Reading Comprehension · Question 30 · Hard
With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?
Students preparing for placement tests often spend the night before an exam reading the same notes again and again. The method feels productive, because the material becomes familiar, but familiarity is not the same as memory. Psychologists have shown for more than a century that information is retained far better when study sessions are spread out over several days than when they are crammed into one long sitting. This is known as the spacing effect. A related finding is that testing oneself, by trying to recall an answer before looking it up, strengthens memory more than rereading does, even when the attempt fails. The effort of retrieval seems to signal to the brain that the information is worth keeping. Why, then, do so many learners continue to cram? Part of the answer is that spaced practice feels harder. Each session begins with the uncomfortable discovery of how much has been forgotten, and that discomfort is easily mistaken for a sign that the method is not working. Cramming, by contrast, produces a pleasant sense of mastery that lasts just long enough to mislead.
- Rereading notes is the most efficient form of revision
- Spaced practice is easier than cramming
- Self-testing helps only when the answer is recalled correctly
- A failed attempt to recall an answer can still help learning
Answer and explanation
Answer: D. A failed attempt to recall an answer can still help learning
Explanation: The author states that self-testing strengthens memory more than rereading does, 'even when the attempt fails'.
Previous: According to the passage, why do many learners continue to cram?
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More reading comprehension questions
- What does the restorers' caution at the end of the passage imply?
- What does the passage call the 'spacing effect'?
- According to the passage, why do many learners continue to cram?
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