Back to the on-screen lesson ·
Learn a new fact without practicing mistakes: see the answer first, then take the cues away one step at a time.
Paper packet. Every task here also exists on screen, where it is checked automatically; answers written on paper are not assessed by Nydus. When you are back at a device, enter your answers there.
You will learn a new everyday fact the errorless way: read the full answer first, step the cues down one level at a time, and look instead of guessing whenever you are not sure.
The first two lessons put jobs on a pad and things in a home. Some things, though, you want to know without looking: the new trash day, the name of the new bus stop. This lesson is about learning one of those with support. The examples are invented and the practice is optional; it is not treatment and not a check on anyone's memory. Tell your own clinicians about anything new.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Errorless learning | Practicing so that the right answer is seen or cued before any attempt, and guessing is avoided. |
| Trial and error | Trying an answer first and correcting it afterward if it was wrong. |
| Cue | Part of the answer shown as help: the whole word, its first letters, or one letter. |
| Vanishing cues | Showing less of the answer each round, one step at a time, as the right answers keep coming. |
| Cue ladder | The steps of help from most to least: full answer, first letters, first letter, no cue. |
The aid for this lesson is a cue card: an index card with the new fact on it in big letters — TRASH — THURSDAY — kept where the fact is used, such as on the fridge or by the door. Make two or three more cards with less of the answer on each: TRASH — THURS____, then TRASH — T_______, then TRASH — ?. Clip them together in that order. Practice moves from the first card to the last, and moves back a card whenever you are not sure.
When most people learn something new, they guess, get it wrong, and correct it. That works well for many learners. But a guess is also practice: a wrong answer said aloud becomes a little easier to say next time. For someone whose memory for recent events is unreliable, the correction may be forgotten while the wrong answer lingers. That is why the old trash day keeps coming back.
Errorless learning turns this around. The right answer is seen first, then said. Then the help is taken away one step at a time — this is called the method of vanishing cues. At each step the cue is strong enough that only the right answer fits. If you are ever unsure, you look instead of guessing, and the next round gives back one step of cue.
The result is that every answer you practice is a right one. Nothing needs unlearning.
Another way: picture
Think of training wheels taken off a bicycle one at a time, rather than letting a child fall until they learn. Each ride succeeds; the support just gets smaller.
Another way: steps
Alan Baddeley and Barbara Wilson (1994) compared learning with and without errors in people with severe memory impairment and in people without it. Everyone learned better when errors were prevented, and the advantage was largest for the people with memory impairment. Their explanation: when memory for the learning episode is weak, the person cannot remember which answer was corrected, so each error competes with the right answer. Glisky, Schacter and Tulving (1986) showed that people with memory impairment could learn computer terms when the cues were withdrawn a letter at a time.
The limits matter. A critical review by Linda Clare and Roy Jones (2008) found clear benefits for some people and some tasks, but not for every group, and some results were mixed. The ACRM review (Cicerone and colleagues, 2019) lists errorless methods as an option for learning specific skills or facts after severe memory impairment, with limited carry-over to new tasks. So this is a way to learn one fact or routine, not a way to change memory in general.
For many learners, trying to recall an answer and then checking it is one of the most effective ways to study. Roediger and Karpicke (2006) found that students who practiced recalling a passage remembered more a week later than students who reread it. A mistake followed by feedback is part of that.
Errorless learning is for when mistakes tend to stick: when a wrong answer keeps coming back, when an old habit is strong, or when you notice that corrections do not hold. A useful test: if you have said the wrong answer more than once this week, switch to cue cards and stop guessing.
Two practical rules follow. Never practice with a quiz that asks you to guess first. And when a helper tests you, agree that not sure is a good answer, and that they show you the card rather than waiting.
In 2021 the Federal Communications Commission required ten-digit dialing — area code first — in dozens of US area codes, ahead of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline number starting in July 2022. Many people who had dialed seven digits for decades had to learn a new habit, and the old habit kept winning.
Picture a fictional caller, Walt, whose area code is 555. The errorless way: a card taped to the phone with the full pattern, 555 + number. For the first week he reads the card and dials with it in view. When five calls in a row go right, the card shrinks to 555 + …. After another good run, it becomes AREA CODE FIRST. If he catches himself unsure, he looks at the old card instead of trying seven digits and waiting for the error tone. In his fictional log, he dialed about four calls a day, so each card stayed up a few days. The goal is not a better memory; it is one habit, learned without practicing the wrong one.
"Guess first — you'll remember it better if you struggle." For many learners that is good advice. When wrong answers stick, it means practicing the wrong answer.
"Checking afterward makes it errorless." The check corrects the guess, but the guess was still said. Errorless means the right answer comes first.
