The effect of study time distribution on learning and retention: A Goldilocks principle for presentation rate

M.O. de Jonge, Diane Pecher, Huib K Tabbers, René Zeelenberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In 2 experiments, we investigated the effect of presentation rate on both immediate (5 min) and delayed (2 days) cued recall of paired associates. Word pairs were presented for a total of 16 s per pair, with presentation duration of individual presentations varying from 1 to 16 s. In Experiment 1, participants studied word pairs with presentation rates of 16 × 1 s, 8 × 2 s, 4 × 4 s, 2 × 8 s, or 1 × 16 s. A nonmonotonic relationship was found between presentation rate and cued recall performance. Both short (e.g., 1 s) and long (e.g., 16 s) presentation durations resulted in poor immediate and delayed recall, compared with intermediate presentation durations. In Experiment 2, we replicated these general findings. Moreover, we showed that the 4 s condition resulted in less proportional forgetting than the 1 s and the 16 s conditions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)405
Number of pages412
JournalJournal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
Volume38
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2012
Externally publishedYes

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