Stop Cramming! Science Proves the Power of Spaced Learning
Psych đ§ - 460/500
Hello reader,
We all know the rush of cramming an hour before an exam (hello, massed studying), but does it actually stick?
This research project dives deep into the Spacing Effect, pitting the classic 30-minute cram session against three 10-minute spaced review sessions.
What is it?
This is a quantitative research project that compared the effectiveness of Distributed Studying (shorter, spaced-out sessions) versus Massed Studying (cramming) on the memory retention of high school students.
The study used unfamiliar, random word pairs to eliminate prior knowledge bias and measured retention using an initial test (short-term) and a retest four days later (long-term).
Key Findings:
Distributed Study Group (DSG) scored significantly higher overall on both the initial test and the four-day retest.
Short-Term Win (Initial Test): The DSG scored 7.78/10, outperforming the Massed Study Group (MSG) at 6.89/10 (8.9% better).
Long-Term Mastery (Retest): The DSGâs advantage grew substantially on the retest, scoring 6.67/10, more than double the MSGâs score of 3.33/10 (a 33.4% better performance).
Distributed practice minimizes memory decay: The DSGâs score dropped only about 1.1 points between tests, while the MSGâs score dropped nearly 3.6 points, showing a rapid âfadingâ of crammed knowledge.
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What do I need to know:
Cramming is for short-term survival, not long-term knowledge. If you need to remember something for more than a few days, short, repeated study sessions (distributed practice) are vastly superior.
The âSpacing Effectâ works. Breaking one long 30-minute study session into three 10-minute sessions over several days dramatically improves long-term recall and reduces how quickly you forget the material.
Encourage recall over recognition. While both groups could recognize the answer (Multiple Choice), distributed practice significantly improved their ability to retrieve the answer from memory (Fill-in-the-Blank).
Source:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5573378