Abstract
Given that students typically have a sizeable amount of course material to learn but a finite amount of study time, evaluating the efficiency of study schedules is important. We explored the efficiency of various schedules of distributed retrieval plus restudy. Across two experiments, 227 undergraduates were asked to learn Swahili—English vocabulary word pairs. Inconventional schedule groups, all items were presented for 3 practice trials after initial study (as in most previous research). Indropout schedule groups, the number of practice trials allocated to each item varied, in that practice with a given item was discontinued after criterion performance had been reached. A dropout schedule led to levels of performance similar to those for conventional schedules (but in fewer trials), and it was particularly effective for learning initially incorrect items. However, the efficiency of the various schedules depended critically on the interval between presentations of an item. Results suggest that dropout can be a more efficient learning schedule for students than can conventional schedules of practice.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bahrick, H. P. (1967). Relearning and the measurement of retention.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,6, 89–94.
Bahrick, H. P., &Hall, L. K. (1991). Preventive and corrective maintenance of access to knowledge.Applied Cognitive Psychology,5, 1–18.
Bahrick, H. P., &Hall, L. K. (2005). The importance of retrieval failures to long-term retention: A metacognitive explanation of the spacing effect.Journal of Memory & Language,52, 566–577.
Balota, D. A., Duchek, J. M., Sergent-Marshall, S. D., &Roediger, H. L., III (2006). Does expanding retrieval produce benefits over equal-interval spacing? Explorations of spacing effects in healthy aging and early stage Alzheimer’s disease.Psychology & Aging,21, 19–31.
Carpenter, S. K., &DeLosh, E. L. (2005). Application of the testing and spacing effects to name learning.Applied Cognitive Psychology,19, 619–636.
Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., &Vul, E. (2006). What types of learning are enhanced by a cued recall test?Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,13, 826–830.
Carrier, M., &Pashler, H. (1992). The influence of retrieval on retention.Memory & Cognition,20, 633–642.
Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., &Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis.Psychological Bulletin,132, 354–380.
Cull, W. L. (2000). Untangling the benefits of multiple study opportunities and repeated testing for cued recall.Applied Cognitive Psychology,14, 215–235.
Cull, W. L., Shaughnessy, J. J., &Zechmeister, E. B. (1996). Expanding understanding of the expanding-pattern-of-retrieval mnemonic: Toward confidence in applicability.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied,2, 365–378.
Driskell, J. E., Willis, R. P., &Copper, C. (1992). Effect of overlearning on retention.Journal of Applied Psychology,77, 615–622.
Karpicke, J. D., &Roediger, H. L., III (2007). Repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention.Journal of Memory & Language,57, 151–162.
Krueger, W. F. C. (1929). The effect of overlearning on retention.Journal of Experimental Psychology,12, 71–78.
Landauer, T. K., &Bjork, R. A. (1978). Optimum rehearsal patterns and name learning. In M. M. Gruneberg, P. E. Morris, & R. N. Sykes (Eds.),Practical aspects of memory (pp. 625–632). New York: Academic Press.
Morris, P. E., Fritz, C. O., Jackson, L., Nichol, E., &Roberts, E. (2005). Strategies for learning proper names: Expanding retrieval practice, meaning and imagery.Applied Cognitive Psychology,19, 779–798.
Nelson, T. O., &Dunlosky, J. (1994). Norms of paired-associate recall during multitrial learning of Swahili-English translation equivalents.Memory,2, 325–335.
Nelson, T. O., Leonesio, R. J., Shimamura, A. P., Landwehr, R. F., &Narens, L. (1982). Overlearning and the feeling of knowing.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,8, 279–288.
Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., Wixted, J. T., &Rohrer, D. (2005). When does feedback facilitate learning of words?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,31, 3–8.
Pashler, H., Zarow, G., &Triplett, B. (2003). Is temporal spacing of tests helpful even when it inflates error rates?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory & Cognition,29, 1051–1057.
Roediger, H. L., III, &Karpicke, J. D. (2006a). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention.Psychological Science,17, 249–255.
Roediger, H. L., III, &Karpicke, J. D. (2006b). The power of testing memory: Basic research and implications for educational practice.Perspectives on Psychological Science,1, 181–210.
Rohrer, D., Taylor, K., Pashler, H., Wixted, J., &Cepeda, N. (2005). The effect of overlearning on long-term retention.Applied Cognitive Psychology,19, 361–374.
Rubin, D. C., Hinton, S., &Wenzel, A. (1999). The precise time course of retention.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,25, 1161–1176.
Spitzer, H. F. (1939). Studies in retention.Journal of Educational Psychology,30, 641–656.
Thiede, K. W., &Dunlosky, J. (1999). Toward a general model of selfregulated study: An analysis of selection of items for study and selfpaced study time.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,25, 1024–1037.
Wheeler, M. A., Ewers, M., &Buonanno, J. F. (2003). Different rates of forgetting following study versus test trials.Memory,11, 571–580.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The present research was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education Grant R305H050038, to Kent State University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pyc, M.A., Rawson, K.A. Examining the efficiency of schedules of distributed retrieval practice. Mem Cogn 35, 1917–1927 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192925
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192925