Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
Spaced repetition: What is this, in one honest paragraph?
A schedule that asks for a retrieval just before you would have forgotten, then lengthens the gap after a success.
Spaced repetition: What does the evidence actually say?
Ebbinghaus showed savings on relearning; Cepeda et al. found expanding gaps beat cramming for delayed tests; Leitner and SuperMemo turned the idea into boxes and algorithms.
Spaced repetition: How does it help a high-stakes exam?
It fits listing, definition and formula items that return on later papers. It does not grade a proof you have never written.
Spaced repetition: How fast is a first honest gain?
A first honest lift is often two to three weeks of daily reviews, not the first night of card-making.
Spaced repetition: What do beginners usually break?
They write encyclopedic cards, never fail a card, or pause the deck for a week and then blame the algorithm.
Spaced repetition: Which tools are enough to start?
A deck, a daily time box, and a rule that one card holds one fact. Paper Leitner boxes work if you actually move the cards.
Spaced repetition — traps, myths and repairs. The quiet failure mode is a pile of atomic cards that looks large and teaches little.
Scores here are relative ranks inside this atlas, not lab grades or official cut scores.
Traps
- Paragraph cards — A card that is a paragraph teaches recognition, not a nameable fact.
- Never-fail grades — If every card is Easy, the interval is fiction and the exam will collect the debt.
- Paused deck — A week off resets more cards than a honest fail-and-rewrite session.
- Curiosity browsing — Opening random Wikipedia cards is not the public outline of your sitting.
- Shared-deck worship — A downloaded deck still needs a ten-second map to your outline or it is someone else's exam.
Myths
- More volume is more learning — A huge pile of unread atomic cards is inventory, not memory.
- Easy fluency means mastery — Recognising atomic cards is not the same as retrieving it from a blank page.
- The algorithm is the teacher — A queue of atomic cards cannot invent a missing public outline.
- Cramming equals spacing — Same-night rereads of atomic cards feel fluent and fail on a delayed test.
Fixes
- Split the glue — If atomic cards always fails, it is usually two facts. Split them.
- Honest grades — A peek at atomic cards is a fail, even if you then recognise the line.
- Cap the faucet — If the due pile of atomic cards explodes, cut new items first, not sleep.
- Map or suspend — Every atomic cards must point at a public outline line or it leaves the deck.
Educational atlas — not an official syllabus, medical advice, or leaked item bank. Spaced repetition: Keep the public outline in view and treat this page as method, not a leaked key.
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