← all facts
learning
You find it impossible to ignore what you know.
In Elizabeth Newton's 1990 study, tappers were unable to predict how difficult it would be for listeners to identify a song melody when they could only hear the rhythm being tapped.
The claim incorrectly states that the difficulty was due to listeners not hearing the rhythm; in fact, the listeners heard the rhythm but were missing the melodic information.
Teaching is difficult because you cannot return to your own ignorance.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Elizabeth Newton, 1990, Stanford University Dissertation
- What the check found
- The core psychological effect is well-documented, but the description of the 1990 study conditions is inaccurate. Tappers underestimated how hard it was for listeners who were hearing the rhythm but missing the melody.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.