Gaslighting Myself Into Thinking I Studied: A Student’s Guide To False Confidence

It is almost a universal experience that students all face convincing themselves that they “knew that” or they will “recognize it in the test” once they get a question wrong whilst studying. Many students including myself have gone through this process. When studying for my chemistry test, I was convinced I knew for certain the relative mass of electrons and protons even when I made a mistake when testing myself, but the same familiar words rang in my mind “I knew that. I'll remember it next time”. Unfortunately for me, on the day of the test I could not help but curse myself as I face a table requesting me to fill in the exact information I remembered seeing, but do not remember enough to recall. This is called the illusion of competence, the overestimation of how well they have learnt information.

When a topic is initially taught in class, information first enters the short-term memory. The “short-term” part is self explanatory, it does not retain information for the long run and can easily be forgotten if not reinforced. Students value confidence, claiming their expertise to not seem inadequate. A study by psychology today states that these traits are evident because students lack metacognitive skills, the ability to recognize mistakes and strategies to learn. A little knowledge about a topic causes students to believe they understand everything. This is mainly due to not being able to identify gaps in knowledge. The brain often confuses recognition with recall. Recognition is the ability to detect familiar information when presented. Recall is the ability to retrieve information independently, similar to how school exams would be done.

When you see an answer and think “It makes sense”, this is the misconception that our brains usually make as it interprets information through familiarity as evidence of clear understanding. It simply means the information is processed easily, not that it can easily reproduce when required. A common study technique is rereading through notes in hopes that after a few rounds the information would be implemented into your brains. This is quickly turned around as students remember seeing a page of paper with notes, but not the notes itself. More importantly, the importance of learning from mistakes effectively rather than being dismissive can bring an overall improvement in educated studies.

Consequently, when students refuse to retain their information from a certain topic because they are dismissive about mistakes. It can cause students to perform poorly during exams. Better exam techniques start with a consistent study plan. I can assure you that a few months worth of material cannot be retained in a singular night, hence, a well spread study schedule can make students organized. Techniques such as active recall, self testing, space practice and learning from mistakes allows better retention of material. It is only natural that students make mistakes, but to make a bigger mistake is to take it lightly. Nevertheless, the brain can only process so much information at a time. Taking breaks allows the brain to consolidate memories of what was practiced. 

To sum it up, you may have seen relatable videos on social media about this behaviour. A useful principle is important. Familiarity gives a false sense of mastery in knowledge. If you cannot recall the information without looking, you do not know it yet. Real learning may be uncomfortable, effortful and a nuisance, but it is also the only form that survives beyond the study session.