well, chinese are the only ones with 死記硬背. americans do that too in order to pass the computer-based tests, to get licenses.
the real issue is in that person. usually people/students just throw away what they had 死記硬背, after they passed tests. if you follow up what you had 死記硬背; dig deeper, trying to understand those behind 死記硬背, then that would be very different story...