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Welcome to Brain Stuff, a production of IHeart Radio.

Hey, Brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here with a classic episode from the podcast's archives.

In this one, we dive into the weird science of learning.

We all know somewhere in our heart of hearts that pulling all-nighters to cram isn't really effective, especially in the long

term, but let's talk about what actually is. Hey, Brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here with a

familiar scenario.

It's the day before a big calculus exam, and you haven't studied for whatever reason.

You're short on time, have too many other exams packed into the same day, too many cat videos, you know.

Around 10 p.m., you finally sit down to review the material.

Six hours later, you catch a short nap before rushing to school.

You take the exam and it seems to go fine.

Although it wasn't your best effort, you pass and promise not to repeat the cycle when it's time for your next one.

This is what's known as cramming.

And while students, parents, and educators have long known it's not ideal,

in desperate circumstances, it does work to some degree.

And by some degree, we mean it might save your GPA.

But cramming doesn't provide long-term learning, according to researchers who study how we learn versus how we think we learn.

A spoiler alert, we're usually really wrong.

In the case of cramming, you may

pass the test and feel like you've got the material down, but research shows that a dramatic

rate of forgetting occurs afterwards. This is especially problematic when one lesson provides

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