Spacing Learning Units affects both learning and forgetting

Spaced learning produces better learning performance than extended learning periods without or with little interruptions. This “spacing effect” exists on different time scales, ranging from seconds to months. We recently found large spacing effects with a hithero rarely investigated 12-hours spacing interval.

The present study tested for potentially larger learning effects in the temporal vicinity of 12 hours and analyzed spacing effects separately for learning and forgetting.

102 participants learned 40 German-Japanese vocabulary pairs in separate conditions with 7.5 minutes and 4-, 8-, 12-, and 24-hours spacing intervals. Two final tests were executed after retention intervals of 24 hours and 7 days.

The 7.5-min spacing interval produced a steeper initial learning curve than all other spacing intervals. 24 h after the last learning unit, we found almost no forgetting in the 4-, 8- and 12-hours spacing conditions, but about 9.3 % and 3.6 % forgetting in the 7.5 min and 24 hours spacing conditions. After 7 days, forgetting was in the range of 13 % for all conditions between 4 and 24 hours. The 7.5 minutes condition produced 34 % forgetting.

Our results indicate that spacing intervals in the range of 8 hours ± 4 hours provide high learning performance and can be easily integrated in our daily schedules.

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