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Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

domenic.me

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Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#201

Post by rahimnathwani »

ilteris wrote: post #161
uselesswords wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s amazing how every single point you’ve made here is wrong as the other commenter already dove into. On top of that Anki is one of the best documented pieces of open-source software I’ve messed with. If you’re able to program, ChatGPT can basically handle any task you want it too, I data mine the sqllite database regularly for my own insights.

Where does your SQLite db sit? I have been thinking about creating a local database to save and feed into LLM but i have no experience with it

If you export a deck as an .apkg file, you can unzip it to get the SQLite files:

https://www.encona.com/posts/custom-statistics-for-anki-flas...

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#202

Post by LVB »

> Thankfully, the leading spaced repetition software, Anki, has incorporated FSRS as its default scheduling algorithm since version 23.10, released in 2023-11

I've used Anki for a long time and apply updates, but I don't closely track changes. Based on the above, I figured I'd be using FSRS, but I'm not. All of my decks have that setting turned off. Fair enough (no silent updates to existing data), but even when I create a new deck, I have to turn the FSRS setting on manually. I found the same even with a whole new profile. What aspect of this is "default"? Is there a global setting I'm missing?

I'm glad it's available, though, without any plugins!

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#203

Post by Tijdreiziger »

rendaw wrote: post #140
iandanforth wrote: post #63

I wrote "Why Anki Doesn't Work for Me" ( https://medium.com/@iandanforth/why-anki-doesnt-work-for-me-... ) six years ago, which means it was before the new algorithm was implemented. While Anki likely still suffers from all the other issues I mentioned, this directly addresses my point (3). I'm going to have to give it another try and see if the other points are still too much friction, or if the frustration caused b…

I had similar issues... anki would drill me hard while stuff was still in short term memory (single session) then push it back weeks or months before I had any retention. I'd get to it again and it'd be completely gone, queue re-learning it from scratch. I brought it up around the time I tried it and got shouted down. Pretty much every spaced repetition app was treating anki like a holy emissary, so I gave up on spac…

There is definitely an aspect of online language learning communities where certain sanctioned methods are treated as gifts from the gods, while other methods brand you as a no-good heretic who doesn’t really want to learn the language.

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#204

Post by TechDebtDevin »

Pro Tip , if you're using LLMs to learn, create an MCP tool for them to insert Anki cards on topics you're discussing in a csv on google drive, then sync that with you anki decks on your phone.

This was a game changer for me and working with LLMS, while I still think they make you dumb, and we essentially use them to offload critical thinking (almost only find myself using them when tired lazy, and just cant), if you must use them use them as a study tool.

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#205

Post by sn9 »

bearjaws wrote: post #6

Spaced repetition has been all the rage for 20 years now. Dozens of apps, thousands of lectures, and it turns out its not really a silver bullet. There's nothing really wrong with it, it's just that people tend to fall off the same way they do on any other education pattern. A couple years ago I was thinking "If Google and Apple really cared about kids they would make a spaced repetition unlock system", where by you…

You say that but it's completely revolutionized the way medical students study.

IIRC the effect was so profound they had to modify the structure of some tests or something to that effect.

And polyglots have been using SRS for years.

As always, the real problem when people fail to do something that works is psychological, not technical. I'd say anyone who made an Ozempic for motivation would make a killing, but I believe it's already a scheduled substance. Maybe one without potential for addiction or abuse. Or maybe an Ozempic for conscientiousness.

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#206

Post by dkarl »

avemuri wrote: post #127
maximus-decimus wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand, wouldn't it be worse for motivation to take longer to achieve the same results?

Motivation is some combination of real and perceived effort Vs expected reward. Shorter isn't always better. For eg. Counting every single calorie is the shorter way to lose weight, but for most people, eating approximately healthy is more optimal from an effort /motivation poi t of view.

I think both have a place. When someone is starting for the first time, they're enthusiastic, but they haven't built faith in the process yet. It's easy for them to lose confidence if they're putting in work but the results are slow or ambiguous. I think it's best to take advantage of their beginner's enthusiasm and kick them off with something higher effort that is guaranteed to show them clear results. After they build confidence they can settle in to something lower effort (aka "more sustainable") where the benefit is longer-term and you don't see dramatic results every week.

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#207

Post by barrell »

nomadpenguin wrote: post #147
InkCanon wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's some UX problems of SRS (that I'm working on) that makes it high friction 1) Time taken to create cards 2) Need for self marking 3) Creates a one to one mapping of prompt-answer 4) If you're an autodidact, you have to teach yourself first (alternatively called understanding, scaffolding, etc) More fundamentally, SRS isn't a superpower because it's just very specific to creating a direct prompt retrieval. Gene…

Poor generalization (overtraining on prompts) and loss of context over time are the biggest issues I've found with them. Slow card creation workflows and needing to rate your own reviews are merely UX issues -- losing context and losing generalization make SRS actively harmful when used for some topics. There's 2 solutions I've thought of but haven't tried implementing: 1. A free-recall based approach. Free recall al…

I implemented free recall into FSRS pretty easily. Granted, it’s only for language learning, and I have it set up to work in a free recall friendly way (you don’t learn cards, you learn actual words and morphemes) but it’s been working for a few weeks now. I’m working on a product video atm, but once that’s done my next task (sometime this week) is to clean up the UI and merge it to master.

I almost never see someone talk about free recall so I was too excited to see it mentioned not to comment

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#208

Post by yorwba »

ilteris wrote: post #161
uselesswords wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s amazing how every single point you’ve made here is wrong as the other commenter already dove into. On top of that Anki is one of the best documented pieces of open-source software I’ve messed with. If you’re able to program, ChatGPT can basically handle any task you want it too, I data mine the sqllite database regularly for my own insights.

Where does your SQLite db sit? I have been thinking about creating a local database to save and feed into LLM but i have no experience with it

The SQLite database file is called "collection.anki2". Its path varies depending on the operating system: https://docs.ankiweb.net/files.html?highlight=collection.ank...

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#209

Post by sn9 »

scalingpilled wrote: post #89
Alex-Programs wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched to FSRS via the extension partway through my A levels. I also used the little google collab notebook to custom fit it to my learning patterns - I'm not sure if that's in the version that was merged into the main version. It about halved the amount of reviews I needed to do, and they didn't come up in bursts, so they were a lot more pleasant. I didn't quite believe it at first, and worried that it would be…

I’m doing my A-levels at the moment with economics and geography still to go, do you have any tips or advice for leveraging FSRS / tailoring it to my learning style that is more specific to A-levels, based on your experience?

Ali Abdaal's Youtube channel has a bunch of older videos you'll probably find useful: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BImOT2srcGCCjBBwNvU...

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#210

Post by dark_mode »

on_the_train wrote: post #49

Anki is a good piece of software. But I couldn't come up with a worse scheduling algorithm if I tried (old and new one). It's like "here's the thing you just added one second ago. Here it's again immediately after. Ok you got it, you'll see it once again in a month or so lol". It makes it unusable and every time I tried I went back to my own self written program that just lets me set/adjust the intervals myself.

When was the last time you tried? Anki used a static algorithm (SuperMemo 2) before the new FSRS - which is dramatically different.

In the short term (first day), I think it's still better to set your own intervals (typicall 1 minute, then 5, then 10). But after that, the algorithm optimizes for reminding you just before forgetting. Highly recommend giving it a try.

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