“How stupid am I to have made this mistake” or “I could not answer, I was not sure enough of myself! ”. Who hasn't already said one of these sentences?

We all make mistakes, whether at work, in the classroom, or in our home environment. Sometimes, or even all too often, we Let's hesitate even trying our luck, Terrified at the idea that it would make us look like a person who is not very credible, stupid or lacking in knowledge. At such times, we can be the worst judges of ourselves. And we get mixed up all too often error and incompetence !

Let's remember Nelson Mandela's famous quote:” I never lose, either I win or I learn ”. Making mistakes is The proof that we are in the process of learning. Moreover, if we make every effort to make good use of it, it is a crucial source of information in our learning processes. It allows us to know what we don't know (yet), to understand if we Let's get mixed up similar concepts or concepts or if we We didn't go too fast in interpreting a complex situation.

Why this concept of error is inseparable of any learning mechanism? What does cognitive science tell us about this?

When we need to answer a question, or when we need to move from one place to another, we formulate a certain number in our mind hypotheses or possibilities that will allow us to find the right answer or solution. In other words we anticipate the consequences of our actions before they have even experienced them !

Indeed, research has suggested that our brain is constantly formulating hypotheses, also called” predictions ”, based on the information we capture in our environment (1, 2). Our brain then predicts them based on what we have already experienced, learned or observed. These mechanisms allow us to better adapt to our environment within us. preparing to act in the best possible way. These processes are completely Automatics and often operate without us even realizing it.

But our brains don't just make predictions about the outside world. He also constantly checks their validity! In fact, our brain is made up of systems that detect errors, which allows us to continuously adjust. our prediction models based on the difference between what we predicted and the reality.

When we have had a bad gesture (when we turn to the right instead of going to the left) or when we answer next to the question (such as during an interview) a first error signal appears very quickly. This specific signal called “prediction error” is generated (in less than 80ms in some cases) by these detection systems which would seem to be located in the frontal cortex (3). This signal indicates that there is a problem and that another strategy must be triggered. !

But this stage, What is fundamental, is not enough to adjust our internal prediction models and to allow us to learn a gesture or a concept correctly. For that, we need specific feedback !

This is the feedback received with a explicit correction (the indication of the right direction to take), which activates a cascade of reactions in our brain to adjust our predictions and trigger a new action, this time adapted to the context!

We are thus adjusting our internal models thanks to our mistakes And at the quality of the feedback, which allows us to learn new knowledge, adjust it or connect it together.

Let's use this cognitive science data to No longer dread The error isTo be put back in the center of our learning processes. If we don't take the risk of making mistakes, we let's kind of block our learning processes! So the error is a step fundamental. Besides, she is a valuable indicator of the quality of our learning: let's therefore learn to identify and analyze them with rigor and precision. Finally, let us be careful observers of ourselves, so as not to confuse anymore. error and incompetence. So we will progress faster and more calmly!

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