{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/return-after-a-delay-before-adding-another-layer",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9007",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Return after a delay before adding another layer",
  "summary": "New material can hide a growing backlog of fragile knowledge.",
  "kind": "protocol",
  "body": "Before stacking another dependent layer, revisit a small sample of earlier material after a meaningful delay. Retrieve or perform it first, check the source, and repair only what matters for the next layer. Keep the return proportionate; the goal is durable access, not endless review.",
  "limits": [
    "Spacing is not a reason to postpone all new learning until perfect recall. Choose dependencies that materially affect the next task."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-skill-acquisition-career-dominant-focus"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-1456EFA05374C886",
    "RS-450420625BC74F3D"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "A 2025 meta-analysis of applied classroom research found a moderate advantage for distributed over massed practice (d = 0.54), with substantial variation across studies.",
      "source_id": "RS-1456EFA05374C886",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "The evidence does not identify one universal spacing interval or prove the same effect size for every adult work skill.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    },
    {
      "claim": "A 2021 systematic review of 50 classroom experiments found retrieval practice benefited learning across varied educational settings, with most included effects in the medium-or-large range.",
      "source_id": "RS-450420625BC74F3D",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Retrieval is not guaranteed to improve every kind of inference or transfer, and the review had limited non-WEIRD representation.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "When a curriculum keeps adding new material while older material has not been used again."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Spacing is not a reason to postpone all new learning until perfect recall. Choose dependencies that materially affect the next task."
  ],
  "example": "Before learning advanced workflow rules, a learner solves two older cases that require the base status logic.",
  "check": "The next layer begins with evidence that its important prerequisite can still be produced or recognized correctly.",
  "steps": [
    "Choose prerequisite material that the next layer depends on.",
    "After a delay, attempt it without the answer in view.",
    "Check and repair the consequential gap.",
    "Proceed when the prerequisite is usable enough for the next task."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-1456EFA05374C886",
      "title": "The Distributed Practice Effect on Classroom Learning: A Meta-Analytic Review of Applied Research",
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40564553/"
    },
    {
      "id": "RS-450420625BC74F3D",
      "title": "Retrieval Practice Consistently Benefits Student Learning: a Systematic Review of Applied Research in Schools and Classrooms",
      "url": "https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-021-09595-9"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-EA04F47374E04549",
      "title": "Learn new skills, turn them into career evidence, and protect the main development edge",
      "url": "/collections/learn-new-skills-turn-them-into-career-evidence-and-protect-the-main-development-edge"
    }
  ]
}