Improving long-term retention of verbal material by optimally distributing learning sessions across educationally relevant time intervals
Final Report Abstract
What is the best way to study, so that I can remember the material for a long and are there learning strategies that are generally good or do they only work under specific conditions? This DFG-funded research project tries to provide answers to these questions by investigating an old and well-known learning principle dating back to Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885, the distributed practice effect. The distributed practice effect refers to the finding that memory performance is improved if learning sessions are distributed in time compared to massed into one study episode. This learning effect is large in effect size and, hence, promises to be useful for learners in educational settings. For that reason, this project looked at whether learners would benefit more from specific intervals between one practice session and the next (effect of learning schedule), whether benefits of distributed practice would occur independent of the structure of the to-be-learned material (effect of material), and whether learners of different ages would benefit from applying this strategy (effect of learner). Indeed, this research project reveals that the distributed practice effect is not as general as expected, but rather sensitive to scheduling, material, and learner characteristics. For instance, the optimal timing of practice sessions depends heavily on the time of the final test. If the final test is one to seven days after the last practice session people are better off when they had studied the material in a contracting learning schedule, i.e., with decreasing intervals between study sessions. In contrast, people who are tested about a month after the end of practice will perform better when they study and restudy the material in an equal or expanding learning schedule, i.e., with intervals between study sessions either stay constant or increase from one study session to the other. The structure of the material also matters when it comes to unveiling the benefits of distributed practice. In fact, if the to-be-learned material lacks a coherent structure, learners are better off to practice and repractice it in a massed fashion (i.e., without any break between repetitions). Last but not least, learner characteristics also seem to play an important role in modulating the distributed practice effect. This has been demonstrated in previous research, and within this project an experiment was conducted to look at benefits for young and older adults in the distributed practice effect and to shed light on the cognitive processes underlying this effect in different age groups. Final results of this part of the project are pending as data collection has only recently concluded. Taken together, the findings of this project do not only make important contributions to the scientific literature, but are also directly relevant to learners in educational settings and may be used to inform best practice. Additionally, this project stimulated further research questions that will be tackled in the future. http://de.in-mind.org/article/erfolgreich-lernen-effektive-lernstrategien-frisch-aus-der-kognitionspsychologischen
Publications
- (2014). Contracting, equal, and expanding learning schedules: The optimal distribution of learning sessions depends on retention interval. Memory & Cognition, 42, 729-741
Küpper-Tetzel, C. E., Kapler, I. V., & Wiseheart, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-014-0394-1) - (2014). Relational and itemspecific processing in the spacing effect. Abstracts of the 55th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. (p. 128). Long Beach, USA: The Psychonomic Society
Küpper-Tetzel, C. E., & McDaniel, M. A.
- (2014). Strong effects on weak theoretical grounds: Understanding the distributed practice effect. Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 222, 71-81
Küpper-Tetzel, C. E.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000168) - (2014). The lag effect in secondary school classrooms: Enhancing students’ memory for vocabulary. Instructional Science, 42, 373-388
Küpper-Tetzel, C. E., Erdfelder, E., & Dickhäuser, O.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-013-9285-2) - (2015). Structure matters: Benefits and penalties of spaced practice in text learning. Abstracts of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. (p. 257). Chicago, USA: The Psychonomic Society
Kuepper-Tetzel, C. E., & McDaniel, M. A.
