Author: Mike and Matty
What is it?
Spaced repetition is a method of learning done by spreading out your review of information over time. Spaced repetition is the opposite of cramming.
Why does it work?
Spaced repetition works well due to the following:
1. The Spacing Effect
Long-term memory is enhanced when learning events are spaced apart over time rather than crammed in a smaller amount of time.
Most of us would agree that cramming information the night before an exam is not great for long-term memory. But trying to be an overachiever and cramming ahead of schedule isn’t helpful either. If you studied for 10 hours in one day, but the test doesn’t happen for another month, then you’ll just forget most of the information by then.
2. The Forgetting Curve
We naturally forget over 50% of what we learn by the next day if we don’t review it.
But “forgetting is not necessarily bad for your learning. Remember that more effort = more retention. The more you have forgotten what you’ve learned, the harder it is to retrieve when you attempt to use Active Recall. If you space out your reviews in such a way that it forces you to use more cognitive effort, you are maximizing your returns. This is why using Active Recall with Spaced Repetition is so powerful.
3. The Learning Curve
The more you repeat a task, the less time and effort it should take to complete. The more you review your material, the easier it should be to understand and recall.
Using Spaced Repetition allows you to learn quickly. You spend less time reviewing topics you already know well, and you spend more time reviewing topics that you struggle with.
Why is it important?
When it comes to learning, more effort = more retention. This means that the more cognitive effort you use to learn something, the better that information will stick in your long-term memory.
Studies ranked the following techniques as the most effective ways to learn because they encourage the use of high cognitive effort:
- Active Recall
- Spaced Repetition
Different ways to use Spaced Repetition
- Leitner System
- Revision Time Tables
- Spaced Repetition Algorithms
And that is Spaced Repetition in a nutshell. Check out the video below for more information!
