System apparatus and method for maximizing effectiveness and efficiency of learning retaining and retrieving knowledge and skills

• US 6,652,283 B1
• Filed: 12/30/1999
• Issued: 11/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cerego LLC (Cerego Japan, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cerego LLC (Cerego Japan, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lewis, Andrew Smith, Van Schaack, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Hughes, S. Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): ADAMS, CHANDA L
• Application Number:
  US09/475,496
• Time in Patent Office: 1,426 Days
• Field of Search: 434/362, 434/236, 434/322, 434/323
• US Class Current: 434/236
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/04 characterised by modifying the teaching programme in response to a wrong answer, e.g. repeating the question, supplying a further explanation

Abstract

A system, method and apparatus for maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of learning, retaining and retrieving knowledge and skills includes a main engine having a Learn Module, a Review Module and a Test Module. Each of the Learn, Review and Test Modules are capable of operating independently but are preferably arranged to operate interactively such that operation of each of the Learn, Review and Test Modules are changed based on a user'"'"'s past performance within one or more of the three modules. In addition, the main engine may also include a Schedule Module for flexibly scheduling learning, reviewing and retrieving knowledge and skills based on various factors and input information. The main engine also may include a Progress Module which monitors a user'"'"'s performance on any of the Learn, Review and Test Modules and changes the future operation of each module based on the monitored performance. The main engine also may include a Help Module to provide assistance with any of the other modules.

Claims

1. A method of learning comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting information to be learned to a user so that the information to be learned becomes learned information;

(b) presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review of the learned information;

(c) presenting information to the user for testing whether the learned information is known by the user;

(d) monitoring the user'"'"'s performance in each of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) measuring a memory strength of the user for each item of learned information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(f) modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e); and

(g) determining metacognitive skills of the user by measuring at least one of the user'"'"'s feeling of knowing, confidence and judgment of learning.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of prompting the user to provide user preferences relating to the information to be learned and the scheduling of future operation of steps (a), (b) and (c).

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the user preferences include a desired level of learning and retention, user learning time availability, type of information the user desires to learn, and changes in the scheduling of steps (a), (b) and (c).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of presenting information to be learned to the user is done such that the user learns the information to be learned to a level of automaticity.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned by the user includes at least one of factual knowledge, declarative knowledge, factual information, skills, procedural knowledge, information objects, knowledge objects, and items of information that are desired to be learned initially and retrieved at a later date, information used to change behavior, information used to change thought processes, and information used to increase the ability to learn, review and test other items.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned by the user is obtained from one of a text source, an image source, an audible sound source, a computer, the Internet, a mechanical device, an electrical device, and an optical device.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned by the user is provided by at least one of a learning system, a user, an administrator, and an external information source.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned by the user is presented to the user in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned by the user is presented to the user at least one of visually, auditorily and kinesthetically.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned by the user is presented to the user in one of a serial order and a non-serial procedural order for skill-based learning.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review is performed such that the learned information is reviewed and maintained by the user at a desired level of long term retention.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of determining when the learned information has fallen below a desired level of retention of the learned information for the user and in response thereto performing the step of presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising measuring the memory strength of the learned information to determine when the learned information has fallen below a desired level of retention of the learned information.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned by the user is presented to the user in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and the presentation of the cues and responses to the user is based on at least one of the type of information, difficulty of the information to learn, the user'"'"'s performance in each of the steps (a), (b) and (c), measured arousal and attention to the user, the measured confidence of the user in responding to the presentation of cues and providing responses to cues, the number of times each of the paired-associate items has been presented to the user, the user'"'"'s feeling of knowing and judgment of knowing as quantitatively rated by the user, the measured latency of response of the user, the measured memory strength for each of the paired associate items, and the measured probability of recall for each of the paired associate items.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) is performed to optimize the learning, memory and performance of the learned information by the user.

16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of changing a schedule of presentation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e).

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the step of changing the schedule includes calculating a schedule of the presentation of the information in at least one of the steps (a), (b) and (c) to maximize the strength and activation of the learned information by a predetermined date.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein during the step of scheduling the operation of steps (a), (b) and (c), the information to be learned and the learned information is arranged and distributed to achieve workload smoothing.

