering the issue, just not able to come up with an answer. It is fascinating how our individual brains can simply work better on some subjects than others.

[skategeek]

I know zip about formal learning theories, but as someone who both plays and has taught piano, has long ridden horses and taught riding, and is a brand new adult learner to figure skating, this is an interesting question to me. I have taught both adults and kids in piano and riding, I strongly feel that adults incorporate new material differently than children, one of the biggest differences being the "why" of the matter. Kids can learn the technique first and tend to start understanding why the technique is the way it is at a later time, while adults will often want to know the reasoning behind techniques up front, it seems to help them pick things up more quickly.

To me teaching riding is much closer to learning to skate than teaching piano. Teaching piano is like teaching someone another language that they not only have to read and write, but that they must express that written piece through a physical movement (that muscle memory again) and they must train their ear to hear if what they are playing sounds right. They use all of these senses very intensely to play beautifully, and it is complex. Teaching riding and skating at least in the lower levels, seems more physical, and with physical stuff you have the above listed learning patterns of the tentative first steps, the more confidence building second step steps and the third steps of muscle memory being built. And as an adult, learning the "why" reasoning behind physical steps helps me.

I actually had my first riding lesson this evening.  (I'll be feeling it tomorrow!)  It's going to be interesting to see how learning this compares to learning to skate.  I'm hoping there's less of a fear factor, since that's what's holding back my skating right now more than actual physical ability or understanding.

[riley876]

I'm hoping there's less of a fear factor, since that's what's holding back my skating right now more than actual physical ability or understanding.

Absolutely.  I consider I only really started to learn to skate maybe 2 years ago. Before that I was merely collecting a repertoire of ways to "save myself".   3.5 years before that of essentially being a (almost literally) petrified mess.

Sure music performance has an element of fear, as does actually using a second language, but it's not an impedance to actually practicing the way that it is in skating.

Currently for me, I'm sure the main hold up in my skating is simply knowing what I should be doing.   i.e. the finer details of momentum and postural control.    And I'm usually clueless as to why what I'm doing isn't working.   Once I've stopped and analysed the physics in great enough detail,  actually implementing the changes goes relatively quickly.   Sometimes it's a fight against some ingrained muscle memory,  but once I experience some way that clearly works,  it's pretty easy and quick to get it locked in.    When I can do something, but I don't know why/how it works,  then that's where I can struggle for literally years with consistency and it coming and going (e.g. FO3s).

My coach says I overthink things,  but I'm sure it's the exact opposite.    Especially given that I don't have the luxury of visual imitation (I learned the hard way, that due to my skeletal wierdness,  blindly copying other people skating is a path to nothing but frustration for me).

The piano though....when I teach, I teach the person to read, write and play music all at once, in addition to listening to what they actually play. I think their listening is the most natural evidence of perhaps genetic type talent...some folks are able to listen from the onset and knew that something sounds wrong, others never quite get there, they always rely more on reading the music correctly. Truly experiencing playing music is a combo, IMO. But people will have strengths in certain areas just as with skating elements. Music learning with adults in particular is typically a slow process, but it teaches them correct counting, and fingering that will be used even in the highest levels of piano. I try to make my students have something new and enjoyable every lesson, a fun little relevant song to learn along with the other work, something to show what good can come from learning the more boring and sometimes frustrating theory and sight reading.

I play the violin.   I learned formally (weekly privates) for a few years as a kid, but mostly I'm a self taught adult.   Objectively I'm very "amateur".  But I feel my violin playing is at a much higher level than my skating (though my neighbours may disagree).    i.e. My current focus is a 4 minute gypsy piece.   Speed is a bit of a problem (8th notes @ 200bpm!), accuracy is a problem,  intonation is a little dicey at times,  musicality is a little muddled etc.   But I can get through it on a good day.  This is the equivilent of a long program in skating.    Utterly unthinkable doing anything more than stringing 3 or 4 elements together with my skating.  Even basic figure 8s and the MItF edges exercises are still a real challenge,  and they're just the equivalent of scales.    The idea of musicality or artistry in my skating is laughable at this stage.   Timing is OK,  maybe because of my violin and dancing background,  but only if you ask me not to exceed the modest limits of my control.

And I suspect I've spent 2 times longer skating than violin playing over the years.   

