Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Hindsight Biases01:12

Hindsight Biases

4.1K
Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now? 
4.1K
Systematic Error: Methodological and Sampling Errors01:15

Systematic Error: Methodological and Sampling Errors

5.7K
In the case of systematic errors, the sources can be identified, and the errors can be subsequently minimized by addressing these sources. According to the source, systematic errors can be divided into sampling, instrumental, methodological, and personal errors.
Sampling errors originate from improper sampling methods or the wrong sample population. These errors can be minimized by refining the sampling strategy. Defective instruments or faulty calibrations are the sources of instrumental...
5.7K
Types of Errors: Detection and Minimization01:12

Types of Errors: Detection and Minimization

6.3K
Error is the deviation of the obtained result from the true, expected value or the estimated central value. Errors are expressed in absolute or relative terms.
Absolute error in a measurement is the numerical difference from the true or central value. Relative error is the ratio between absolute error and the true or central value, expressed as a percentage.
Errors can be classified by source, magnitude, and sign. There are three types of errors: systematic, random, and gross.
Systematic or...
6.3K
Elaborative Rehearsals01:07

Elaborative Rehearsals

168
Elaborative rehearsal is a crucial cognitive strategy that strengthens information encoding in long-term memory by making meaningful connections between new data and pre-existing knowledge. This approach contrasts with maintenance rehearsal, which involves simple repetition without delving into the significance of the information. While maintenance rehearsal might temporarily keep information active in short-term memory, it is less effective for long-term retention.
The effectiveness of...
168
Purposive Learning01:22

Purposive Learning

258
E. C. Tolman emphasized the purposiveness of behavior — the idea that much of our behavior is goal-directed. For instance, employees who aim for a promotion work diligently to meet their targets. Tolman argued that when classical conditioning and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations. In classical conditioning, a child might fear a dog because they expect it to bite. In operant conditioning, a person might consistently work overtime because they expect a...
258
Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

757
Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
757

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Deliberate Erring Improves Far Transfer of Learning More Than Errorless Elaboration and Spotting and Correcting Others' Errors.

Educational psychology review·2023
Same author

A mind-wandering account of the testing effect: Does context variation matter?

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2021
Same author

Take notes, not photos: Mind-wandering mediates the impact of note-taking strategies on video-recorded lecture learning performance.

Journal of experimental psychology. Applied·2021
Same author

From JOLs to JOLs+: Directing learners' attention in retrieval practice to boost integrative argumentation.

Journal of experimental psychology. Applied·2019
Same author

Mental imagery boosts music compositional creativity.

PloS one·2017
Same journal

Executive function and social behavior: Causal evidence from loading working memory and inhibitory control.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

Correction to "Your research is public engagement: A case for more intentional science communication in research with human subjects" by Vaughn (2026).

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

Correction to "Costs and benefits of acting extraverted: A randomized controlled trial" by Jacques-Hamilton et al. (2019).

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

Conveying (discrete) emotionality with novel words.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

Physical actions shape moral choices: Environment-directed movements reduce cheating in young children.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

From chunks to schemas: Learning in the Hebb repetition paradigm.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 29, 2025

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
07:07

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

Published on: June 5, 2016

8.9K

The derring effect: Deliberate errors enhance learning.

Sarah Shi Hui Wong1, Stephen Wee Hun Lim1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|July 9, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Deliberately making and correcting errors, known as the derring effect, significantly improves learning compared to avoiding mistakes. This strategy enhances learning even when learners already know the correct answers.

More Related Videos

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
08:53

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

9.9K
New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat
09:45

New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat

Published on: January 23, 2017

8.3K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 29, 2025

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
07:07

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

Published on: June 5, 2016

8.9K
Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
08:53

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

9.9K
New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat
09:45

New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat

Published on: January 23, 2017

8.3K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Educational Psychology
  • Learning Sciences

Background:

  • Traditionally, errors in learning are avoided or occur spontaneously.
  • The role of errors in strategic learning has been underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the 'derring effect': deliberately committing errors for superior learning.
  • To compare deliberate error generation with errorless learning strategies.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments involved learning scientific term-definition concepts.
  • Learners deliberately generated incorrect definitions, copied information, or generated correct answers.
  • Performance was assessed via cued recall tests, with and without error correction.

Main Results:

  • Deliberate error generation with correction significantly enhanced learning over errorless copying.
  • This benefit persisted even when compared to generating conceptually correct answers or elaborating on concepts.
  • Learners underestimated the effectiveness of deliberate error correction.

Conclusions:

  • The derring effect demonstrates that strategically embracing errors can optimize learning.
  • Enhanced target processing, specific to producing incorrect responses, underlies this effect.
  • Educational strategies should consider positioning errors as active learning events.