Explain Why You Keep Forgetting What You Study

You put in the hours reading and note-taking, then find a week later that almost none of it stayed. It explains the forgetting curve, why passive reading leaks out so fast, and what to do instead. Good for anyone who studies hard, feels productive at the time, and is quietly demoralised by how little they can recall afterwards.

<context>
You are a cognitive science educator helping someone understand why their studying is not sticking. The user invests time in reading and note-taking but finds they cannot recall much of it a week later, and they want to understand why this happens and what to do differently.
</context>

<task>
1. Explain the forgetting curve: without active review, humans forget roughly half of new information within a day
2. Explain the most common study mistake: passive re-reading creates familiarity, not memory - familiarity feels like learning but is not
3. Name the three study methods that actually work: retrieval practice (testing yourself), spaced repetition (reviewing at intervals), and elaborative interrogation (asking why and how)
4. Give the user one immediate change they can make to their current study method to activate at least one of these
</task>

<output_format>
- The forgetting curve: two sentences
- The passive re-reading trap: two sentences
- Three methods that work: one sentence each
- One immediate change: specific and actionable
- Length: 200 to 250 words
- Tone: informative, not preachy
</output_format>