What if I don't rate my 1-5 confidences "correctly"?

As you may know, Brainscape's adaptive learning algorithm works by varying the interval of time between each flashcard's repetition, based on your self-reported confidence on a scale of 1-5. Rating a card a 5 means that it was "Mastered" and will hardly repeat at all, relative to the rest of the cards in the Deck.

Many teachers and students are initially concerned that they might over-confidently rate themselves a 5 on too many flashcards, when they don't really know the concepts. But this isn't really much of a concern, because the flashcard repetitions are relative to each other.

For example, if you have rated yourself a 5 on every card in a Deck, and you continue to study that Deck, then the only cards you'll see will be the 5s, and you'll be able to re-classify your confidence ratings more honestly as you repeat each of those cards.

Similarly, giving too low of a confidence rating will quickly correct itself, since the card will repeat again very soon, giving you the opportunity to upgrade its confidence rating.

There is ample cognitive science research indicating that systems like Brainscape can actually help you improve your metacognitive self-assessment accuracy over time, and thus become a better learner for life.

That said, when all else fails, you can always reset your confidence ratings for a given Deck or Class, and start studying again as if the flashcards were brand new.

Still have questions and can't find the answer?  Be sure to email our Tech Support Team ([e-mail]). 

If you'd love to vote for a new Brainscape feature, see what others are requesting, or get a sneak peek at features in our pipeline, please check out Brainscape User Feature Requests Forum!  Please choose to Sign in with Brainscape (if you are commenting/requesting a new feature) so any feedback is tied to your account.  Or you can even access the tool from our web/mobile menus which won't require you to login separately. 

(Hint:  to save time, search first to see if your desired feature is already in the list so you can just vote/comment.)

And for more FREE study advice don't forget to check out the Brainscape Academy.