Spaced Repetition Vs Cramming - The Theory and Evidence
Spaced Repetition Vs Cramming - The Theory and Evidence
Spaced Repetition Vs Cramming - The Theory and Evidence
The fact is we’re all different in how much time we spend studying but if active recall is an
effective technique, the next question I want to address is how we should be using it to
enhance our performance. This is where spaced repetition comes in.
By spacing our repetition by a day, 3 days, then a week, we allow ourselves to forget some
of the information such that when we revise the topic – through active recall – it takes
active brain power. Rereading, on the other hand, has low utility because it is a passive
exercise - just testing yourself once has been shown to be more effective than rereading the
same passage four times.
What’s even more astounding is that evidence suggests that, even within the same study
session, spaced repetition can be a more efficient technique in terms of retaining
information. A 2011 study involving four groups of students who were tasked with trying to
learn words in Swahili found that recalling information even within the same session had
dramatic benefits. In the study, one group only studied the words once and this didn’t
produce impressive results. The second group saw each word once and then had to recall a
word once before being tested and, as you can see from the graph, just through recalling a
word once, your performance increases. The third group had to recall the same words
multiple times which produced similar results to Group 2.
However, most interestingly, the final group saw each word, recalled it, then had a gap of a
few more words before recalling the first word again. In effect, this final group spaced their
recall and, as the graph illustrates, the results are astonishing.
The students were doing exactly the same work – the only difference being that their recall
was spaced out compared to groups 2 and 3. This study not only emphasises the power of
active recall but also provides firm evidence of the power of spaced repetition and how we
only need to restructure our revision slightly to obtain a substantial improvement in our
ability to remember and recall information.
This active recall-spaced repetition combination can easily be adapted into our studying. For
instance, let’s say you studied Topic 1 and Topic 2 one morning and planned to move to
Topic 3 and Topic 4 in the afternoon. The results from this study demonstrate that you
should go back to Topic 1 and write down – through active recall – what you can remember
before moving onto Topic 3. You would then repeat this for Topic 2 after having studied
Topic 3 and so forth.
In essence, spaced repetition over days and weeks as well as reviewing content on the same
day, can both be extremely helpful for improving exam performance.