The Myth of Experience: Kind and Wicked Learning Environments

In 2020 psychologist Robin Hogarth and behavioural scientist Emre Soyer published “The Myth of Experience”, arguing that although experience is a fantastic teacher, it can sometimes teach us the wrong lessons.   

Central to their argument is the difference between what they call “kind” and “wicked” learning environments. In a kind learning environment, feedback is abundant, immediate and accurate, making it easy to learn useful lessons. And in a wicked learning environment? Well, the feedback is incomplete, delayed, or just plain unreliable - making it much harder to learn from.  

We often find ourselves in wicked learning environments, believing them to be kind. We take in the available feedback, assume we have all the information, draw conclusions, and learn the wrong lessons.