Canadian researchers have found evidence that as we age, our brains learn better from mistakes than from hits . In a study published in the journal Psychology and Aging , researchers say that when adults are learning conceptual material, they can establish better relationships between mistakes and correct information, which helps them remember. In other words, trial-and-error learning (TEL) is much more effective for memory than error-free learning (EL), which is considered passive.
The experiments carried out in the study with subjects between 20 and 70 years of age reveal that the difference in results between both learning methods is 2.5 times more pronounced in older adults than in young people.
