I was just thinking that, my childhood was filled with responding to "why didn't you do x?" With "I forgot" or making something up because I legitimately didn't know why I didn't
It's like the proven best way to get stuff stuck in your head. Repetition is super helpful for memory. As an adult usually your repetition is kept to work time but it isn't a different concept.
Cramming and studying are different. Sure many people use cramming in place of studying for tests and whatnot. But proper studying involves working on understanding via exercise and usage. And doing so more often than in just a pre-test cramming session.
I don't think you know how to study then. There is an entire category of psychology called Learning and it's main focus is how we retain information. There are proven ways to retain information.
I was in grad school when I realized I didn't know how to learn. I skated in high school and college, though looking back, some of those higher level classes in college should have been a sign that there was a problem, but I pulled it off with reasonably good grades.
It was a year or so into grad school before I realized I needed to learn this stuff without relying on the professor. I graduated, but not by much.
I had a similar problem - the only college courses I didn't ace were ones I didn't show up to - and dropped out of grad skool after it kicked my ass for a year.
