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Distributed verses massed practice
Distributed verses massed practice
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The study of human memory has been ongoing from the time of the Greek scholar, Aristotle. Aristotle made several contributions to the field of psychology. Aristotle believed that human being are born devoid of knowledge and gather it over time and therefore are sum of experiences. The earlier scholars developed their hypothesis without conducting any research. It was not until the 1880s that a scientific approach was developed to study memory. Herman Ebbinghaus conducted an experiment on himself using nonsense syllables. He developed the concepts of the learning curve and forgetting curve. The concepts are still widely accepted in the world today. The other major findings of the study were on the types of memory. Herman’s concepts lay the foundation for the future scientific studies on memory.
Memory is the core basis for ideally all cognitive brain functions. Hence, studies on the functional memory systems are utilized to understand how learning takes place. Researchers are developing concepts and models to aid teachers and learners retain the data for the purpose of application in the practical field. There are two major types of learning that can be utilized in the learning process namely, distributed and mass practice. The two types have their pros and cons. Distributed practice is better than mass practice. In this paper, the discussion will indicate why distributed memory is more effective in learning process.
Distributed practice ensures a more conscious approach to learning. It recommends a more spaced out technique that allows one to study in intervals for a specified duration of time. Students who depend on distributed practice are more likely to retain the knowledge beyond the exam which may facilitate better understanding of those classes. Massed practice describes studies that are done ocassionally but for prolonged periods of time. Mass practice is common in schools where the student studies only study a few days preceeding to the exam. Mass practice is quite efficient as many students often pass their exams. However, mass practice encourages students to cram for the exam hence the increased propensity to forget the information once the exam is done. Consequently, if one needs to retain the information it is better to adopt distribute practice.
Some researches support the use of distributed practice among learners. According to the stimulus sampling theory, the human brain accepts repeated materials more than when a study is conducted just once. Repeated signals amplify memory retention. Learners can relate to this topic. For example, studying the first time immensely stimulates the brain regions responsible for learning and retention of information. When the learner studies the same notes the second time, their brain is able to remember the concept and now can begin to retrieve stored information. If one learns effectively, they can easily remember even the page numbers and location of a concept. Distributed practice provides breaks between learning activities hence permitting a person to recognize the learning practices as those that form the mechanism of a twice-studied concept thus enhancing memorization. Reminding and association processes are stimulated that ensure a better understanding.
Distributed practice warrants an enhanced conceptual thoughtful understanding of the studied stuff. Distributed practice adopts a conscious approach to study all materials. Hence, this allows for better memorization of concepts and also for a prolonged periods of time. A reduction of distributed practice decreases the student’s understanding of the learning materials and thus leads to errors in the knowledge accumulated.
Distributed practice excels also in sports and music. One study reports that longer breaks between music sittings increase procedural memory of an individual. Essentially, the drilling of musicians illustrates that the performance precision of the musical skills is better elaborated using the memory consolidation theory. When a musician conducts multiple training sessions the motor skills are better encoded and refined and also less likely to be forgotten. If one decides to practice all the musical skills once and for prolonged periods as in massed practice they are likely to be forgotten. One may easily forget a particular musical skill due to allocation of information. There is also fewer repetition scenes unlike with distributed practice.
Within a limited time frame, a teacher should utilize distributed practice to allow studnets train their multiple abilities instead of concentrating on only one repetitive deed. Murray and Uderman demonstrated the efficiency of distributed practice by the method of football training session. The practice permitted learners to indulge multiple skills within a specified duration of time instead of focusing on one ability. Massed practice is effective for distinct tasks and is ineffective for the long-term constant drills. Motor skills require stages of rehearsal, drills and practice. In both practices all the mentioned events occur. However, in massed practice the rest intervals between practice sessions are minimal if any. Massed practice activists defend it by saying that frequent repetition enhances the method and effectiveness. However, from a psychological stand massed practice does not accommodate the motivation of an individual. The short resting intervals are not enough to distract the learner completely from learning. Consequently, in massed practice the learners are likely to be bored and tired unlike in distributed practice that distracts them and allows for retention.
In conclusion, distributed practice is more effective for both intellectual and motor purposes. The effectiveness stems from the major difference between the two namely the more resting intervals and repeated actions as in distributed practice. Distributed practice is useful for the functional and mechanical human intelligence organization. It should be promoted in sports, music and statistical exercise. This is because it adopts a more mindful style to specific actions by giving an improved conceptual consideration of the substances and greater motivation to intellectual and motor learning. Distributed practice avoids the mental, emotional, and emotional exhaustion that is predominates massed practice.
References
Experience of USA immigrants in the reconstruction period
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Experience of USA immigrants in the reconstruction period
The reconstruction period in America occurred between 1870 and 1880 after a long period of civil war. The gilded age was the period between the 1870s and the twentieth century. During this age massive development of industrial production attracted thousands of immigrants. It was an age that was filled with economic prosperity but a lot of social problems were experienced. The Gilded age was an era full of social problems disguised by thin gold gilding (Hakim, 60).There was expansive construction of railroads. Most of the immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe. They moved from countries such as Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, and present day Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro.
