Final answer:
Repetition at spaced intervals, or distributed practice, improves recall by allowing for memory consolidation and by enhancing the connections between new and existing knowledge, facilitating better long-term memory storage.
Step-by-step explanation:
Repetition at spaced intervals, also known as distributed practice, improves recall of facts by allowing memory consolidation to occur over time. This strategy aligns with the concepts of elaborative rehearsal and the levels of processing theory, which suggest that thinking about information deeply and linking it to existing knowledge enhances its transfer from short-term to long-term memory. When we use distributed practice, we avoid cramming, which can over-activate certain links between concepts, making it harder to retrieve other associated information. By reviewing material over time, we build a stronger, more interconnected web of information, making recall easier and more efficient.
Additionally, implementing a strategy like the self-reference effect, where one personalizes the material by connecting it to personal experiences or rewriting it in one's own words, can make the learning materials more meaningful and easier to retrieve.
Research by Hermann Ebbinghaus on the forgetting curve shows that without repeated exposure to information, we tend to forget a significant portion of what we learn very quickly. To counteract this, the repeated rehearsal of the material at spaced intervals prevents this steep memory decline, reinforcing the material in our memory, and making recall more effective at later times.