Outsmart Your Brain I speak with Daniel about his new book, Outsmart Your Brain, a comprehensive, and accessible guide on how the brain learns. We discuss how we can better use our attention to help us learn more efficiently and effectively. As Daniel explains, we tend to focus on the tasks we can most easily control—such as highlighting and rereading—but these practices only give the illusion of mastery. As Dan Willingham, professor of psychology and bestselling author, explains, familiarity is not the same as comprehension. Enjoy! Grab a copy of Daniel's book here - Outsmart Your Brain Guest Bio. Daniel T. Willingham (born 1961) is a psychologist at the University of Virginia, where he is a professor in the Department of Psychology. Willingham's research focuses on the application of findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience to K–12 education.