You have
to remember here that the speed of learning will greatly
depend on the way you represent knowledge, i.e. how you
formulate the material used in repetition. Optimization of
repetitions is a separate problem and the statement
"SuperMemo will let you learn at the highest possible
speed", you should understand as "SuperMemo will
let you learn at the highest speed for the given material,
your mental characteristics and your general conditions for
learning". Knowledge representation is so crucial that
the difference in timeload may easily reach 1:100 ratio!!!
The simplest rules for knowledge representation: keep it
simple, interesting and use mnemonic techniques (i.e. use
pictorial representation, use vivid examples, metaphors,
comparisons, etc.).
One of the
earliest approaches to determining the optimal intervals has
been described in: Wozniak, P.A., Gorzelańczyk, E.J., 1994,
Optimization of repetition spacing in the practice of
learning. Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis, Vol. 54, p.
59-62
For pioneering
insights into spacing effect see: Hintzman D.L. (1974)
Theoretical implications of the spacing effect. In: Theories
in cognitive psychology: The Loyola Symposium (Ed.R.L.
Solso), p. 77-99