Spacing Effect

Learning advantage for practice distributed over time rather than massed, first quantified by Ebbinghaus in 1885.

Specifications & Metrics

type

Cognitive

introduced

1885

originator

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Core Principles & Analysis

• Ebbinghaus relearned nonsense syllables faster when practice was spread across days rather than crammed.
• The advantage persists across materials, ages, and retention intervals from minutes to months.
• Spaced retrieval practice is now standard advice in evidence-based study-strategy research.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Spacing effect