[Ethereal Ice]

Absolutely.  I consider I only really started to learn to skate maybe 2 years ago. Before that I was merely collecting a repertoire of ways to "save myself".   3.5 years before that of essentially being a (almost literally) petrified mess.

Sure music performance has an element of fear, as does actually using a second language, but it's not an impedance to actually practicing the way that it is in skating.

Currently for me, I'm sure the main hold up in my skating is simply knowing what I should be doing.   i.e. the finer details of momentum and postural control.    And I'm usually clueless as to why what I'm doing isn't working.   Once I've stopped and analysed the physics in great enough detail,  actually implementing the changes goes relatively quickly.   Sometimes it's a fight against some ingrained muscle memory,  but once I experience some way that clearly works,  it's pretty easy and quick to get it locked in.    When I can do something, but I don't know why/how it works,  then that's where I can struggle for literally years with consistency and it coming and going (e.g. FO3s).



I play the violin.   I learned formally (weekly privates) for a few years as a kid, but mostly I'm a self taught adult.   Objectively I'm very "amateur".  But I feel my violin playing is at a much higher level than my skating (though my neighbours may disagree).    i.e. My current focus is a 4 minute gypsy piece.   Speed is a bit of a problem (8th notes @ 200bpm!), accuracy is a problem,  intonation is a little dicey at times,  musicality is a little muddled etc.   But I can get through it on a good day.  This is the equivilent of a long program in skating.    Utterly unthinkable doing anything more than stringing 3 or 4 elements together with my skating.  Even basic figure 8s and the MItF edges exercises are still a real challenge,  and they're just the equivalent of scales.    The idea of musicality or artistry in my skating is laughable at this stage.   Timing is OK,  maybe because of my violin and dancing background,  but only if you ask me not to exceed the modest limits of my control.

And I suspect I've spent 2 times longer skating than violin playing over the years.

There is something to be said, as I mentioned, for natural talent and inclination towards an activity. It is the most difficult thing to explain perhaps, but maybe your affinity for violin is simply something you were born with. I do not pay the violin, I think it looks crazy hard. That said, the piano, as it had been pointed out to me, is also considered difficult by many due to the involve of ten separate fingers and two feet trying to work in unison. I find the number of appendages involved in figure skating a little easier, but that is just me.

[riley876]

maybe your affinity for violin is simply something you were born with. I do not pay the violin, I think it looks crazy hard.  That said, the piano, as it had been pointed out to me, is also considered difficult by many due to the involve of ten separate fingers and two feet trying to work in unison. I find the number of appendages involved in figure skating a little easier, but that is just me.

Ha, the thought that I have natural affinity for the violin is laughable to me.   Apparently I have a natural affinity for computer programming (which is handy since it's my job), and in comparison my music and skating and even dancing feel very different.  They all leave me feeling awkward and out of my element (but hey, the challenge just makes progress all that much sweeter).   I'm primarily a cerebral person, every physical instinct I have has been brutally manufactured via sheer bloody minded persistence. 

As I mentioned earlier in this thread I'm hacking away on the piano too.   That getting-both-hands-working-simultaneously-but-not-actually-doing-the-same-thing, is very foreign (and hard) to this violin player,  where yes you do work both hands together, but the objective is creating one note at a time, rather than effectively playing two (or more) melodies at once on the piano.

In this way, I feel skating is more like violin than piano,  in that you're only "playing" one melody at a time.  Sure spare hands & feet etc all can go in different directions, but they all work towards executing the (one) current element.    Maybe higher level skaters can truly multi-thread like playing the piano, but I don't see it.

Language learning, I'm sure is the same as learning physical things.  I don't consider it a cerebral thing. (Well except for maybe drilling vocab/grammar rules).   Fluency is the same thing as muscle memory as far as I can see.   I have no natural affinity for it either (though I do have some clever strategies and the aforementioned bloody minded persistence).

[Ethereal Ice]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread I'm hacking away on the piano too.   That getting-both-hands-working-simultaneously-but-not-actually-doing-the-same-thing, is very foreign (and hard) to this violin player,  where yes you do work both hands together, but the objective is creating one note at a time, rather than effectively playing two (or more) melodies at once on the piano.

In this way, I feel skating is more like violin than piano,  in that you're only "playing" one melody at a time.  Sure spare hands & feet etc all can go in different directions, but they all work towards executing the (one) current element.    Maybe higher level skaters can truly multi-thread like playing the piano, but I don't see it.

