1. Our Promise: Real Science, Honest Facts
At PicRush, we believe learners deserve honesty, not marketing hype. Here is our promise to you:
Rule 1: Science Informs Us, But We Stay Honest. We use real cognitive science to build fun games. However, we never claim that playing a game will magically make you fluent overnight.
Rule 2: Real Sources Only. When we talk about how memory works, we link to real research papers published by university scientists.
Rule 3: No Fake Numbers. We never make up fake statistics like 'retain 2.5x more words in 3 days'. If a number cannot be proven in a real lab, we do not say it.
Rule 4: Clear Labels. We label every article so you know whether an idea is proven science or a PicRush design tip.
2. Key Scientific Studies and Books
If you want to read the real research papers yourself, here are our favorite sources:
On Pictures and Memory (Dual-Coding):
• Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
• Clark, J. M., & Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory and education. Educational Psychology Review, 3(3), 149–210.
On Quizzing Yourself and Active Recall:
• Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). The power of testing memory: Basic research and implications for educational practice. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(3), 181–210.
• Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying. Science, 331(6018), 772–775.
On How the Eyes Scan Images:
• Meyer, D. E., & Schvaneveldt, R. W. (1971). Facilitation in recognizing pairs of words. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 90(2), 227–234.
• Rayner, K. (1998). Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 372–422.
On English Levels and Word Frequency:
• Council of Europe (2001, 2020). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Strasbourg.
• Capel, A. (2012). Completing the English Vocabulary Profile. Cambridge English Research Notes, 49, 1–6.