The Advantages of Distributed Practice Studying

S states that there are four phases to the human memory. He suggests that using a filing cabinet approach to learning things help with memorization. “Human memory is a four - stage process: input, encoding, rehearsal, and retrieval. A problem at any stage affects memory and learning”, (S, 2013). The author goes on to discuss how each process works within his system of learning and memorizing. Inputting information into the filing cabinet is through sensory. We are using taste, smell, sight, hearing and touching at this point just to organize and get the information into the brain but not memorizing or learning anything yet. This phase is the same as the first step in “Tips from the Science of Memory-for Studying and for Life”. Arranging the information in a way that it gives the best structure for remembering it. Next, we encode the information with short term memory, only knowing that the information is there but it is not yet fully understood or committed to long term memory. After that we will rehearse and practice the information that is organized and filed neatly in the filing cabinet because now we know where to go to look for the correct information when we need it for retrieval, the final step of the process. We need to know where to look for the things we have rehearsed and practiced over and over, this information is now committed to long term memory and the only way to keep what we have learned in long term memory is to rehearse it continuously. The author gave some tips on how to maximize our memory capabilities such as studying in a well-lit area, be organized with study material and have everything you need before beginning, get 6-8 hours of sleep every night, and take planned breaks during studying

John Dunlosky, "Strengthening the Student Toolbox: Study Strategies to Boost Learning," American Educator, Fall, 2013. This article provides different learning applicable techniques both for teachers and students. The most effective methods are practice testing and distributed practice. Practice testing is a self-testing on to-be-learned material while distributed practice is a schedule of practice that spreads out study activities over time (Dunlosky, 2013).

Retention is one of the key prerequisites for or outcomes of learning that can either be reinforced positively as well as negatively or otherwise optimized with respect to how the study time is to be distributed across sessions. Intuitively, it would appear plausible that, increasing the uninterrupted study duration would map into superior retention and learning outcomes. The present paper critically addresses some empirical findings that could question the unaided intuition along these lines while shedding light on the interaction channels or trade-offs to be defined across a set of additional explanatory variables.

The hypothesis that in Experiment 1, words at the beginning and end of a list would be better remembered while in Experiment 2, words at the beginning would be better remembered, was partially rejected, while still being partially true. The hypothesis that a delay would in fact make a difference was supported. In both tests, words in the first third seemed to be remembered by significantly more of the participants. However despite the predictions, words in the last third of experiment 1 seemed to be not significantly more than words in the middle third. experiment2 did seem to fit with the hypothesis, as the words at the start seemed to be higher than the rest, but there was a absurdity on word 16, “ocean,” which was recalled 7 out of the 9 times. Apart from this, experiment 2 seemed to support the hypothesis.

Throughout the years, studying methods have always been an imperative topic in the field of memory research. Students and instructors are specifically concerned with such matters in order to improve learning, performance and retention. Among all the approaches, two have been the center of attention: massed practice and distributed practice. Distributed practice and massed practice are two entirely different methods of learning. Massed practice is done in one block of time whereas distributed practice is done by spreading out our study over time. (book) “The classical definition of massed practice is continuous practice with little or no pauses for rest even of short

For example, mass practice works right before an exam; it will definitely leave some information in your head for the test. The advantages as well as the boundaries of massed and distributed practice are based on three things according to Cahperd, “fatigue, time constraints, and number of participants. However, overall distributed practice is much more efficient because massed practice “promotes little long-term retention (Memory: Foundations and Applications pg 392).”On the other hand distributed practice promotes availability, so that if you need the information at another time in your life you will have it there at your disposal. Distributed practice creates “More total learning than does massed practice in less time (Memory: Foundations and Applications pg 392).” Distributed practice leads you to be able to remember the information not only for the test but from years from now, while “cramming” and massed practice only allows you to stress out while you learn for information that you will forget right after the test. Key factors like this as well as spacing your time and having a better retention rate all lead to distributed practice producing better

• Condition 1 – 25 participants were given a printed grid of 30 random words and given 2 minutes to memorise them. Participants were seated at a table/desk in a quiet room. After learning there is then a 2 minute pause after which participants were given a further 2 minutes in which to recall the words.

