This is an old (but new to me) 2008 article the science of memorization and the software tool SuperMemo which tries to remind you of information you are trying to remember, at the scientifically optimal delays. DC member ewemoa tipped me off to it.
I particularly enjoyed this paragraph:
"The most popular learning systems sold today — for instance, foreign language software like Rosetta Stone — cheerfully defy every one of the psychologists' warnings. With its constant feedback and easily accessible clues, Rosetta Stone brilliantly creates a sensation of progress. "Go to Amazon and look at the reviews," says Greg Keim, Rosetta Stone's CTO, when I ask him what evidence he has that people are really remembering what they learn. "That is as objective as you can get in terms of a user's sense of achievement." The sole problem here, from the psychologists' perspective, is that the user's sense of achievement is exactly what we should most distrust."
