Massed practice is most likely to cause which outcome?

Massed practice is most likely to cause which outcome?

• A. Immediate mastery with no plateau
• B. A performance plateau due to fatigue or reduced processing
• C. No effect
• D. Increased long-term retention

Answer: (B)

Massed practice involves doing many repetitions in a single session with little rest. This often leads to rapid short-term performance gains because you’re repeatedly exposing the skill, but the lack of rest means less opportunity for consolidation and more fatigue and cognitive load. As fatigue or reduced processing sets in, accuracy and consistency drop, causing progress to stall and a plateau in performance. In contrast, long-term retention tends to be better with spaced (distributed) practice, so massed practice is less effective for durable learning. So the most likely outcome is a performance plateau due to fatigue or reduced processing.

Massed practice involves doing many repetitions in a single session with little rest. This often leads to rapid short-term performance gains because you’re repeatedly exposing the skill, but the lack of rest means less opportunity for consolidation and more fatigue and cognitive load. As fatigue or reduced processing sets in, accuracy and consistency drop, causing progress to stall and a plateau in performance. In contrast, long-term retention tends to be better with spaced (distributed) practice, so massed practice is less effective for durable learning. So the most likely outcome is a performance plateau due to fatigue or reduced processing.