Effects of Massed and Distributed Practice on the Learning and Retention of Second-Language Vocabulary
Abstract
High school students enrolled in a French course learned vocabulary words under conditions of either massed or distributed practice as part of their regular class activities. Distributed practice consisted of three 10-minute units on each of three successive days; massed practice consisted of all three units being completed during a 30-minute period on a single day. Though performance of the two groups was virtually identical on a test given immediately after completion of study, the students who had learned the words by distributed practice did substantially better (35%) than the massed- practice students on a second test given 4 days later. The implications of the findings for classroom instruction and the need to distinguish between learning and memory are discussed.
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In studies using distributed practice for language or vocabulary learning, repeated exposure was simply a re-presentation of the same words.
“For example, in studies utilizing distributed practice for language or vocabulary learning (e.g., Bloom & Shuell, 1981), repeated exposure was simply a re-presentation of the same words.”
From The Distributed Practice Effect on Classroom Learning: A Meta-Analytic Review of Applied Research (2025) · cites this paper as Bloom & Shuell, 1981
The average observed benefit from distributed practice over massed practice appeared to hold for children as well as adults.
“The average observed benefit from distributed practice (over massed practice) in these studies was 15 percent, and it appeared to hold for children (Bloom & Shuell, 1981; Childers & Tomasello, 2002; Edwards, 1917; Fishman, Keller, & Atkinson, 1968; Harzem, Lee, & Miles, 1976) as well as adults.”
From Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. (2006) · cites this paper as Bloom & Shuell, 1981
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Enhancing the Quality of Student Learning Using Distributed Practice
Wiseheart, M., Küpper-Tetzel, Weston, T., Kim, A. S. N., Kapler, I. V., & Foot‐Seymour, V. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108235631.023 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“Bloom and Shuell (1981) studied vocabulary learning in high school students memorizing English–French vocabulary as part of their regular classwork.”
BackgroundIs curriculum quality uniform? Evidence from Florida
Bhatt, R. R., Koedel, C., & Lehmann, D. (2013) · Economics of Education Review · doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.01.014 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“11 The distributed approach has been argued by some to benefit students by increasing the amount of information they retain and understand (Bloom and Shuell, 1981; Rea and Modigliani, 1985). or small groups (Agodini et al., 2009; WWC, 2009).12 MacMillan/McGraw Hill uses a massed approach to…”
BackgroundQuestion Generation for Adaptive Education
Srivastava, M., & Goodman, N. D. (2021) · doi:10.18653/v1/2021.acl-short.88 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“This draws inspiration from traditional education curriculum practices, such as distributed spacing of vocabulary (Bloom and Shuell, 1981) and mixed review in mathematics (Rohrer, 2009).”
BackgroundSpacing effects in vocabulary learning: Young EFL learners in focus
Lotfolahi, A. R., & Salehi, H. (2017) · Cogent Education · doi:10.1080/2331186x.2017.1287391 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“These studies have demonstrated the positive effects of spacing in learning of words (e.g. Bloom & Shuell, 1981; Gerbier, Toppino, & Koenig, 2014; Goossens, Camp, Verkoeijen, Tabbers, & Zwaan, 2012; Kornell, 2009; Küpper-Tetzel, Erdfelder, & Dickhäuser, 2014; Nakata, 2015; Nakata & Webb, 2015;…”
A Spaced, Interleaved Retrieval Practice Tool that is Motivating and Effective
YeckehZaare, I., Resnick, P., & Ericson, B. J. (2019) · ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER) · doi:10.1145/3291279.3339411 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“In contrast, spaced practice negatively affects short-term performance, but significantly improves long-term learning [6, 10, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26].”
BackgroundNation, P. (2006) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/00635-0 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
An ACT-R Model of the Spacing Effect
Pavlik, P. I., & Anderson, J. R. (2018) · KiltHub Repository · doi:10.1184/r1/6613424 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Learners’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Spaced Learning Schedule in L2 Vocabulary Learning
Lotfolahi, A. R., & Salehi, H. (2016) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/2158244016646148 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
“For instance, several studies have demonstrated the existence of spacing effect when words were used as stimuli (e.g., Bloom & Shuell, 1981; Carpenter, Pashler, & Cepeda, 2009; Goossens, Camp, Verkoeijen, Tabbers, & Zwaan, 2012; Kornell, 2009; Sobel, Cepeda, & Kapler, 2011).”
BackgroundLento, C. (2018) · Issues in Accounting Education · doi:10.2308/iace-52252 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Teaching Multiple Concepts to a Forgetful LearnerPreprint
Hunziker, A., Chen, Y., Aodha, O. M., Gomez-Rodriguez, M., Krause, A., Perona, P., Yue, Y., & Singla, A. K. (2018) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1805.08322 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“Properly scheduled repetitions and reconsolidations of previous knowledge have proven effective for a wide variety of real-world learning tasks, including piano [30], surgery [39, 33], video games [29], and vocabulary learning [4], among others.”
