Suppose you have one hour to learn your spelling words. You could study for one hour on Thursday night. Or you could study for fifteen minutes on four different days. Same hour, very different results.
Key idea
Spacing: study sessions spread out over time beat the same amount of study packed into one session, especially for remembering weeks and months later.
This is one of the best-tested findings in the science of learning. A 2006 review by Nicholas Cepeda and colleagues pulled together hundreds of experiments and found spaced practice beat massed practice again and again. It also found that the longer you want to remember, the longer the gaps between reviews should be.
Why it works
A review works best when the memory has started to fade but is still there. Pulling up a fading memory takes effort, and that effort is what strengthens it. When you cram, the memory never fades between repetitions, so each repetition does less.
Worked example: Worked example
Two students each study 60 minutes. Sam: 60 minutes on Sunday. Tess: 15 minutes on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The test is in three weeks. Who likely remembers more?
- Both used 60 minutes.
- Tess spread hers over several days.
- Spaced practice wins on later tests.
Answer: Tess.
Common mistake
Judging a method by how it feels the next morning. Cramming wins tomorrow and loses next month.