Final answer:
The student's strategy of studying for an hour and a half a day for 6 days exemplifies the distributed practice memory principle, promoting better long-term retention.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student employing an hour and a half a day for 6 days as a study strategy is utilizing the principle of distributed practice. This technique aligns with the spacing effect described in cognitive psychology, which suggests that information is better retained when study sessions are spaced out over time rather than massed together, as in cramming.
Distributed practice allows for better consolidation of memories, making it a highly effective study strategy. It encourages the development of stronger neural connections related to the material studied, thereby enhancing long-term retention. This study method contrasts with cramming, where learning is intensive and compressed, often leading to quick forgetting.
By spreading out study sessions, the student avoids the rapid forgetting curve established by Hermann Ebbinghaus, where knowledge retention dramatically drops after shorter intervals. Consistent rehearsal across extended periods not only combats this decay but also provides opportunity for elaborative rehearsal, further embedding the information in long-term memory by linking it to existing knowledge or personal experiences.