The introduction of desirable difficulties could also improve our reading materials. Textbooks that condense concepts and present them in the most coherent and fluent way possible, with slick diagrams and bullet point lists, actually reduce long-term recall. Many students—particularly those who are more able—learn better if the writing is more idiosyncratic and nuanced, with a greater discussion of the potential complications and contradictions within the evidence. People reading the complex prose of Oliver Sacks remembered more about the visual perception than people looking at a slick,
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