Research
Photo: Marco Montalti
Educational Psychology
Deliberate Errors | Higher Order Learning
In the traditional Japanese art of kintsugi, broken ceramics are given a new lease of life by mending them with lacquer dusted with gold—instead of being concealed, the cracks on the damaged artifacts are illuminated with seams of gold and valued as part of the objects’ unique history.
Indeed, errors are inevitable in life. Whereas they have traditionally been viewed as aversive events, my research has developed a Prevention–Permission–Promotion (3P) framework that considers how errors can be best positioned to enhance learning (Wong & Lim, 2019, Educational Psychologist). Based on this framework, I have innovated the learning strategy of deliberate erring, in which people are guided to intentionally commit and correct errors in low-stakes contexts.
In multiple studies, I have shown that deliberate erring improves learning more than avoiding errors—a phenomenon I have termed the derring effect. My work has established the benefits of deliberate erring across diverse learning outcomes such as memory retention (Wong & Lim, 2022, JEP: General), knowledge application (Wong & Lim, 2022, Journal of Educational Psychology), problem-solving (Yap & Wong, 2024, Journal of Educational Psychology), and far transfer across knowledge domains (Wong, 2023, Educational Psychology Review).
My research also leverages cognitive science to uncover techniques that improve higher order learning. For instance, I have shown how teaching others enhances creative research question generation (Wong, Lim, & Lim, 2023, Journal of Educational Psychology), and developed a metacognitive intervention—judgments of higher order learning (JOL+)—that boosts argumentative reasoning (Wong & Lim, 2019, JEP: Applied).
Music Psychology
Music Cognition & Education
As a musician, I have an enduring fascination with applying psychological principles to shed light on music cognition and to support musical learning.
For instance, I have found that the use of mental imagery fosters young children's creativity when composing music (Wong & Lim, 2017).
My work has also demonstrated that interleaving is an effective technique when learning music composers' styles (Wong, Low, Kang, & Lim, 2020) and melodic musical intervals (Wong, Chen, & Lim, 2021).
These findings offer applied value in guiding music education practice, toward nurturing learners' musical skills and expertise.