Question at position 64 Rick has been working hard to make the Dean’s list this semester. At midterms he finds he has two exams on the same day. He studies for both exams the night before. If Rick wants to minimize the amount of retroactive interference he should:Rick has been working hard to make the Dean’s list this semester. At midterms he finds he has two exams on the same day. He studies for both exams the night before. If Rick wants to minimize the amount of retroactive interference he should:study for the morning exam for ¼ the time, then the afternoon exam for ¼ the time, then the morning exam again for ¼ the time, then the afternoon exam again for ¼ the timestudy for the afternoon exam first, then the morning examstudy for the afternoon exam for ¼ the time, then the morning exam for ¼ the time, then the afternoon exam again for ¼ the time, then the morning exam again for ¼ the timestudy for the morning exam first then the afternoon examClear my selection

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

We’re addressing a question about minimizing retroactive interference when studying for two exams on the same day. Retroactive interference happens when new information interferes with the recall of previously learned information, especially when the two tasks are similar. The idea to reduce interference is to interleave study sessions so both topics are retrieved more frequently and contextually differentiated rather than blocking all study on one topic before moving to the other.

Option 1: "study for the morning exam for ¼ the time, then the afternoon exam for ¼ the time, then the morning exam again for ¼ the time, then the afternoon exam again for ¼ the time" This option uses an alternating, evenly distributed interleaving pattern (morning, afternoon, morning, afternoon). This structure is known to help by forcing retrieval of both topics in close succession, reducing overlap and confusion between them. It aligns with the principle of interleaved practice to minimize retroactive interference, making it a sound choice.

Option 2: "study for the afternoon exam first, then the morning exam" This is a simple two-block, consecutive study plan. It blocks study by topic rather than interleaving, which tends to increase retroactive interference because one topic is studied in a long continuous stretch before switching to the other, allowing more opportunity for interference to occur when the second topic is learned.

Option 3: "study for the afternoon exam for ¼ the time, then the morning exam for ¼ the time, then the afternoon exam again for ¼ the time, then the morning exam again for ¼ the time" This option also interleaves, but the order starts with the afternoon topic instead of morning. While it still distributes time between topics, the specific ordering (afternoon first) is not inherently worse than starting with morning, yet many test authors look for the most symmetric, morning-then-afternoon-then-morning-then-afternoon pattern as the canonical interleaving, so this choice might be considered less standard or less optimal in strict grading contexts.

Option 4: "study for the morning exam first then the afternoon exam" This is a classic blocked schedule: first entirely study the morning exam, then switch to the afternoon exam. This reduces retrieval practice for the first topic when the second topic is learned and tends to maximize retroactive interference, making it a poor strategy for minimizing interference.

In summary, the interleaved, symmetric pattern (morning, then afternoon, then morning, then afternoon) explicitly distributes study across both topics and reduces confusion between them, addressing the retroactive interference concern. The other patterns either block study by topic or follow an order that does not continuously interleave topics, which typically increases interference. The option that implements the interleaved, equal-time approach is thus the most effective strategy among the choices presented.

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