My post may have been misunderstood. There is absolutely nothing wrong with reading up before training. However, I believe that memory items are very important and it's sort of like getting the cliff notes when writing a paper. The only reason we have immediate action items is because as pilots we don't fully understand the systems of the aircraft and their applications to flight dynamics. In theory if we were a master of the aircraft we would already know what to do and wouldn't need memory items from a checklist.

My point is they are taught in order so that you don't get ahead of yourself. It's not about remembering items in a list when someone asks you. It's about know what to do when the crap hits the fan.

Sorry if I came across as bold.