The spacing effect is the finding that information is remembered more effectively when study or practice sessions are spread out over time rather than massed together in a single session. It was first documented experimentally by the psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in his pioneering nineteenth century studies of memory using nonsense syllables, and it has since been replicated extensively across verbal learning, skill acquisition and educational settings. The effect underlies spaced repetition study techniques and software, which schedule review of material at increasing intervals to take advantage of the improved long-term retention that distributed practice produces compared with cramming.
Facts
Core ClaimStudy or practice sessions spread out over time produce stronger long-term memory than the same amount of study crammed into one session. 1 First Described Year Classification
Type of Phenomenon Connections
Associated With
Ebbinghaus's own memory experiments first demonstrated that learning distributed over time produces better retention than massed practice.
In Branch
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Spacing Effect
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia lead section, sentence 1
The spacing effect demonstrates that learning is more effective when study sessions are spaced out.
Wikipedia lead section, paragraph 2
The phenomenon was first identified by Hermann Ebbinghaus, and his detailed study of it was published in the 1885 book
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
The spacing effect demonstrates that learning is more effective when study sessions are spaced out.
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