Prof David Shanks, UCL Experimental Psychology

Interleaving in inductive learning: Causes and interventions for metacognitive unawareness Abstract: Interleaving exemplars is a powerful learning method for enhancing inductive category learning as well as literacy/numeracy skills, yet learners tend to be unaware of the benefits of interleaving. What is the origin of this metacognitive bias and how can it be overcome? I report a series of studies demonstrating a developmental trajectory in which metacognitive bias against interleaving (and towards blocking) becomes progressively more pronounced across elementary ages. Parents of older children were more likely to arrange blocked study sessions for their children, and elementary mathematics textbooks showed rising blocking rates across grades. The metacognitive bias can be reversed via an instructional intervention. Partially-reversible environmental influences seem to cause the under-utilisation of interleaving.