Duolingo - The Language Learning App

The Von Resteroff effect means that distinct elements are more memorable. No one knows this more, surprisingly, than Duolingo. The language learning app uses distinctiveness all the time to help you and its users learn a language. For example, they will use sentences like 'the bride is a woman and the groom is a dot dot dot' This makes your brain fill in the word man instead of hedgehog. So if you want something to be remembered, break someone's expectations and share something distinct. And we know this because of another behavioral phenomenon called the liking gap. We underestimate how much other people like us when in reality they do.