What about the psychology behind it?

I wanted to throw this in here for anyone reading to think about, this form of teaching, cramming, is a prime example of a course developed around rote memorization. Now there are four levels of learning: rote, understanding, application, and correlation. The higher the level reached when being taught, the more likely one will retain the information.

Here is a source to poke through about this: Rote versus meaningful learning - 1 | Theory Into Practice | Find Articles at BNET

It is only one of many, but I encourage anyone here who is a CFI to spend ample time reading through information on the levels of learning, learning styles, Maslow's hierarchy, defense mechanisms, and factors that effect perceptions. Of everything discussed in the FOI, note, learning styles is not covered and is also referred to as multiple intelligence theory, these are IMO the more important ones. This topic screams for review of the levels of learning, enjoy.