by Michael Mounteney
Computer-based spaced-repetition, or flashcard, software, can greatly assist in the rote-memorisation of information that is arranged in question-answer pairs; in the case of language study, the obvious application is memorisation of vocabulary.
The method varies in detail from one application to another but basic modus operandi is thus:
Different packages have varying levels of sophistication and facilities.
Supermemo excels at statistical analysis of learning, and provides comprehensive management of items into categories and sub-categories. It is however rather idiosyncratic in its operation and its text handling is not simple Unicode, so learning data in non-Latin writing systems is sometimes inconvenient. Supermemo is moving towards another idea called `incremental reading' which involves harvesting pages of information off the Web and breaking it up into memorable pieces over time. It only runs under MS-Windows, although some users have had some success running it under WINE on GNU/Linux. It also offers comprehensive multimedia capabilities. Its database is proprietary and any editing thereof has to be through the program's own facilities, which are less than comprehensive.
FullRecall is much more straightforward in operation. It implements Unicode (UTF-8) character handling, so all writing systems are accommodated. Its spacing algorithm is intriguing - a `neural net' which supposedly mimics your personal `forgetting curve' (the rate at which your memory decays over time) based on your self-scoring during reviews. It is multi-platform. It is still in development, but that does not mean that it is unreliable; the development is of new features. It achieves portability by the use of the FOX toolkit, which, in the opinion of this author at least, is a rather simplistic and unaesthetic product. Its database is open, which allows some analysis and reporting by third-party tools.
jMemorize is a free (donations welcome) package written in Java. It implements the rather simple Leitner spacing algorithm, less sophisticated than either FullRecall or Supermemo. As it is written in Java, it runs on any machine which has a JRE - MacOS, GNU/Linux, Solaris, MS-Windows XP etc.
Mnemosyne is similar to SuperMemo and uses an early version of the SuperMemo algorithm, with some modifications that deal with early and late repetitions. It is written in Python and can be used on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Users of the software usually make their own database of cards, although some pre-made databases are available.
Each day the software displays each card that is scheduled for repetition. The user then grades their recollection of the card's answer on a scale of 0-5. The software then schedules the next repetition of the card in accordance with the user's rating of that particular card and the database of cards as a whole. This produces an active, rather than passive, review process.
Further information about spaced repetition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition
http://www.memorati.com/articles/what-is-spaced-repetition.html
Spaced repetition systems
http://fullrecall.com
http://www.supermemo.com
http://jmemorize.org
http://ichi2.net/anki/
http://www.digitalmeadow.com
http://www.flashcardexchange.com
http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org
Reviews of SRS
http://www.cunning-linguist.co.uk/blog/review-anki-spaced-repetition-systems-srs.html
http://www.gbarto.com/multilingua/confessions/2008/04/spaced-repetition-systems.html