Optimizing song retention through the spacing effect

The spacing effect refers to the improvement in memory retention for materials learned in a series of sessions, as opposed to massing learning in a single session. It has been extensively studied in the domain of verbal learning using word lists. Less evidence is available for connected discourse or tasks requiring the complex coordination of verbal and other domains. In particular, the effect of spacing on the retention of words and music in song has yet to be determined. In this study, university students were taught an unaccompanied two-verse song based on traditional materials to a criterion of 95% correct memory for sung words. Subsequent training sessions were either massed or spaced by two days or one week and tested at a retention interval of three weeks. Performances were evaluated for number of correct and incorrect syllables, number of correctly and incorrectly pitched notes, degree notes were off-pitch, and number of hesitations while singing. The data revealed strong evidence for a spacing effect for song between the massed and spaced conditions at a retention interval of three weeks, and evidence of no difference between the two spaced conditions. These findings suggest that the ongoing cues offered by surface features in the song are strong enough to enable verbatim recall across spaced conditions, as long as the spacing interval reaches a critical threshold.

A Novel Discontinuity Roughness Parameter and Its Correlation with Joint Roughness Coefficients

Joint roughness determination is a fundamental issue in many areas of rock engineering, because joint roughness has significant influences on mechanical properties and deformation behavior of rock masses. Available models suggested in the literature neglected combined effects of shear direction, scale of rock discontinuities, inclination angle, and amplitude of asperities during the roughness calculations. The main goals of this paper are to establish a comprehensive parameter that considers the characteristics of the size effect, anisotropy, and point spacing effect of the discontinuity roughness, and to investigate the correlation between the proposed comprehensive parameter and joint roughness coefficients. In this work, the Barton ten standard profiles are digitally represented, then the morphological characteristics of the discontinuity profiles are extracted. A comprehensive parameter that considers the characteristics of the size effect, anisotropy, and point spacing effect of the discontinuity roughness is established, and its correlation with joint roughness coefficients (JRC) is investigated. The correlation between the proposed discontinuity roughness parameter and the joint roughness coefficients can predict the JRC value of the natural discontinuities with high accuracy, which provides tools for comprehensively characterizing the roughness characteristics of rock discontinuities. The roughness index Rvh[−30°,0] reflects the gentle slope characteristics of the rock discontinuity profiles in the shear direction, which ignores the segments with steep slopes greater than 30° on the discontinuity profiles. The influence of steep slope segments greater than 30° should be considered for the roughness anisotropy parameter in the future.

Rib Spacing effect on Heat Transfer and pressure loss in a Rectangular channel with semicircular ribs

Ribs of various shapes are used for heat transfer enhancement but its performance is significantly depends on geometrical features and flow conditions. This study experimentally find out the influence of rib spacing, semicircular shape ribs with three rib spacing ratio (P/e) = 8, 10 and 12 are studied and located on lower wall of the rectangular channel. Reynolds numbers varied from 10000 to 29,000 and the blockage ratio of the channel (e/Dh) was 0.151.Result show that semicircular rib performed better than plain plate but found more friction. semicircular rib with rib spacing of 50 mm (P/e =10) shows highest thermal performance, enhanced avg. 39 % heat transfer than rib spacing of 40 and 60 mm (P/e=8 & 12). Friction losses observed highest in rib spacing ratio of 8,found average 10 % more friction compared to rib spacing ratio of 10 & 12. Semicircular rib with spacing ratio 8 shows least thermal performances compared to other configurations.

An Account of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Retention and Recall Through Spaced and Massed Distribution Instructions

There has been an ongoing debate on the effectiveness of spaced and massed distribution instruction in second/foreign language learning. A number of studies in the literature have investigated the impacts of spacing effect on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ vocabulary acquisition. This study aims to expand the body of existing research by exploring the impact of spaced versus massed distribution instruction on EFL learners’ vocabulary recall and retention. To this end, the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was administered to 120 Iranian EFL students to determine their level of English proficiency. Accordingly, 75 intermediate students were selected and randomly assigned to three equivalent groups: two experimental groups, namely spaced instruction ( n = 25) and massed instruction ( n = 25), and one control group ( n = 25). After administering a pretest, the participants in both experimental groups received two different modes of instruction. The massed instruction group attended one intensive session to learn each set of target vocabularies; the spaced instruction group, on the contrary, had three sessions at irregular time intervals to learn the same vocabularies. The control group studied the same vocabularies but received no vocabulary-focused instructions. Overall, 180 vocabularies were taught to the students during a 12-week period (15 vocabularies per week). The instructions in each group took 60 min each week. Using a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest design, the students first took a receptive vocabulary pretest before the treatment. One week after the treatment, a receptive vocabulary posttest was administered. Finally, after a 4-week interval, the students took the delayed posttest. The results revealed that the spaced instruction group significantly outperformed the massed instruction group on both immediate and delayed posttests. The findings lend support to the modulation of spaced instruction into the curricula in instructional settings as a valuable vocabulary instruction technique to promote vocabulary learning in real classroom environments.

Analysis of Power Generation for Solar Photovoltaic Module with Various Internal Cell Spacing

Photovoltaic (PV) systems directly convert solar energy into electricity and researchers are taking into consideration the design of photovoltaic cell interconnections to form a photovoltaic module that maximizes solar irradiance. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the cell spacing effect of light diffusion on output power. In this work, the light absorption of solar PV cells in a module with three different cell spacings was studied. An optical engineering software program was used to analyze the reflecting light on the backsheet of the solar PV module towards the solar cell with varied internal cell spacing of 2 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm. Then, assessments were performed under standard test conditions to investigate the power output of the PV modules. The results of the study show that the module with an internal cell spacing of 8 mm generated more power than 5 mm and 2 mm. Conversely, internal cell spacing from 2 mm to 5 mm revealed a greater increase of power output on the solar PV module compared to 5 mm to 8 mm. Furthermore, based on the simulation and experiment, internal cell spacing variation showed that the power output of a solar PV module can increase its potential to produce more power from the diffuse reflectance of light.

Studium: Your Personal Mobile Study On-The-Go

The landscape of studying is changing. There are now increasingly more mobile devices that allow people to learn content in numerous ways. This means that mobile devices play a large role in how a whole new generation of children, adolescents, teenagers and young adults understand information. Studium is a mobile application prototype that I have created to demonstrate how mobile devices can be used as a learning tool to enhance academic performance among postsecondary students. The objective of Studium is to illustrate how artificial intelligence can be incorporated into mobile learning applications to improve one’s studying by generating instant practice tests based off notes from lectures or readings. Studium will also demonstrate how traditional learning theories and strategies such as the spacing effect and the lag effect can be implemented into learning applications using brief mindfulness breaks, which incorporates an element of mindfulness that mobile learning applications often lack.

Studium: Your Personal Mobile Study On-The-Go

The landscape of studying is changing. There are now increasingly more mobile devices that allow people to learn content in numerous ways. This means that mobile devices play a large role in how a whole new generation of children, adolescents, teenagers and young adults understand information. Studium is a mobile application prototype that I have created to demonstrate how mobile devices can be used as a learning tool to enhance academic performance among postsecondary students. The objective of Studium is to illustrate how artificial intelligence can be incorporated into mobile learning applications to improve one’s studying by generating instant practice tests based off notes from lectures or readings. Studium will also demonstrate how traditional learning theories and strategies such as the spacing effect and the lag effect can be implemented into learning applications using brief mindfulness breaks, which incorporates an element of mindfulness that mobile learning applications often lack.