Spaced repetition
The findings showed that using spaced repetition can not only help students with name face association but patients dealing with memory impairments.
If they are unable to remember the information they go back to the previous step and continue to practice to help make the technique lasting (Vance & Farr, 2007).
[4] Small combines the works and findings of quite a few scientists to come up with five reasons why spaced repetition works: it helps show the relationship of routine memories, it shows the benefits of learning things with an expansion of time, it helps the patient with Alzheimer's dementia keep their brain active, it has a high success level with little to no errors, and the technique is meaningful for the patient to do and remember more thing)[7] Joltin et al. (2003),[8] had a caregiver train a woman with Alzheimer's by giving her the name of her grandchild over the phone while asking her to associate with the picture of the grandchild posted on the refrigerator.
"[9] In 1939, H. F. Spitzer tested the effects of a type of spaced repetition on sixth-grade students in Iowa who were learning science facts.
This early work went unnoticed, and the field was relatively quiet until the late 1960s when cognitive psychologists, including Melton[11] and Landauer and Bjork,[12] explored manipulation of repetition timing as a means to improve recall.
Around the same time, Pimsleur language courses pioneered the practical application of spaced repetition theory to language learning, and in 1973 Sebastian Leitner devised his "Leitner system", an all-purpose spaced repetition learning system based on flashcards.
[neutrality is disputed] To enable the user to reach a target level of achievement (e.g. 90% of all material correctly recalled at any given time point), the software adjusts the repetition spacing interval.
The data behind this initial research indicated that an increasing space between rehearsals (expanding) would yield a greater percentage of accuracy at test points.
[13] Spaced repetition with expanding intervals is believed to be so effective because with each expanded interval of repetition it becomes more difficult to retrieve the information because of the time elapsed between test periods; this creates a deeper level of processing of the learned information in long-term memory at each point.
Another reason that the expanding repetition model is believed to work so effectively is that the first test happens early on in the rehearsal process.
The researchers found participants with a higher working memory benefited from spaced repetition and showed better performance on challenging tasks.
In a study conducted by Pashler, Rohrer, Cepeda, and Carpenter,[17] participants had to learn a simple math principle in either a spaced or massed retrieval schedule.
[17] This is unique in the sense that it shows spaced repetition can be used to not only remember simple facts or contextual data but it can also be used in fields, such as math, where manipulation and the use of particular principles or formulas (e.g. y = mx + b) is necessary.
Building on this, more recent studies have applied spaced repetition to procedural skill acquisition in complex domains.
For example, a pilot study in neurosurgery training found that incorporating spaced repetition into a six-week simulation module improved residents’ proficiency in performing complex surgical procedures.
Participants who engaged in structured, repeated practice showed significant improvements in objective performance metrics compared to those who trained using traditional methods alone.
[18] This suggests that spaced repetition can effectively facilitate the acquisition of procedural knowledge in surgical contexts, including its demonstrated applications in other areas of medical training.
[33] Most spaced repetition software (SRS) is modeled after the manual style of learning with physical flashcards: items to memorize are entered into the program as question-answer pairs.
Only when a partition became full was the learner to review some of the cards it contained, moving them forward or back, depending on whether they remembered them.
[14] A common criticism of repetition research has argued that many of the tests involved have simply measured retention on a short-term scale.
No matter what type of spacing was assigned to the ninety-six participants, each completed three repeated tests at the end of their rehearsal intervals.
