[2] It is based on research into long-term memory, and is a practical application of the spaced repetition learning method that has been proposed for efficient instruction by a number of psychologists as early as in the 1930s.

When reviewing information saved in the database, the program uses the SuperMemo algorithm to decide what questions to show the user.

While the exact algorithm varies with the version of SuperMemo, in general, items that are harder to remember show up more frequently.

[7] Since 2000,[6] SuperMemo has had a unique set of features that distinguish it from other spaced repetition programs, called incremental reading (IR or "increading"[8]).

Piotr Woźniak, the developer of SuperMemo algorithms, released the description for SM-5 in a paper titled Optimization of repetition spacing in the practice of learning.

[12] In 2011, SM-15, which notably eliminated two weaknesses of SM-11 that would show up in heavily overloaded collections with very large item delays, was introduced in Supermemo 15.