The effect of distributed practice: Neuroscience, cognition, and education

Education ideally should induce learning that lasts for years and more. A wealth of research indicates that, to achieve long-lasting retention, information must be practiced and/or tested repeatedly, with repeated practice well distributed over time. In this paper we discuss the behavioral, neuroimaging and neurophysiological findings related to the effect of distributed practice and testing as well as the resulting theoretical accounts. Distributed practice and testing appear to be powerful learning tools. We consider implications of these learning principles for educational practice.