Spaced retrieval practice (successive relearning) produced multi-year retention of foreign language vocabulary in adults, as reported by the review¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · checked against its sources 2026-10-13 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The review reports, citing Bahrick and colleagues, that spaced retrieval practice (successive relearning) benefited adults' foreign language vocabulary learning over a period of 5 years. → Carpenter 2022

Evidence¶

Carpenter 2022¶

Carpenter, S.K., Pan, S.C. & Butler, A.C. (2022). The science of effective learning with spacing and retrieval practice. Nature Reviews Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00089-1

q2 · i? · review · r?

The review attributes this to Bahrick, Bahrick, Bahrick and Phelps (1993), describing it as a classic study of spaced retrieval practice on foreign language vocabulary in adults; the review's annotation is the available evidence and no effect size is printed.

"This classic study demonstrates benefits of spaced retrieval practice (successive relearning) on the learning of foreign language vocabulary in adults over a period of 5 years"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Retrieval practice improves long-term retention — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Vocabulary Knowledge Grows Incrementally With Repeated Encounters In Varied Contexts — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Retention interval moderates the testing effect: effects are larger after a day or more than at shorter intervals, where individual studies vary from reliable to null or reversed — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Spaced retrieval practice produces better final retention than massed retrieval even though spacing lowers initial retrieval success, and more absolute spacing enhances long-term retention — related
• Expanding retrieval schedules have not shown consistent advantages over equally spaced or contracting schedules matched on total spacing — related
• Spaced Repetition Improves Retention — a broader claim this one bears on
• Spaced Retrieval Improves Retention — related
• Relearning-to-criterion designs confound distribution of practice with amount of second-session practice — related
• Gains from an intensive period of second-language study persist for weeks without rehearsal. — related
• Distributed practice outperforms massed practice for long-term learning, with a possible foreign-language exception — related
• Individual differences were not associated with the retention benefit of relearning over restudying — related
• Attempted recall during vocabulary study showed no demonstrable superiority over mere reading and re-reading in adult learners — reports the opposite