The Spacing Effect: Additions to the Theoretical and Empirical Puzzles.

摘要

Four studies examined the MP-DP effect (spacing effect) in four quite different situations: recognition of letters, verbal discrimination, short free recall lists, and recall of MP items presented twice with an intervening interval inserted to produce forgetting. MP-DP differences are discussed for all studies. Subjects with a low criterion of responding in the letter study lost the MP-DP effect over a 30-second delay, and subjects with a high criterion did not. A clear MP-DP effect, but not lag effect, was found only with unmixed verbal discrimination lists. In free recall a sharp lag effect was shown for words presented three times but not for words presented twice. The results pose problems for current theoretical ideas about the spacing effect.