Effective Learning Chapter 3: Spaced Practice

The power of short study sessions and intervals

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Read the previous chapters:

Chapter 1: Learning How To Learn

Effective Learning Chapter 2: Retrieval

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Chapter 2: Retrieval

In this chapter, you will learn:

• Its intuition.

• What is Spaced Practice, and Why is Mass Studying a Terrible Idea?

• The Science Behind Spaced Practice

• How to Implement Spaced Practice in Your Study Sessions

• Practical Applications

• Case Studies

• The Main Challenge

• Summary

Until now, you’ve learned what effective learning means, its illusions, and what happens in the brain when we learn something effectively. Then, you learned that retrieval practice is one simple yet powerful study strategy to learn anything effectively. That means to make information link to your long-term memory. Moreover, this method allows you to improve your metacognition, as testing yourself makes you aware of your weaknesses and strengths. In other words, what needs to be improved. But retrieval is only one step in your learning revolution. In this chapter, you will learn about another powerful strategy, spaced practice, and how to apply it in your learning.

Intuition

Sandra is studying for a crucial exam in her neuroscience course and has been fascinated by the concept of consciousness. Her professor pointed out that it is one of the universe's biggest mysteries. This motivated her to understand better how our brains construct our realities and self. Plus, mastering this topic would help her ace her exam and provide insights into human perception.

Sitting at her desk surrounded by open books and her laptop, Sandra starts studying optical illusions. Her teacher said they are a great tool for studying subjective experiences, so she reads until she reaches the rubber hand illusion: a simple demonstration that tricks the brain into perceiving a fake hand as part of the body.

“Wow,” she says in her thoughts. This illusion works when the real hand is hidden from view, and a rubber hand is placed right before the participant. A scientist then uses a paintbrush to touch the real hand and the rubber hand synchronically, creating sensory input integration.

“This involves many things. A lot is going on in the brain when doing this,” Sandra debates to herself. And she is right. There are many key points: vision, touch, and how these inputs override the brain’s default body map. It was at that moment that she realized that her teacher was right. This illusion was a small gateway into understanding deep questions about the human brain and how we construct reality and ourselves.

Sandra knew learning this would take time, so she started using flashcards with one peculiar upgrade: spacing out her study sessions. She wanted to try something new but was starting a learning revolution without realizing it.

Instead of studying everything in long study nights, she decomposed the neuroscience topic into achievable goals. She separated concepts like neuroanatomy, vision, and touch. Then, she retrieved information using flashcards but reviewed them the next day and week. Every time she studied, she reviewed and added new concepts. This allowed her to build knowledge connections between the topics and understand the complex brain’s processing when this illusion happens.

When the exam arrived, she studied consciousness successfully and gained a deep understanding of it and its illusions. Spaced practice was so effective that she impressed her professor with how Sandra could connect information between vision, neuroanatomy, illusions, touch, and more. Oh, and she managed to sleep 8 hours the whole semester! Her classmates thought she was a superhuman.

But what is this technique, and why was it so effective?

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What is Spaced Practice, and Why is Mass Studying a Terrible Idea?