Immigrants were optimistic that they would acquire well-paying jobs, enjoy proper living conditions and contribute to the social, political and economic growth of America. Different immigrants on their arrival settled in different geographical locations. Some immigrants moved to the urban areas where numerous industrial activities took place (Grummet, 35). Others moved to rural settlements in search of greener pastures. Occupationally there was diversification among the immigrants. Some moved to railroads construction. The Chinese were behind the construction of the transcontinental railroad which opened up the far west mining and ranching regions (Grummet, 70). Some immigrants worked in the steel mills in the northeast and others in the New York clothing industry. Italians and poles worked in the coalmines in the east.
The American immigrants had numerous expectations. They had expectations to prosper and be part and parcel of the American development and prosperity. As the immigrants moved from their native countries they had a vision of getting completely assimilated into the American nation (Hakim, 88). They expected proper working and living conditions, equal pay and opportunities. The immigrants were more than eager to learn the English language, adopt American culture and customs and hence become full citizens of America. They also anticipated that their children would be incorporated into the American education system.
Contrary to their expectations of getting the best in this new environment, they received the worst. USA immigrants faced numerous hardships and in the period they were in America. According to Upton Sinclair in his book the jungle “there was rampant discrimination against immigrant in almost every activity”. Despite providing labor and expertise, these immigrants were exposed to a lot of sufferings and oppression. In their work places they received meager wages which were low compared to the natives. They were highly exploited in their workplaces. They worked for long hours in They survived in horrible living conditions (Hakim, p. 60).
Despite the sufferings experienced in the new environment, the immigrants had to adapt. With the support of civil activists in America they were able to overcome oppression against them. They strived hard and eventually they were assimilated into America. They made numerous contributions to the social, economic and political fields. USA immigrants during the reconstruction period contributed heavily to the industrial growth of America (Hakim, p. 55).
To sum up, the immigrants made a long journey. It started from discrimination, oppression and hate to assimilation into the American system. Their contributions are indelible and worth reckoning.
Works cited
Grummet Hall. Reconstruction era. Detroit: Thomas Gale Corporation, 2005
Hakim Joy. A history of USA, Reconstructing America. New York. Oxford university press,
2003
Sinclair Upton. The jungle. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvanian State University, 1991.
How can your mental models about your world both assist and limit your perceptions when you meet a person for the first time
How can your mental models about your world both assist and limit your perceptions when you meet a person for the first time?
In my world, confirmation bias plays a vital role in influencing my perceptions towards different matters and issues. It impacts the way I am able to gather information and interpret and recall the same. For example, I find myself supporting the idea of human progress through increased liberty and seeking information to support this idea to a point where I try to interpret stories on freedom and liberty in a way that upholds this point of view and my existing perspective. This mental model was formed from a natural point of trying to interpret information based on what I know. One of the greatest influences to a confirmation bias mental model is an individual’s environment (Wu et al., 2017). My environment limits my thinking to what I already know, think I know, and the experiences that have given me knowledge.
Confirmation bias is a mental model that drives me towards looking and interpreting information in line with my existing beliefs. Rollwage et al. (2020) define confirmation bias as a biased approach to the decision-making process, one that is largely unintentional and often leads to overlooking any inconsistent information. In my own perspective, I suppose confirmation bias to be my own way of creating rational interpretations, looking for logical explanations, and an attempt to be impartial based on what I already believe due to years of objective analysis and experience on the information available within my environment.
The confirmation mental model assists me when meeting a person for the first time through helping in a quick synthesis of information about the individual for me to place the person in a certain personal category. For example, my perception on violence is that it is a mark of a person with poor human characteristics. Therefore, whenever I see aggression, I immediately classify the individual as a risk. However, this system of synthesizing information limits my perceptions in a manner that may result to poor and risk decision making processes. For instance, in the same example as above, it can be easy for me to overlook red flags in an individual who is come and collected the first time we meet because of my bias towards aggression and violence. It becomes very easy to overlook information that is not aligned to what I am already looking for (Park, Cho, & Kim, 2021). While the idea of a confirmation bias reduces time wasted on analysis, it also increases the chances of making poor assumptions and missing out on information that would make the decision-making process richer and more holistic.
For learning and development both personally and professionally, I need to work on changing perspectives to analyze and interpret information using other points of view that may not necessarily be my own. I plan to achieve this development and learning by accepting opposing and disagreeing positions on different issues. I will also need to keep an open mind and receive and interpret information without involving personal biases.
References
Park, S. Y., Cho, M., & Kim, S. (2021). The effect of CSR expectancy violation: value from
expectancy violation theory and confirmation bias. Journal of Marketing Communications, 27(4), 365-388.
Rollwage, M., Loosen, A., Hauser, T. U., Moran, R., Dolan, R. J., & Fleming, S. M. (2020).
Confidence drives a neural confirmation bias. Nature communications, 11(1), 1-11.
Wu, T., Wu, Y. J., Tsai, H., & Li, Y. (2017). Top management teams’ characteristics and
strategic decision-making: A mediation of risk perceptions and mental models. Sustainability, 9(12), 2265.