A Student Study Team (SST) can be the first step a teacher or parent can take if they have a concern about the child’s educational progress in school. Different names are also common for SST’s such as Student Success Teams, Student Intervention teams, School Assistance Team, Student/Staff Support Team, etc. The school-level intervention team first emerged in the late 1970’s (Chalfant, Pysh & Moultrie, 1979) and has steadily grown as an effective tool. An SST can occur based on parent concern or teacher concern. The purpose of an SST meeting is to create a support system for the student having difficulty in the general education classroom. The SST team is formed by the school psychologist, school principal, general education teacher, resource specialist, speech and language pathologist, school counselor, and the parent and student. Either the teacher or parent can make a referral for the SST process. They can be for academic or behavioral concerns. The SST process highlights that early intervention in students that are struggling is a role of the general education program and not the special education program. The SST is a school-based problem solving technique to help struggling students. “The SST should not be viewed as a gatekeeper to the special education process” (DoDEA).

Distributed Cognition is a theory of learning in which cognition is a social phenomenon. Cognition and knowledge are not focused on as an attribute of an individual. Instead, cognition and knowledge, distribute through people, tools, and objects in the environment. Distributed Cognition is useful for situations that involve problem-solving.

As everyone is familiar with, trying to learn all of the material at one time is called “cramming” and while cramming may get you through the test the next day, research shows that it is actually a very poor way to learn for the long term. The theory of the spacing effect was also developed by Ebbinghaus in 1885, and the spacing effect has held up to numerous testing by researchers over the years. In 1967, Geoffrey Keppel tested the spacing effect on college students using nonsense syllables paired with adjectives (i.e. lum-happy). Half of the subjects studied the list eight times in one day (massed practice) and the other half studied the list two times on each of four successive days (distributed practice). Keppel then tested their memory either one day after the final study session or a week later. The results showed that both groups do fairly well if they are tested the next day, but there is a considerable drop-off in recall if they are tested a week later. Even after the one week delayed testing, the group that exercised distributive practice showed little to no forgetting. Thus, to counter the sharp slope on the forgetting curve, it is extremely important to initially review materials within a day of learning it and to review a couple times after that. Often we feel that we can’t possibly make time for a review session every day in our schedules, but this review is

The second experiment tested college students. The results of both experiments showed that students recall information that was spaced rather than received all at once.

The campus resource I decided to participate in, is a Chemistry 1020 Peer Assisted Study Session (PASS). These sessions are created for courses that students struggle in such as Chemistry, Anatomy, Biology, and Finance. PASS sessions are a great way to stay on top of your courses throughout the semester. It provides students with the chance to ask questions from the lecture as well as get extra practice with difficult concepts. The most recent PASS session that I attended gave me the opportunity to test my knowledge on Thermochemistry, Equilibrium, Phase Changes and Kinetics in the form of a mock midterm. Our PASS leader created the mock midterm not only to test our knowledge on chemistry but to also teach us about time management on an exam.

Massed practice conditions are those in which individuals practice a task continuously without rest. Oftentimes, the rest time is less than the time required for the trial. An example of massed practice involves playing a new piano movement for seven consecutive hours the day prior to a performance. On the other hand, distributed practice conditions are ones in which individuals receives reasonably long rest intervals within the practice session. Often times during distributed practice, the rest time is longer than the time during practice. An example of distributed practice would involve an individual practicing a new piano movement for thirty minutes daily for a total of two weeks before a performance.

Two groups will perform this task be learning strategy. Group A is the constant practice group and Group B is the variable practice group. Group A will perform a course of thirty trials from the same position of 5m away from the wall. Group B will perform a course of thirty trial but will perform them from different positions; first from 4m, then 5m and finally 7m away from the wall. The goal of these trials is for the subject to hit the center marker on the wall. The rest of the markers are to determine how far off from the center the ball hits the wall. Whichever number the ball hits will be the recorded “score” for each trial, for both groups Once all thirty trials are complete, both groups will perform a transfer test. This test consists

This lab will alter a previously learned response, the catching of a falling ruler in an attempt to enhance the sense of unlearned higher information processing. According to Lutterschmidt, “if this experiment is repeated enough times, then the unlearned response will eventually become a learned response.” However, the processes within the experiment were only repeated for a total of three trials. Therefore, it is thought that there were no significant differences observed between the learned and unlearned response times.