{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "type": "brali-library-entry",
  "protocol_id": "brali:prequestions-before-learning",
  "slug": "prequestions-before-learning",
  "title": "Ask a Few Questions Before You Start Learning",
  "description": "Before reading, watching, or studying new material, try a few questions about the specific information you want to learn. Attempt an answer, then study and check it. Evidence supports better learning for the prequestioned information, not a general boost to everything else.",
  "canonical_url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/life-os/prequestions-before-learning/",
  "machine_url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/life-os/prequestions-before-learning/index.json",
  "growth_zone": {
    "slug": "skill-sprint",
    "title": "Skill Sprint"
  },
  "life_area": {
    "slug": "learning-thinking",
    "title": "Learning & Thinking"
  },
  "evidence": {
    "status": "reviewed",
    "indexable": true,
    "search_indexable": true,
    "sensitive": false,
    "source_recorded": true,
    "source_url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10075-7",
    "reviewed_at": "2026-09-15"
  },
  "ontology": {
    "domains": [
      {
        "id": "learning-thinking",
        "title": "Learning & Thinking"
      }
    ],
    "topics": [
      {
        "id": "memory",
        "title": "Memory"
      },
      {
        "id": "skill-learning",
        "title": "Skill Learning"
      },
      {
        "id": "metacognition",
        "title": "Metacognition"
      }
    ],
    "methods": [],
    "lenses": [],
    "classification_status": "explicit",
    "classification_source": "record-fields",
    "legacy": {
      "life_area_slug": "learning-thinking",
      "growth_zone_slug": "skill-sprint"
    }
  },
  "discovery": {
    "search_indexable": true,
    "trusted_protocol_feed": true,
    "research_gaps": [
      {
        "topic_id": "memory",
        "stage": "resolved",
        "url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/research/gaps/memory/"
      },
      {
        "topic_id": "metacognition",
        "stage": "ready-for-resolution",
        "url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/research/gaps/metacognition/"
      }
    ],
    "search_role": "trusted-current-guidance",
    "recommendation_eligible": true,
    "agent_skill_eligible": true
  },
  "trusted_protocol": {
    "protocol_id": "brali:prequestions-before-learning",
    "language": "en",
    "slug": "prequestions-before-learning",
    "url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/life-os/prequestions-before-learning/",
    "title": "Ask a Few Questions Before You Start Learning",
    "description": "Before reading, watching, or studying new material, try a few questions about the specific information you want to learn. Attempt an answer, then study and check it. Evidence supports better learning for the prequestioned information, not a general boost to everything else.",
    "ontology": {
      "domains": [
        {
          "id": "learning-thinking",
          "title": "Learning & Thinking"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "id": "memory",
          "title": "Memory"
        },
        {
          "id": "skill-learning",
          "title": "Skill Learning"
        },
        {
          "id": "metacognition",
          "title": "Metacognition"
        }
      ],
      "methods": [],
      "lenses": [],
      "classification_status": "explicit",
      "classification_source": "record-fields",
      "legacy": {
        "life_area_slug": "learning-thinking",
        "growth_zone_slug": "skill-sprint"
      }
    },
    "life_area": {
      "slug": "learning-thinking",
      "title": "Learning & Thinking"
    },
    "growth_zone": {
      "slug": "skill-sprint",
      "title": "Skill Sprint"
    },
    "action": "Choose a small set of questions that point to information you genuinely want to learn. Before opening the explanation, reading the chapter, or watching the lesson, make a brief attempt at each answer even if you are unsure. Then study normally, paying attention when the material resolves those questions. Afterward, check the answers against the source. Use this to target important information, not as a claim that every unasked detail will also be learned better.",
    "check_in": "After studying, can I answer the questions accurately without looking, and did the questions point me toward information that actually mattered?",
    "keywords": [
      "prequestions",
      "pretesting",
      "learning",
      "memory",
      "study strategy",
      "questions before learning"
    ],
    "evidence": {
      "status": "reviewed",
      "source_recorded": true,
      "source_url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10075-7",
      "reviewed_at": "2026-09-15"
    }
  },
  "content": {
    "current_guidance": true,
    "longform_visible": true,
    "display_state": "current-guidance-visible",
    "historical_source_url": "/data/life-os-content/prequestions-before-learning.json",
    "historical_source_role": "canonical-source-record",
    "search_role": "trusted-current-guidance"
  }
}
