Yes — Karpicke & Blunt (2011) found retrieval practice outperformed making elaborate concept maps.

Karpicke & Blunt (2011) pitted retrieval practice against elaborative concept-mapping — drawing rich diagrams of how ideas connect, which intuitively feels like "deep" processing.

Retrieval practice won, even on later tests that required drawing inferences. The surprise is that a technique which feels shallow (just recalling) beat one that feels deep (organizing). The reason: concept-mapping is usually done with the material open, so it never exercises unaided retrieval. Effortful pulling, not elaborate arranging, is what builds durable memory.

Because it's the most persistent neuromyth — belief among educators sits near 90% across multiple countries and years.

Dekker et al. (2012) surveyed teachers and found roughly 93% in the UK and 96% in the Netherlands endorsed learning styles. A later review by Newton & Salvi (2020) still put belief near 89% of educators. It's intuitive, flattering, and everyone "knows" their style — so it sticks despite the evidence.

Its persistence is a lesson in itself: an idea can be nearly universal and confidently taught and still be wrong. Popularity is not evidence.