Three lists of ten items, already divided into the two groups for the exercise. Choose one, preferably the one you know the least.
Support Material • Chapter 6
Small Deck × Large Deck
For readers coming from the book
This page is part of the “Today’s Experiment” in Chapter 6 of Mastering the Leitner System.
If you already know any item on the list you chose, replace it with one of the extras at the end of each list.
This is a small test, without enough controls to support a statistical conclusion. The idea is to notice, through your own experience, how the way repetitions are distributed changes what remains in memory.
How to do it
1
Write the ten cards: the question on the front, the answer on the back.
2
Group A (small deck): study the five cards repeatedly, one after another, until you get them all right.
3
Group B (large deck): mix the five cards with the ones you already have in your box and go through all of them once before starting a new round.
4
Set the five cards from Group B aside after the round (or mark them with a dot in the corner).
5
Wait two days without reviewing any of the ten cards.
6
Test yourself on all ten and record how many you remembered in each group.
List 1
Swahili Vocabulary
Karpicke and Roediger used Swahili words in the experiment you will learn about in Chapter 7. As in the book, put the Portuguese word on the front and the Swahili word on the back.
Group A
small deck
front
back
water
maji
book
kitabu
house
nyumba
tree
mti
rain
mvua
Group B
large deck
front
back
sun
jua
door
mlango
pen
kalamu
fish
samaki
chair
kiti
Extras (to replace any item you already know): table → meza · window → dirisha · food → chakula · river → mto · work → kazi
List 2
Less Familiar Capitals
Group A
small deck
front
back
What is the capital of Bhutan?
Thimphu
What is the capital of Burkina Faso?
Ouagadougou
What is the capital of Kazakhstan?
Astana
What is the capital of Mongolia?
Ulaanbaatar
What is the capital of Eritrea?
Asmara
Group B
large deck
front
back
What is the capital of Laos?
Vientiane
What is the capital of Suriname?
Paramaribo
What is the capital of Moldova?
Chisinau
What is the capital of Brunei?
Bandar Seri Begawan
What is the capital of Madagascar?
Antananarivo
Extras: Kyrgyzstan → Bishkek · Malawi → Lilongwe · Tajikistan → Dushanbe · Namibia → Windhoek · Guyana → Georgetown
List 3
Chemical Symbols That Don’t Match Their Names
Many symbols come from the element’s Latin name, so they don’t match the English name. Put the element on the front and the symbol on the back.
Group A
small deck
front
back
What is the chemical symbol for tungsten?
W
What is the chemical symbol for tin?
Sn
What is the chemical symbol for antimony?
Sb
What is the chemical symbol for lead?
Pb
What is the chemical symbol for mercury?
Hg
Group B
large deck
front
back
What is the chemical symbol for potassium?
K
What is the chemical symbol for sodium?
Na
What is the chemical symbol for silver?
Ag
What is the chemical symbol for copper?
Cu
What is the chemical symbol for gold?
Au
Extras: iron → Fe · sulfur → S · phosphorus → P · calcium → Ca · magnesium → Mg
What next?
Did you record your result? Compare the two groups and go back to Chapter 6. If Group B did better, you have just seen in your own box what Kornell found with flashcards: the large deck, with more widely spaced repetitions, tends to leave more information in memory, even though it feels harder at the time.
And what if the result was a tie, or Group A won? That’s fine. With only five items per group, chance has a lot of influence. It’s worth repeating the experiment with another list.
My result, two days later
Group A · small deck
____ / 5
Group B · large deck
____ / 5
Write the result in your notebook or on a card and keep it with the box.
© 2026 Aludir Books · Tessela Imprint