This is so funny to me because there have been times I have been playing a rapid fire piece, my fingers flying over the keys, I look down, think, "How am I doing that?"freak out, and mess up.

It is fascinating the way we learn stuff like this.

[FigureSpins]

I don't play an instrument, but I touch-type.  I took typing classes in high school and the instructor told us to type words, not letters. Ex: type "zebra" not "z e b r a."

Thanks to Mrs. Smith, I can carry on an in-person conversation while typing emails and documentation.  (The typing skill also landed me my first "real" job, as a data entry clerk on Wall Street.)

[riley876]

This is so funny to me because there have been times I have been playing a rapid fire piece, my fingers flying over the keys, I look down, think, "How am I doing that?"freak out, and mess up.

I believe the phenomenon is called Depersonalisation.   There's actually a mental disorder where people get stuck in this state permanently called Depersonalisation Disorder (and another related one called Derealisation Disorder).  http://pub48.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=4086229120&frmid=72&msgid=0  Makes for fascinating reading if you've got a voyeuristic streak.

I experience the same with the violin.  And with touch typing.  And with skating on some of the easier two footed inline slalom moves.   This is probably what Coach means when she says I'm overthinking.  i.e. I'm not simply letting my "inner demon" do the biz  .   Which would be helpful advice, except usually my inner demon often doesn't know exactly what to do yet.    It's certainly the primary aim to get my inner demon up to speed ASAP, which is my main focus with learning a piano piece.   i.e  Don't bother trying to play it "myself", but instead teach my inner demon to play it.    With violin usually the major obstacle is stopping some errant piece of muscle memory taking over and changing the score.

I don't play an instrument, but I touch-type.  I took typing classes in high school and the instructor told us to type words, not letters. Ex: type "zebra" not "z e b r a."

That's great advice.

I'm a programmer, and I have organically learned to type over the decades (3.5 of them!).   My left hand is perfect, but my right hand I tend to use the wrong fingering, commonest fault being ignoring the pinky. 

A few years ago I switched over to Dvorak layout.  Just on the basis that everytime you learn something new you get better at learning new things.    It was a painful transition, and I still don't think I'm up to the speed I was with qwerty.   And my qwerty touch typing is now toast.   But it's been an interesting experience.   I'm still fighting exactly the same right hand faults, even though everything changed.   

Probably a pointless exercise, but it does have a certain exotic kudos factor that is great for my career/reputation though.

I also mouse with the left hand now, because Dvorak means you need to Ctrl-C,V & X (awkward!) with the right hand.  Which was also a painful transition.

Being a weirdo,  I also occasionally play the violin lefthanded.   Wow was that an eye opener, about just how thoroughly muscle memory is used.   Even though I knew exactly what to do,  getting my utterly uncooperative limbs to actually DO them was challenging.   Was just like being a dead beginner again.   Though I'm getting better at it now, I'm nowhere near where I am right handed.

I also learned to both Lead and Follow when I was swing dancing, which again is similar (the footwork is usually mirrored).   It was back to square one for that too.    Though there's also fundamentally different skills in leading vs following (i.e. actually leading vs actually following),  which again you certainly don't get for free.

[riley876]

"Practice less and play like a pro, say researchers"

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160526105421.htm

"Visually guided videos could revolutionize coaching, say researchers. Watching videos that point to crucial details such as how golfers line up the ball, position their feet and twist their hips, significantly cuts the time it takes to master the skill, their report says."

[lutefisk]

"Practice less and play like a pro, say researchers"

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160526105421.htm

"Visually guided videos could revolutionize coaching, say researchers. Watching videos that point to crucial details such as how golfers line up the ball, position their feet and twist their hips, significantly cuts the time it takes to master the skill, their report says."

I think there's a certain amount of true to the notion that watching a targeted video is helpful, however I also think that if one doesn't soon thereafter go through the motions on ice, critical components of a complex motion will be forgotten and the watched tuition won't stick.  Even while on ice with my coach it's hard for me to do the monkey see-monkey do thing--and watching a coach go through the motions and immediately attempting to copy is more direct than watching a video at home and then trying to remember the important parts of the motion after arriving at the rink. Also, the video can't provide feedback.  So, yeah, videos are useful--to a degree.

[riley876]

"Practice makes perfect, and 'overlearning' locks it in"

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170130111017.htm