The effect of overlearning on long‐term retention

Abstract

Once material has been learned to a criterion of one perfect trial, further study within the same session constitutes overlearning. Although overlearning is a popular learning strategy, its effect on long-term retention is unclear. In two experiments presented here, 218 college students learned geography facts (Experiment 1) or word definitions (Experiment 2). The degree of learning was manipulated and measured via multiple test-with-feedback trials, and participants returned for a final cued recall test between 1 and 9 weeks later. The overlearners recalled far more than the low learners at the 1-week test, but this difference decreased dramatically thereafter. These data suggest that overlearning (and its concomitant demand for additional study time) is an inefficient strategy for learning material for meaningfully long periods of time.

The effects of overlearning and distributed practise on the retention of mathematics knowledge

“…In Experiment 1 of Reynolds and Glaser (1964), some students studied biology three times as much as other students, and this threefold increase in study time led to a 100% boost in test scores 2 days later that decreased to just 7% difference 19 days after learning. A similar decline in the test score benefits of overlearning was observed in two recent experiments reported by Rohrer, Taylor, Pashler, Wixted, and Cepeda (2005).…”

Increasing Retention Without Increasing Study Time

“…As shown in Figure 1, overlearning provided noticeable gains at 1 week, but these gains were almost undetectable after 4 weeks. Other studies of ours have confirmed this pattern of declining overlearning benefits, although the length of time over which gains remain detectable varies with the details of the procedure (e.g., Rohrer et al, 2005;Rohrer & Taylor, 2006). In summary, then, we see that while overlearning often increases performance for a short while, the benefit diminishes sharply over time.…”

The effect of distributed questioning with varied examples on exam performance on inference questions

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