@How to write good prompts: using spaced repetition to create understanding

This guide aims to help you create {{c1 understanding}} in the context of an informational resource like an article or talk.

• By that I mean writing prompts not only to {{c5 durably internalize the overt knowledge}} presented {{c4 by the author}}, but also to {{c1 produce and reinforce understandings}} of {{c2 your own}}, understandings which you can {{c3 carry into your life and creative work.}}

The most common mechanism of change for spaced repetition learning tasks is called {{c1 retrieval practice}}.

• In brief: when you attempt to {{c1 recall some knowledge from memory}}, the act of retrieval tends to {{c1 reinforce those memories.}}
• The learning produced by retrieval is called the {{c1 [[testing effect]]}} because it occurs when you explicitly {{c1 test}} yourself, reaching within to recall some knowledge from the tangle of your mind.
• retrieval practice is about testing your knowledge to {{c1 produce learning}}, rather than to {{c2 assess learning 评估}}.
  • [[e.g.]] What distinguishes retrieval practice from typical school tests?#card
    • Its purpose is to produce learning, not assess it.
• [[e.g.]] In general, writing an SRS prompt amounts to giving your future self a recurring {{c1 task}}.

Properties of effective retrieval practice prompts

• (This guide’s) properties of effective prompts: focused, precise, consistent, tractable, effortful
  • Precision: Vague questions will elicit {{c1 vague}} answers.
  • Focus: Prompts with too much detail tend to stimulate {{c1 incomplete}} retrievals.
• When prompts produce inconsistent answers, what happens to the memories which aren’t retrieved?#card
  • They’re inhibited.
• How often do spaced repetition systems expect you to be able to answer a given prompt in review sessions? 间隔重复系统预期你在复习环节中多久能回答出一个给定的提示？#card
  • Almost always.
• How does question scope impact spaced repetition scheduler efficiency? 问题范围如何影响间隔重复调度器的效率？#card
  • Tightly-scoped prompts allow easy and difficult elements to be scheduled at different rates.
  • 范围明确的提示使得简单和困难元素能够以不同节奏安排进度。
• Why is it important that you can’t infer a prompt’s answer from the question?#card
  • Retrieval practice depends on recalling the answer from memory.
• 文章目的 So we must learn two skills to write effective retrieval practice prompts:
  • how to characterize exactly what knowledge we’ll reinforce, 准确描述要学习的知识
  • and how to ask questions which reinforce that knowledge. 增强知识
• 用挖空来练习回顾列表
  • If a focused prompt feels intractable, what text might you add to the question (parenthetical)? → A cue.
  • What must a prompt’s cue not do?#card
    • Allow you to infer the answer without recalling it.
  • 可以给每一个空一些提示
• [[elaborative encoding]]: information {{c1 easier to recall}} if you can {{c2 connect it to other memories}}

Interpretation; the “more than you think” rule of thumb

• Writing good prompts often involves {{c1 interpretation}}: extracting information which isn’t explicitly written.
• Prompt-writing rule of thumb: how many prompts should you write?#card
  • More than feels natural. 比自然感觉更多
• What cognitive factor does the appropriate scale of a ‘focused’ prompt depend on?#card
  • The scale of the concepts you’ve internalized (aka ‘chunk size’)

Procedural   knowledge 程序化知识

• Simple procedures can be mechanically translated into a single set of prompts by treating the steps like a {{c1 list}}.
• To emphasize discrete details of procedures in prompts, what should you identify? 强调提示中程序的具体细节 #card
  • Keywords (important verbs, conditions, adjectives, adverbs, subjects, objects)
• Procedures can often be broken down into keywords like this.
  • What are the important verbs,
  • and when should you move between them?
  • What are the key adjectives, adverbs, subjects, objects?

What stock is and why it matters: conceptual knowledge

• (This guide’s) five lenses for writing conceptual prompts:#card
  • attributes and tendencies, similarities and differences, parts and wholes, causes and effects, significance and implications.
• To write prompts about a concept’s attributes and tendencies, what should you identify about its instances?#card
  • What’s always / sometimes / never true.
• To write conceptual prompts using the ‘parts and wholes’ lens, what kind of diagram is helpful to visualize?#card
  • A Venn diagram.
• Write a prompt about types of shapes using the “similarities and differences” lens. (try to create a new one; change the concept if needed) #card
  • Q. How is a parallelogram like a square? / A. All four sides parallel
• To write prompts about a concept’s {{c1 significance and implications}}, ask: why does that concept matter?
  • Significance and implications: write prompts which make the concept {{c1 personally meaningful.}}

Open lists

• [[generation effect]] you remember information better when {{c1 you generated it yourself.}}
• What’s the difference between an open list and a closed list?#card
  • Closed lists have a specific set of members;
  • open lists can grow over time.
• Digital bookmarking metaphor for open lists → tags
• What’s the common problem with writing only a ‘give an example’-type prompt for an open list?#card
  • You’ll usually end up remembering only one or two examples.
• What distinguishes the task of a ‘creative prompt’ from that of a retrieval prompt?#card
  • You’re asked to give a new answer each time, not answer from memory.
• Creative prompts are only possible when you’re able to {{c1 generate many different responses.}}
• What knowledge does a creative prompt reinforce through retrieval practice?#card
  • Whatever you consistently use when generating new answers.

Salience prompts and the [[Baader-Meinhof phenomenon]] 显著性提示

• new ideas are particularly salient, so we notice them more readily.
• Selective attention: we’re more likely to notice occurrences of something when it’s highly {{c1 salient 显著的，突出的}}.
• Without intervention, how does salience tend to change over time? 如果不进行干预，显著性会如何随时间变化 → Fades
• To integrate new ideas into your life, it’s helpful to keep them salient until when?#card
  • You can use them or connect them to something meaningful in your experience.
• [[Baader-Meinhof phenomenon]]: when you {{c2 hear something for the first time}} then {{c1 suddenly notice it everywhere}}
• How might spaced repetition prompts relate to the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon? 间隔重复提示如何与巴德尔-迈因霍夫现象相关？#card
  • Prompts can extend that phenomenon by keeping ideas salient over time.
  • 提示可以通过在一段时间内保持想法的显著性来延续这一现象。
• When possible, phrase salience prompts around contexts where {{c1 those ideas might be meaningful in your life.}}

Writing prompts, in practice

• What simplifying goal can you adopt to make prompt-writing feel less onerous while reading?#card
  • Aim to write a small number of prompts on each pass through the text.
• When writing prompts about ideas in a challenging text, which details does Andy suggest you initially focus on?#card
  • Basic details you can build on.
• If you notice a feeling of completionism when writing prompts about a text, remind yourself that you {{c1 can always write more prompts later.}}
• Why might you be able to write better prompts from a text when you return to it later? (a trigger) #card
  • Something meaningful might have motivated your return (a new connection, a problem, a gap)
• Prompt-writing litmus tests: what’s a ‘false positive’?#card
  • You can produce the answer, but you don’t know the information you intend to know.
• What false positive can arise when a prompt’s question includes unusual words or cues?#card
  • Pattern matching (knowing the answer by the shape of the question, without thinking about the words)
• What should you do with binary prompts? (which ask yes/no or this/that) #card
  • Rephrase them as more open-ended prompts.
• What prompt-writing problem is the most common cause of false negatives?#card
  • Not including enough context.
• Retrieval practice prompts must unambiguously exclude {{c1 alternative correct answers.}}

Revising   prompts over time

• What does Andy believe the most important thing to “optimize” in spaced repetition practice is?#card
  • Your emotional connection to review sessions and their contents.
  • 您与复习课程及其内容的情感联系。

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