Spaced repetition (memorization technique): how is it used?

In recent years, the use of mnemonic strategies has become popular and systematized, which allow learning very complex information in relatively simple ways. Among these techniques, the loci method, the hanger method, the memory palace or spaced repetition stand out.

In this article we will describe what the spaced review technique consists of and we will explain how to apply it to memorize large amounts of information. We will also talk about the spaced memory effect, a psychological phenomenon that explains the effectiveness of this mnemonic.

• Related article: "The loci method, almost infallible to remember anything"

What is spaced repetition?

Spaced repetition, also known as spaced review, is a rote learning technique that involves learn a certain material by letting longer and longer periods of time pass between one training session and the next.

This technique is used to memorize content and practice skills over time, rather than intensively for a short period of time. The space between workouts increases progressively as learning solidifies in order to use the spaced memory effect, which we will talk about later.

This spacing of learning allows a greater maintenance of memory: each time it is memorization exercises are practiced there is a new review of the information that is being working. Even intensive learning tends to be maintained to a lesser extent without regular practice later.

Spaced repetition is especially useful when you intend to memorize a large number of different elements on a permanent basis. Examples of this can be mathematical formulas or the vocabulary of a foreign language.

Likewise, the advances that have taken place in recent decades in the field of computing have favored the emergence of computer-assisted learning methods. Many of these are based on the technique of spaced review, or allow it to be applied with ease.

• You may be interested: "What is declarative memory?"

The spaced memory effect

Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneer of the experimental study of memory who lived in the second half of the nineteenth century, described two phenomena that gave him a place in the history of psychology: the curve of the forgetfulness, which represents the duration of memory traces if no further review of learning is applied, and the memory effect spaced.

According to Ebbinghaus and other later authors, when learning is distributed over time, information is better retained that if it is carried out in a single session. In the first case we speak of spaced presentation of the content, and in the second of massive presentation.

This implies, for example, that if we study for 6 hours for an exam the night before it, after a few days or a few weeks we will have forgotten a greater proportion of what we learned than if we had distributed those 6 hours among several days. However, the superiority of spaced learning is not so clear in the short term.

There are different hypotheses about the causes of this effect; all of them may be true in relation to different types of learning and information retrieval (such as free recall and clues). In this sense highlights the phenomena of semantic priming and neuronal potentiation long-term.

• Related article: "The limits and failures of human memory"

How is this technique used?

The most common method of applying the spaced repetition technique It begins by dividing the information into small blocks of content. In some cases this is easier than in others; For example, vocabulary can be studied using short definitions, but memorizing historical episodes will require outlining or summarizing the information.

Necessary understand the content you want to memorize before preparing the training; This will make it easier to understand the relationships between the different elements and will avoid possible mistakes in the preparation of the learning material. It is also convenient to divide the information as much as possible to facilitate the retention of each item.

Next, the elements to be learned must be distributed on some kind of physical or virtual medium. Cards can be used, but computer software exists which makes it easy to use spaced repetition, like the Mnemosyne, Anki, and Mnemodo apps. There are also specific programs for spaced language learning.

Two particularly popular card types are those that leave spaces to be filled in by the learner (p. and. “The trigeminal is the _ of the 12 cranial nerves”) And those that include a question and an answer. The latter can be prepared by writing a question on one side and the corresponding answer on the other.

The time intervals between learning sessions and the length of the total learning period depend on the needs and preferences of the person applying the technique. The most important thing to note is that memorization exercises should be more frequent at the beginning and progressively spaced until learning reaches the desired level.