In this paper, Bjork explores the ability to reliably assess one's own competence, which has significant effects on current and future behavior and whether or not we instill confidence in others (335). He examines the difference between learning and performance, and points out that the two are not predictive of each other: what a person learns in a training session, and can produce in that session in terms of performance, has no bearing on whether or not they have actually learned anything that they can reproduce in the future. In fact, Bjork points out, just the opposite may be true: the better a person performs in training sessions, the less their actual learning appears to be. Conversely, the more a person learns in training sessions, the poorer their performance may appear in these sessions because the two mechanisms are not the same.
Bjork distinguishes between storage strength, representing the actual degree of learning, and retrieval strength, which represents current ease of access (337). It is the confusion of these two mechanisms, according to Bjork, which leads people to overestimate their own competence: they misinterpret retrieval strength for storage strength (338). Bjork maintains also that interspersing the learning of several different tasks results in more storage strength than in blocking training sessions according to specific tasks, and further, that continued reinforcement of trainees does more to enhance retrieval strength than to enhance storage strength, which should be the ultimate goal of training (339).
Unfortunately, Bjork points out, instructors are often fooled by retrieval success because they only observe the trainees during these sessions, and not later when they are using their training in real-life situations. Also, there is the tendency of instructors to gravitate towards techniques which produce retrieval success, rather than to use techniques which will guarantee better long-term ...