"Take all the cues away as soon as it's right once." One correct answer with a full cue is not ready for no cue. Step down one level at a time.
"Going back a step is failing." It is the method working. A step back keeps the next answer right.
Make the full-answer card and put it where the fact is used.
Fridge card: TRASH — THURSDAY
The first answer practiced should be read, not recalled, so it is right.
Read it aloud, then say it with the card in view.
Said: Trash goes out Thursday. Guesses: 0.
Saying it adds your own voice to the right answer.
Next day, use the card with part of the word hidden.
Card 2: TRASH — THURS____ → said Thursday ✓
One step down the ladder, with enough cue that only the right day fits.
Keep stepping down while the answers are right.
Card 3: TRASH — T_______ ✓. Card 4: TRASH — ? ✓
Each step removes a little help; the answers stay right throughout.
Practice the new stop name with the first-letter card.
Card: M_____ S_____ → not sure
Saying not sure is allowed and expected; it is the signal to look.
Look at the full card instead of guessing.
Full card: MAPLE STREET → said Maple Street
Looking replaces a possible wrong stop with the right one.
Next round, go back one step on the ladder.
Round: MA___ ST____ → Maple Street ✓
More cue than the round that failed, less than the full answer.
Step down again only after a correct answer.
Next round: M_____ S_____ → Maple Street ✓
The ladder moves with the answers, not with the calendar.
The store is called Greenleaf Market. Make the full-answer card.
Card 1: GREENLEAF MARKET
Errorless practice begins with the whole answer in view.
Round 1 with card 1 was correct. Choose the next card.
Card 2: GREEN____ MAR___
A correct answer moves one step down the ladder.
Round 2 was not sure. What happens next?
A fictional change. Amy's trash pickup has moved from Monday to Thursday, and she keeps saying Monday. What is the errorless way to start learning the new day?
A fictional card for learning a new street name of 10 letters. Each practice round hides 3 more letters from the end of the word, and a round starts only after the last one was answered correctly. Complete the worked count of letters still showing.
Round 1 shows the whole word.
Letters showing: all of them
Errorless practice starts with the complete answer in view.
Round 2 hides the first batch from the end.
Letters showing: a
Take the batch size away from the full length once.
Round 3 hides the next batch.
Letters showing: b
Take the batch away again; the first letters stay longest, because they are the strongest cue.
Four fictional ways to practice a new fact. For each, write **errorless** (the right answer is in view or looked up before any attempt) or **trial and error** (an attempt may be a wrong answer).
| Kind of practice | |
|---|---|
| Read the answer, then say it | |
| Guess, then check the card | |
| Say *not sure* and look | |
| Answer with the first letter shown |
A cued trial. A fictional new coffee maker takes four steps, in order: **water**, **filter**, **grounds**, **switch**. Study them; after a short wait, write them back in order. The first letters are shown from the start, so this trial is supported by design — that is what errorless practice is.
Ask someone to read you the list, then cover it and write what you remember:
A fictional practice session for the new trash day. Reach two correct answers with the card covered — without a single guess.
This task has no paper form; do it on a device.
A fictional move to a new neighborhood. Omar is learning the name of his new bus stop, *Maple Street*, with a card. The ladder of cues is: **full answer → first letters → first letter → no cue**. Rule: after a correct answer, move one step down; after *not sure*, move one step back up. Round 1 used the full answer. Fill in the cue level for rounds 2 to 5.
| Cue level | |
|---|---|
| Round 2 (after round 1: correct) | |
| Round 3 (after round 2: correct) | |
| Round 4 (after round 3: not sure) | |
| Round 5 (after round 4: correct) |
Lesson test: one question per skill, one attempt each, no hints. Your answers are checked when you submit.
A fictional new microwave. June is learning that the button for thawing is called *Defrost*. Ladder: **full answer → first letters → first letter → no cue**. After a correct answer, one step down; after *not sure*, one step up. Round 1 used the full answer. The record: round 1 correct, round 2 not sure, round 3 correct, round 4 correct, round 5 correct. Fill in the cue level for rounds 2 to 6.
| Cue level | |
|---|---|
| Round 2 | |
| Round 3 | |
| Round 4 | |
| Round 5 | |
| Round 6 |
Pick one new fact you keep getting wrong and make its cue cards, full answer first. From memory, say the four steps of the cue ladder and what to do when you are not sure. Next: spacing the returns. This is optional practice alongside your own care, not treatment and not a test. If anything about your memory is new or changing, tell your own clinicians. You can stop at any point: close the page and the lesson reopens where you were.
12. Your turn: learning the name of a new grocery store, step 3
Look at card 1 and say it; next round uses card 1 again.
Not sure means look, then go back one step of cue.