Increasing Retention without Increasing Study Time

Authors: Doug Rohrer (University of South Florida) and Hal Pashler (University of California, San Diego)Published in: Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2007 (Vol. 132, 354-380)

Abstract

• Objective: Explore strategies for long-term retention of learned material.

  • Focus on the duration of study sessions and the distribution of study time.

• Key Findings:

  • Mastery should be achieved before stopping study sessions.

  • Immediate further study is inefficient.

  • The spacing effect's benefits depend on the intervals between study sessions and tests.

Introduction

• Educational Challenges:

  • Many students struggle with retention despite extensive classroom time.

  • Examples of poor retention include basic math and geography knowledge.

• Need for Effective Learning Strategies:

  • Importance of defining strategies that promote long-lasting retention.

  • Research includes testing subjects up to a year after study sessions.

Overlearning

• Definition: Continuing study after achieving error-free performance.

• Common Practice: Seen in educational settings, especially in mathematics.

• Effectiveness of Overlearning:

  • Initial studies show short-term benefits but diminishing returns over time.

  • Example: Vocabulary learning showed significant gains at one week but negligible after four weeks.

Implications of Overlearning

• Efficiency Comparison:

  • Overlearning may not be the best use of study time compared to reviewing older material.

  • Overlearning is beneficial for short-term retention or critical tasks (e.g., emergency procedures).

Spacing of Learning

• Concept: Distribution of study time across sessions enhances retention.

• Research Findings:

  • Spacing is superior to massed study sessions.

  • Optimal inter-session intervals (ISI) vary based on retention intervals (RI).

Varying the Inter-Session Interval

• Experiments:

  • Studied Swahili-English word pairs with varying ISIs (5 minutes to 14 days).

  • Found that a 1-day ISI yielded the best recall after a 10-day RI.

  • For obscure object names, a 1-month ISI was optimal after a 6-month RI.

Interaction of ISI and RI

• Findings:

  • Optimal ISI increases with longer RIs.

  • Performance declines with increased RI, but optimal ISI improves retention.

Mathematics Learning

• Research on Overlearning and Spacing:

  • Overlearning did not significantly improve test scores in mathematics.

  • Spacing practice problems across sessions led to better retention than massing similar problems.

Recommendations for Mathematics Textbooks

• Current Format Issues:

  • Textbooks often promote massing and overlearning.

• Proposed Format:

  • Shuffle practice problems to enhance spacing and variety, improving learning outcomes.

The Bigger Picture

• Other Learning Decisions:

  • Importance of self-testing versus re-studying answers.

  • Retrieval practice is generally more effective.

• Future Directions:

  • Need for empirical research to inform educational practices.

  • Potential for educational software to optimize study schedules for better retention.

Recommended Readings

• A selection of studies and reviews that support the findings and implications discussed in the manuscript.

References

• A comprehensive list of studies and literature cited throughout the manuscript, providing a foundation for the research and