19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising the step of monitoring the user'"'"'s ability to comply with the generated schedule and modifying the schedule based on the monitored information.

20. The method according to claim 16, further comprising the step of determining if there is any deviation from the schedule, and recalculating the schedule to correct for any deviation determined.

21. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of the method are embodied as one of computer software, a signal carrier wave format to be used on an Internet-based system, machine-executable instructions, computer-executable instructions for operation on a processor-based system including at least one of a computer, a telephone, a personal digital assistant and an information transmission device.

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of the method are performed via one of a paper-based system, a computer-based system, a human-based system, and a system that presents information to a person or organism for learning and future retrieval of the information.

23. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of the method are performed via a processor-based system.

24. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of the method are performed via a non-processor-based system.

25. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of the method are performed via at least one of a processor, a central processing unit, a computer, a telephone, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a hand-held electronic device, an information transmission device and a digital data/information transmission device which performs the steps via processing of instructions embodied in machine readable code or computer executable code.

26. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting the information to be learned in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, and determining at least one of a presentation pattern, a presentation rate, and a presentation sequence of the paired associate items based on the performance of the user in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

27. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of the method are performed via at least one of audio tapes, video tapes, and paper-based systems including calendars, books, and documents.

28. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of measuring memory strength is performed by gathering overt and covert information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

29. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of allowing the user to input the information to be learned.

30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising the step of allowing the user to input information relating to the information to be learned input by the user in the step of allowing the user to input the information to be learned.

31. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying to the user information relating to the user'"'"'s progress with at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

32. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of monitoring the user'"'"'s performance during each of steps (a), (b) and (c) is done without the user knowing about being monitored.

33. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of identifying at least two confusable items to be learned and presenting to the user the at least two confusable items to be learned successively during at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

34. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of providing information about the user'"'"'s performance during testing including at least one of the number of items missed, a test score, a performance score, percent under confident and percent overconfident.

35. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, and determining a sequence of items to be learned and a time period between a presentation of the cue and the response of each of the paired-associate items and a time period between presentation of successive paired associate items to achieve a desired level of learning.

36. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned is presented by generating a sequence of known and unknown items and presenting the known and unknown items via an expanded rehearsal series adapted to the unknown item.

37. The method according to claim 36, further comprising the step of adapting the expanded rehearsal series to the user based on the user'"'"'s performance.

38. The method according to claim 36, wherein the sequence of known and unknown items is arranged to provide an intra-trial spacing effect.

39. The method according to claim 37, wherein the sequence of known and unknown items is arranged to provide an inter-trial spacing effect.

40. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of allowing the user to interrupt the presenting of the information to be learned and the learned information during at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

41. The method according to claim 1, wherein the performance of the user that is monitored in step (d) includes at least one of time required for the user to input various responses, the ability of the user to adhere to a schedule of operation of steps (a), (b), and (c), the user'"'"'s level of interest and the user'"'"'s arousal in learning.

42. The method according to claim 41, wherein the user'"'"'s level of interest and arousal in learning is determined by measuring at least one physiological characteristic of the user.

43. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of calculating for each of the paired associates a memory strength over time based on a rate of initial learning, a degree of initial learning, a probability of recall, a latency of recall and savings in relearning.

44. The method according to claim 43, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, wherein the calculated memory strength for each of the paired associate items is used to adaptively modify the operation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

45. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and determining when a memory strength for a particular item has decreased to a minimum retention level for the user by making calculated projections related to at least one of the decline of human memory, the type and difficulty of each of the paired associate items, the recency of presentation of the paired associate item, the frequency of presentation of the paired associate item, the pattern of prior user'"'"'s exposure to the paired associate item, and the user'"'"'s particular history of past performance in operation of steps (a), (b) and (c).

46. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, monitoring the memory strength for each of the paired associate items and determining a schedule for review or testing of the paired associate items based on the monitored memory strength.

47. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information based on an expanded rehearsal series that is adapted to the user based on the measured user performance.

48. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, wherein the user'"'"'s performance is measured based on the user'"'"'s ability to evaluate accurately whether the user knows the correct response and the incorrect responses to the cue of the paired associate items.

49. The method according to claim 48, wherein the step of measuring the user'"'"'s performance includes the step of determining the time required for the user to make the evaluation about the correct response and incorrect responses.

50. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of modifying future operation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of the step of measuring at least one of the user'"'"'s feeling of knowing, confidence and judgment of learning.

51. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of measuring at least one of the user'"'"'s probability of recall, latency of response, and savings in relearning.

52. The method according to claim 51, further comprising the step of modifying future operation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the step of measuring at least one of the user'"'"'s probability of recall, latency of response, and savings in relearning.

53. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of asking the user to indicate a desired degree of initial learning including one of familiarity, recognition, recall and automaticity.

54. The method according to claim 53, further comprising the step of generating a sequence of items to be learned based on a desired degree of initial learning indicated by the user.

55. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, wherein a timing, order of presentation and sequence of presentation of each cue and response of the paired associate items is interactively determined based on information obtained from the user.

56. The method according to claim 55, wherein the information obtained from the user is obtained via input based on covertly obtained user performance information and overtly obtained information input by the user.

57. The method according to claim 55, wherein a timing, order of presentation and sequence of each cue and response is interactively determined based on input information including at least one of information concerning rate of presentation of the paired associate items, format of presentation of the paired associate items, and sequence of presentation of the paired associate items.

58. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be learned and the learned information is presented to the user based on at least one of an initial desired degree of memory strength and a desired degree of retention.

59. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of measuring at least one of probability of recall, latency of recall, and savings in relearning during operation of steps (a), (b) and (c), and modifying future operation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of the step of measuring at least one of probability of recall, latency of recall, and savings in relearning during operation of steps (a), (b) and (c).

60. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, and modifying at least one of a pattern of presentation of the paired associate items, a sequence of paired associate items and a timing of presentation of the paired associate items based on the results of the step of measuring the user'"'"'s performance during at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

61. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of increasing the user'"'"'s attention to the information to be learned or the learned information by presenting obligatory attention cues to the user.

62. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, and increasing the user'"'"'s attention to the information to be learned or the learned information by varying at least one of the presentation pattern of the paired associate items, the sequence of presentation of the paired associate items, and the timing of presentation of the paired associate items.

63. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information via paired-associate items each including a cue and a response and modifying an order of presentation of the paired associate items so as to eliminate a serial position effect.

64. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and reordering the presentation of the cue and response of the paired associate items during future operation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

65. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and generating a sequence of the paired associate items for presentation to the user in which the paired associate items that are more difficult to learn or remember are presented to the user more times than the paired associate items that are less difficult to learn or remember.

66. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of prompting the user to make a judgment of learning after the information to be learned is presented to the user.

67. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a preview of the information to be learned before the user begins learning in step (a).

68. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and providing the user an opportunity to review the paired associate items that the user has determined to be difficult to learn after learning the paired associate items in step (a).

69. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and determining an ease of initial learning for each of the paired associate items by measuring how many times each of the paired associate items was presented to the user before the user indicated that the user had learned the paired associate item.

70. The method according to claim 69, further comprising the step of determining a relative degree of difficulty of learning for each of the paired associate items based on the ease of initial learning and determining an appropriate review schedule for the paired associate items based on the relative degree of difficulty of each of the paired associate items.

71. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of using at least one of hopping tables, prediction curves and mathematical correlations to accurately control future performance of the steps (a), (b) and (c).

72. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of using a learn hopping table to determine the initial schedule of presentation of the learned information and modifying a schedule of presentation of the learned information in step (b) based on user performance and review curves.

73. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, wherein the learned information is presented to the user during step (b) so as to increase memory strength of the paired associate items learned later and so as to increase memory activation of items learned earlier.

74. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response, wherein the learned information is presented to the user during step (b) is arranged based on at least one of degree of difficulty of the paired associate items, degree of importance of the paired associate items, memory strength of the paired associate items, activation of the paired associate items and the user'"'"'s past performance with at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

75. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and arranging the information to be learned or the learned information based on at least one of importance of the paired associate items, strength of the paired associate items and activation of the paired associate items.

76. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of measuring the user'"'"'s latency of recall while presenting the learned information in step (b).

77. The method according to claim 76, further comprising the step of stopping the review of learned information based on the measured latency of recall.

78. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and determining the time between presentation of a cue and presentation of a response of the paired associate items during step (b) based on at least one of user input, position of the paired associate item within the paired associate items being reviewed, primary sensory modality, and covert data obtained from the user.

79. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and arranging the presentation of each cue and response of the paired associate items relative to other cues and responses based on timing, sequence, and format of the paired associate items.

80. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting the learned information in step (b) based on at least one of a forgetting/retention function and an expanded rehearsal series.

81. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information in the form of paired associate items each including a cue and a response and modifying model for the rate of forgetting of each of the paired associate items for the user based on the user'"'"'s performance in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c).

82. The method according to claim 1, wherein the test presented during the step of testing includes one of a test of familiarity, a test of recognition, a test of recall, and a test of automaticity.

83. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of measuring latency of response during at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) and modifying future operations of the steps (a), (b), and (c) based on the results of the step of measuring latency of response.

84. The method according to claim 1, wherein the test presented during step (c) is an alternative forced-choice test.

85. The method according to claim 1, wherein the test presented during step (c) is a five alternative forced-choice test in which a user must select one of the five alternatives presented in response to a cue.

86. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user is asked if the user knows the answer during the step (c) and is asked to provide a feeling of knowing by choosing one of a plurality of ratings relating to how sure the user is that the user knows the answer.

87. The method according to claim 86, further comprising the step of measuring the time required for the user to provide the feeling of knowing.

88. The method according to claim 86, further comprising the step of prompting the user to select a correct response from a plurality of responses presented to the user and measuring the time required for the user to select one of the plurality of responses.

89. The method according to claim 88, further comprising the step of asking the user how confident the user is that the response selected by the user from the plurality of responses is the correct response and measuring the time required for the user to indicate how confident the user is that the response selected by the user is correct.

90. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of asking the user to provide information about the user'"'"'s feeling of knowing and confidence of response during step (c).

91. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of providing the user with the opportunity to review items for which the user provided an incorrect response during testing in step (c).

92. The method according to claim 1, wherein the learned information to be tested in step (c) is arranged and presented to the user based on at least one of time of day, gender of the user, age of the user, physiological measures of the user, measures of attentiveness of the user, environmental conditions, the type of learned information to be tested, difficulty of the learned information, the recency of the learned information, the frequency of the learned information and a pattern of prior exposure of the user to the learned information.

93. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of scheduling the operation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on at least one of the information input by the user, information input by a learning administrator, and information input by a learning system.

94. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of scheduling the operation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on at least one of date that the learned information must be known to the user, the current date, the start date, the information to be learned that must be learned by the user between the start date and the test date, the user'"'"'s desired degree of initial learning and retention, times that the user is not available and the user'"'"'s ability to adhere to previously generated schedules.

95. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of scheduling the operation of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on at least one of inputs from the user, inputs from a learning administrator, a spacing effect of the information presented in steps (a), (b) or (c) strength of the learned information, activation of the learned information, when a lesson was initially learned, the degree of difficulty of learned information, and the confusability of learned information.

96. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of identifying confusable items from the paired associate items, identifying a feature of the confusable items which increases discriminability between the confusable items, and using the feature which increases disciminability to practice discriminating between the confusable items.

97. The method according to claim 96, further comprising the step of presenting the confusable items via a blink comparator which overlays and alternatively presents to the user the confusable items in a manner to show clear differences between the confusable items.

98. The method according to claim 96, further comprising the step of changing the presentation of the confusable paired associate items by changing the order of the cue and response in each of the paired associate items.

99. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting the information to be learned and the learned information via paired-associate items each including a cue and a response and determining timing between presentation of the cue and the response for each of the paired-associate items.

100. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of scheduling the operation of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on at least one of a start date, an end date, type of information to be leamed, a desired level of retention, an amount of time each day that the user is available, a desired number of final reviews, amount of time available for final reviews, the user'"'"'s learning history, and black out days when the user is not available.

101. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of determining a schedule of operation of steps (a), (b) and (c) including determining a normal review zone, a final review zone and a compression review zone.

102. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of asking the user if the user wants to have the information to be learned presented faster or slower in step (a).

103. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of measuring time required for operation of each of steps (a), (b) and (c).

104. A method of learning comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting information to be learned to a user so that the information to be learned becomes learned information;

(b) presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review of the learned information;

(c) presenting information to the user for testing whether the learned information is known by the user;

(d) monitoring the user'"'"'s performance in each of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) measuring a memory strength of the user for each item of learned information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c); and

(f) modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e);

wherein during testing, prompting the user to provide a feeling of knowing score indicating how confident the user is that an answer is correct.

105. The method according to claim 104, further comprising the step of determining metacognitive skills of the user by measuring at least one of the user'"'"'s feeling of knowing, confidence and judgment of learning.

106. A method of learning comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting information to be learned to a user so that the information to be learned becomes learned information;

(b) presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review of the learned information;

(c) presenting information to the user for testing whether the learned information is known by the user;

(d) monitoring the user'"'"'s performance in each of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) measuring a memory strength of the user for each item of learned information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(f) modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e);

(g) providing information about the user'"'"'s performance during testing including at least one of the number of items missed, a test score, a performance score, percent under confident and percent overconfident; and

(h) inquiring if the user desires to relearn items that the user provided an incorrect response to during testing and allowing the user to relearn the items that the user provided an incorrect response to during testing.

107. A method of learning comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting information to be learned to a user so that the information to be learned becomes learned information;

(b) presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review of the learned information;

(c) presenting information to the user for testing whether the learned information is known by the user;

(d) monitoring the user'"'"'s performance in each of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) measuring a memory strength of the user for each item of learned information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(f) modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e); and

(g) arranging the information to be learned or the learned information based on an Nth degree polynomial smoothing function.

108. A method of learning comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting information to be learned to a user so that the information to be learned becomes learned information;

(b) presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review of the learned information;

(c) presenting information to the user for testing whether the learned information is known by the user;

(d) monitoring the user'"'"'s performance in each of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) measuring a memory strength of the user for each item of learned information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(f) modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e);

(g) measuring the user'"'"'s latency of recall while presenting the learned information in step (b); and

(h) stopping presenting of the learned information based on a user'"'"'s quantitative judgment of the adequacy of the user'"'"'s response.

109. A method of learning comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting information to be learned to a user so that the information to be learned becomes learned information;

(b) presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review of the learned information;

(c) presenting information to the user for testing whether the learned information is known by the user;

(d) monitoring the user'"'"'s performance in each of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) measuring a memory strength of the user for each item of learned information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(f) modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e);

wherein learned information presented during step (b) is based on a selected one of a plurality of forgetting curves which model the forgetting rate for each item of learned information and for the user.

110. The method according to claim 109, wherein the selected one of the plurality of forgetting curves is modified during the step (b) to model the forgetting rate of the user.

111. A method of learning comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting information to be learned to a user so that the information to be learned becomes learned information;

(b) presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review of the learned information;

(c) presenting information to the user for testing whether the learned information is known by the user;

(d) monitoring the user'"'"'s performance in each of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) measuring a memory strength of the user for each item of learned information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(f) modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e); and

(g) determining a forgetting curve that models the rate of forgetting of the learned information over time based on a quality response provided by the user.

112. A method of learning comprising the steps of:

(a) presenting information to be learned to a user so that the information to be learned becomes learned information;

(b) presenting the learned information to the user for providing a review of the learned information;

(c) presenting information to the user for testing whether the learned information is known by the user;

(d) monitoring the user'"'"'s performance in each of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(e) measuring a memory strength of the user for each item of learned information during the user'"'"'s operation in at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c);

(f) modifying the future performance of at least one of steps (a), (b) and (c) based on the results of steps (d) and (e); and

(g) arranging the learned information during testing in step (c) based on at least one of difficulty and confusability of the learned information.