An ACT-R Model of Memory Applied to Finding the Optimal Schedule of Practice

When a person confronts the task of memorizing a collection of facts some questions have to be answered about how to optimize their learning. Perhaps the most important of these questions is how the practices for each item should be scheduled. The most basic suggestion from psychology is that the practices should be spaced as widely as possible. Since Bahrick (1979) it has been clear that wide spacing intervals result in better performance after a long delay. However, while wide spacing is likely to help, it may also be important to consider item differences when making practice scheduling decisions