Why Cramming Doesn't Work
Spaced repetition beats marathon study sessions
We've all done it: pulling an all-nighter before an exam, cramming everything in at the last minute. And it might even work for the test the next morning. But within days, most of what was crammed is gone. Spaced repetition (studying the same material at increasing intervals) produces dramatically better long-term retention than the same total time crammed.
The trick is the slight discomfort of trying to recall something you've half-forgotten. That effortful retrieval is when memories get strengthened. Tools like Anki automate spaced repetition for facts, scheduling reviews right before the predicted forgetting threshold. Lumosity applies the same principle to cognitive skills, rotating through different games so each one gets revisited with the right gap. In both cases, distributed practice beats massed practice for anything you actually want to remember.
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Cramming Works