BackgroundBenefits of Using CALL Vocabulary Programs to Provide Systematic Word Recycling
스캇마일즈, & Kwon, C. J. (2008) · English Teaching · doi:10.15858/engtea.63.1.200803.199 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Applying spaced practice in the schools to teach math vocabulary
(2019) · doi:10.1002/pits.22248 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Learning second language vocabulary
Tokowicz, N., & Degani, T. (2015) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781107447257.009 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Re-Watching Lectures as a Study Strategy and Its Effect on Mind Wandering
Martin, L., Mills, C., D’Mello, S. K., & Risko, E. F. (2018) · Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) · doi:10.1027/1618-3169/a000412 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“For example, distributed practice has been shown to improve memory for educationally relevant material (Benjamin & Tullis, 2010; Bloom & Shuell, 1981; Seabrook, Brown, & Solity, 2005).”
BackgroundEffective Teaching: Sensory Learning Styles versus General Memory Processes
Arbuthnott, K. D., & Krätzig, G. P. (2015) · Comprehensive Psychology · doi:10.2466/06.it.4.2 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“In a classroom setting, Bloom and Shuell (1981 ) had high school students study French-English vocabulary pairs for 30 min., either in one session or in 10-min. sessions across three days.”
BackgroundProcedural Knowledge in Mathematics: The Role of the Curriculum
Woodward, J. P. (1991) · Journal of Learning Disabilities · doi:10.1177/002221949102400408 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Salam, M., Farooq, M. S., Ikram, A., Rehman, S. U., Mughal, Y. H., & Khan, M. I. (2026) · Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication · doi:10.1108/gkmc-03-2025-0242 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Does writing words in notes contribute to vocabulary learning?
Jin, Z., & Webb, S. (2021) · Language Teaching Research · doi:10.1177/13621688211062184 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“Research on distributed practice, or spacing effects, indicates that the review of information at different timings has a positive effect on learning (e.g. Bahrick, 1979; Ebbinghaus, 1985/1913) and FL vocabulary learning (e.g. Bloom & Shuell, 1981; Nakata & Suzuki, 2019).”
Haq, S. S., & Kodak, T. M. (2014) · Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis · doi:10.1002/jaba.178 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Peach, R. L., Greenbury, S. F., Johnston, I. G., Yaliraki, S. N., Lefevre, D. J., & Barahona, M. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-81709-3 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Lag effects in grammar learning: A desirable difficulties perspective
Serfaty, J., & Serrano, R. (2022) · Applied Psycholinguistics · doi:10.1017/s0142716421000631 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“The effect has been demonstrated in L2 learning, mostly using vocabulary (e.g., Bahrick & Hall, 2005; Bloom & Shuell, 1981; Koval, 2019; Nakata, © The Author(s), 2022.”
BackgroundInteractive technology for enhancing distributed learning: a study on weblogs
Holzinger, A., Kickmeier-Rust, M., & Ebner, M. (2009) · PHSG #Proforis (St.Gallen University of Teacher Education) · doi:10.5555/1671011.1671049 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Remembering norman schwarzkopf: evidence for two distinct long-term fact learning mechanisms
Kapur, N. (1994) · Cognitive Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/02643299408251988 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
A Computational Model of Context‐Dependent Encodings During Category Learning
Carvalho, P. F., & Goldstone, R. L. (2022) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.13128 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
“…2011; Qian & Aslin, 2014), discriminate (Lipsitt, 1961; Samuels, 1969; Sandhofer & Doumas, 2008; Zotov, Jones, & Mewhort, 2011), and learn (Bloom & Shuell, 1981; Elio & Anderson, 1984; Helsdingen, van Gog, & Van Merriënboer, 2011; Li, Cohen, & Koedinger, 2013; Mack & Palmeri, 2015;…”
Sildus, T. I. (2006) · Foreign Language Annals · doi:10.1111/j.1944-9720.2006.tb02249.x · Cited by 16 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bloom, K. C., & Shuell, T. J.
- Affiliations
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- Venue
- The Journal of Educational Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1981-03
- Volume
- 74
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 245-248
- ISSN
- 0022-0671 (ISSN-L)
- 1940-0675
- OpenAlex
- W2056513446
- Cited by
- 243
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Educational Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Second Language Acquisition and Learning
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
- Keywords
- massed practice, distributed practice, second language vocabulary, vocabulary acquisition, retention, spaced practice, French as a second language, high school students, classroom teaching
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