What makes distributed practice effective?
Open accessAbstract
The advantages provided to memory by the distribution of multiple practice or study opportunities are among the most powerful effects in memory research. In this paper, we critically review the class of theories that presume contextual or encoding variability as the sole basis for the advantages of distributed practice, and recommend an alternative approach based on the idea that some study events remind learners of other study events. Encoding variability theory encounters serious challenges in two important phenomena that we review here: superadditivity and nonmonotonicity. The bottleneck in such theories lies in the assumption that mnemonic benefits arise from the increasing independence, rather than interdependence, of study opportunities. The reminding model accounts for many basic results in the literature on distributed practice, readily handles data that are problematic for encoding variability theories, including superadditivity and nonmonotonicity, and provides a unified theoretical framework for understanding the effects of repetition and the effects of associative relationships on memory.
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Repeated practice over multiple short, temporally-spaced learning sessions yields better and more enduring memory than repeated practice in a single, long learning session (the spacing effect).
“Regarding spaced practice, several studies have shown that repeated practice taking place over multiple, short, temporally-spaced learning sessions (spaced practice) yields better and more enduring memory than repeated practice occurring in a single, long learning session (massed practice), a difference referred to as the spacing effect (review by Benjamin & Tullis, 2010).”
From The benefits of successive relearning on multiple learning outcomes. (2022) · cites this paper as Benjamin & Tullis, 2010
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Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis.
Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354 · Cited by 1,888 · cited 9× · see citing works
“These theoretical alternatives are considered more broadly by Cepeda et al. (2006); we focus here specifically on the ability of such theories to accommodate nonmonotonic functions and superadditive levels of performance.”
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“…study-phase retrieval and retrieval difficulty explain why manipulations that introduce interference between the study events enhance performance (Bjork & Allen, 1970) and why memory for the contextual elements of the first presentation increase with short lags and decrease at later lags…”
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- Authors
- Benjamin, A. S., & Tullis, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Corresponding author
- Benjamin, Aaron S.
- Venue
- Cognitive Psychology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-11
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 228-247
- ISSN
- 0010-0285 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2930147
- OpenAlex
- W1971300355
- Cited by
- 323
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 0.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Cognitive Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG026263)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- distributed practice, superadditivity, non-monotonicity, repetition effects, associative relationships
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Memory, Models, Psychological, Psychological Theory
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