Cepeda, N. J., Coburn, N., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J. T., Mozer, M. C., & Pashler, H. (2009). Optimizing distributed practice: Theoretical analysis and practical implications. Experimental Psychology, 56, 236-246. [262k pdf]

More than a century of research shows that increasing the gap between study episodes using the same material can enhance retention, yet little is known about how this so-called distributed practice effect unfolds over nontrivial periods. In two three-session laboratory studies, we examined the effects of gap on retention of foreign vocabulary, facts, and names of visual objects, with test delays up to 6 months. An optimal gap improved final recall by up to 150%. Both studies demonstrated non-monotonic gap effects: Increases in gap caused test accuracy to initially sharply increase and then gradually decline. These results provide new constraints on theories of spacing and confirm the importance of cumulative reviews to promote retention over meaningful time periods.

in press (cited by 1)

• Gerbier, E., & Koenig, O. (in press). Influence of multiple-day temporal distribution of repetitions on memory: A comparison of uniform, expanding, and contracting schedules. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.

2011 (cited by 6)

• Bond, C. (2011). Supporting children with motor skills difficulties: An initial evaluation of the Manchester Motor Skills Programme. Educational Psychology in Practice, 27, 143-153.
• Izure, C., Perez, M. A., Agallou, E., Wright, V. C., Marin, J., Stadthagen-Gonzalez, J., & Ellis, A. W. (2011). Age/order of acquisition effects and the cumulative learning of foreign words: A word training study. Journal of Memory and Langauge, 64, 32-58.
• Kornmeier, J., & Sosic-Vasic, Z. (2011). Brain gym - can we get a schedule for efficient learning? Nervenheilkunde, 30, 613-620.
• Molesworth, B. R. C., Man, H. T., & Kehoe E. J. (2011). Rehearsal and verbal reminders in facilitating compliance with safety rules. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 43, 991-997.
• Shimabuku, D. (2011). Evaluate the effectiveness of using blogs to support the tutorial process among high school AVID students. ETEC 690. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/19939
• Sobel, H. S., Cepeda, N. J., & Kapler, I. V. (2011). Spacing effects in real-world classroom vocabulary learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 763-767.

2010 (cited by 8)

• Bird, S. (2010). Effects of distributed practice on the acquisition of second language English syntax. Applied Psycholinguistics, 31, 635-650.
• Cannon-Bowers, J. A., Bowers, C., & Procci, K. (2010). Optimizing learning in surgical simulations: Guidelines from the science of learning and human performance. Surgical Clinics of North America, 90, 583-603.
• Delaney, P. F., Verkoeijen, P. P. J. L., & Spirgel, A. (2010). Spacing and testing effects: A deeply critical, lengthy, and at times discursive review of the literature. In Psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory, Vol. 53 (pp. 63-147).
• Koelewijn, L. (2010). Optimizing fact learning gains: Using personal parameter settings to improve the learning schedule. Masters Thesis, University of Groningen.
• Kupper-Tetzel, C. E. (2010). Storage and retrieval processes in the distributed practice effect: From laboratory to educational settings. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Mannheim.
• Rohrer, D., & Pashler, H. (2010). Recent research on human learning challenges conventional instructional strategies. Educational Researcher, 39, 406-412.
• Smith, T. A., & Kimball, D. R. (2010). Learning from feedback: Spacing and the delay-retention effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36, 80-95.
• Xue, G., Dong, Q., Chen, C., Lu, Z., Mumford, J. A., & Poldrack, R. A. (2010). Greater neural pattern similarity across repetitions is associated with better memory. Science, 330, 97-101.

2009 (cited by 3)

• Ferguson, W., Leung, A., Roberts, B., & Diller, D. (2009). Ten challenges for the future of computer based training. The interservice/industry training, simulation, and education conference.
• Lindsey, R., Mozer, M. C., Cepeda, N. J., & Pashler, H. (2009). Optimizing memory retention with cognitive models. In A. Howes, D. Peebles, & R. Cooper (Eds.), Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (ICCM). Manchester, UK.
• Mozer, M. C., Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., Lindsey, R., & Vul, E. (2009). Predicting the optimal spacing of study: A multiscale context model of memory. In Y. Bengio, D. Schuurmans, J. Lafferty, C. K. I. Williams, & A. Culotta (Eds.), Advances in Neural Information Systems 22. La Jolla, CA: Neural Information Processing Systems Foundation.

2008 (cited by 2)

• Cepeda, N. J., Vul, E., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J. T., & Pashler, H. (2008). Spacing effects in learning: A temporal ridgeline of optimal retention. Psychological Science, 19, 1095-1102.
• Weigold, A. (2008). The relationship bewteen restudying and testing in the short and long term. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Texas Tech University.

2007 (cited by 2)

• Richland, L. E., Linn, M. C., & Bjork, R. A. (2007). Cognition and instruction: Bridging laboratory and classroom settings. In F. Durso, R. Nickerson, S. Dumais, S. Lewandowski, & T. Perfect (Eds.), Handbook of applied cognition (2nd ed.) (pp. 555-584). West Sussex, England: John Wiley and Sons.
• Rohrer, D., & Pashler, H. (2007). Increasing retention without increasing study time. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 183-186.

2006 (cited by 2)

• 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.
• Pashler, H., Rohrer, D., & Cepeda, N. J. (2006). Temporal spacing and learning. Observer, 19, 19.