The Element data window can most conveniently be
viewed by pressing F5 (Window : Layout :
Warrior layout). When you double-click the element data window, you can view the element's
repetition history.
This is a typical element data window after a repetition:

The caption of the element data window displays the element
number and the element title. In the presented example, the element is listed
at position #23344 in the collection and its title is "anat: the tendon that attaches the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone". Element titles are automatically generated from the
first question text.
Element data (left panel)
Element data is displayed in the left panel of the element data
window. It includes the following fields:
- Repetitions - number of repetitions of the displayed
element. If the element had been forgotten, the number of memory
lapses is displayed in parentheses. Once the element is forgotten, the
count of repetitions begins from scratch (i.e. Repetitions equals 1
again). In the example presented in the figure, the
item has been repeated 12 times and has been forgotten once. As the picture was taken
immediately after the 12th repetition, the field will be updated as soon as
the repetition data panel on the right is cleared. It will change from 12 (1
lapse) to 13 (1 lapse)
- Interval - current interval of the
item (i.e. the
number of days between Last repetition and Next repetition), and the previous
interval in days (in parentheses). Here the item has last been repeated in
1998 (12th repetition) and
the interval since then was 3104 days (over 8 years). The interval between the
11th and 12th repetition
was 1652 days (over 4 years). Important! If you advance a
repetition, its interval and U-Factor will both be corrected for spacing
effect. Consequently, the previous interval field here will point to an
earlier date than the actual date of the repetition. This earlier date will
equal the date on which the repetition would have to have been made in the
optimum schedule to produce the approximately same combination of memory stability and
retrievability as the actually executed advanced repetition. This virtual
repetition date will come earlier than the date of the advanced repetition,
but later than the date of the preceding repetition. For more see: Algorithm
SM-11
- Last repetition - date of the last repetition of the
item. This field will
also inform you how many days have passed since the last repetition ("d.a."
stands for "days ago"). Here the 12th repetition took place on
May 28, 1998 and the current repetition
which has just taken place is recorded as executed on Nov 26, 2006. The 12th repetition
took place 3104 days ago, i.e. exactly as indicated by Interval
(these two numbers are the same on the day of the repetition on condition
the repetition is not executed with delay)
- Next repetition - date on which the next repetition
of the item should take place, and the number of elements scheduled for
repetition on that particular day. Next repetition of this item should take place on
Nov 26, 2006 and it has actually just been made. The 14th repetition has been scheduled
to take place on May 19, 2018 as indicated in the same row in the repetition data panel
on the right. The presented item is only one of 6754 elements scheduled for
review on Nov 26, 2006. This high number indicates either a longer break in
learning or a heavily overloaded learning process, which may be a norm in incremental
reading
- Priority - priority of the element in percent and as
a position in the priority queue. This field is color-coded. Elements with
the highest priority are read, while elements of the lowest priority are
white. The item in the picture has a priority
of 18.371%. This means that only 18.371% of elements have a higher priority.
The items sits on the position 57512 in the priority queue. This means that
57511 elements in the collection have a higher priority. Because of the
relatively high priority (i.e. low percent value), this field has a pinkish
hue.
- Forgetting index -
allowed probability of forgetting the item in each repetition (in percent). Forgetting
index can be changed to a desired value (e.g. with Ctrl+Shift+P via Element
Parameters or by changing it in the element data window as shown in
the picture). If the forgetting index is 10%, you stand a 90% chance that you will remember
the item during the optimally scheduled repetition. The probability of
forgetting will increase if you delay a repetition. Here the forgetting index has been set at
the default 10%. See also: Forgetting index
- Difficulty - difficulty of the displayed element
estimated on the basis of the following parameters: Interval, Lapses, Repetitions,
A-Factor, and First grade. The theoretical minimum for the
difficulty is 0% and the theoretical maximum is 100%. This number decreases gradually with successful repetitions or increases
with memory lapses. In a typical collection, the difficulty of items usually ranges from
16% to 64%. If the difficulty reaches beyond 65% you should have a closer look at the
formulation of the item (e.g. memory interference, ambiguity, excessive
wording, complex answer, etc.). The
presented item is estimated to be at 27% difficulty which indicates it is relatively easy
to remember. See also: 20 rules of
formulating knowledge
- A-Factor - A-Factor associated with the
currently displayed element.
A-Factor is a rough measure of item difficulty and a measure of the rate at which inter-repetition intervals increase. The higher the A-Factor, the faster the
increase in intervals. For items, the most difficult items have A-Factor equal to 1.2.
For tasks and topics, A-Factors equal the increase in interval in a single
review and may be as low as 1.01.
Note
that Difficulty (below) is much more
an accurate measure of item difficulty (as perceived by the user).
A-Factor of 4.136 in the picture indicates that the item is
relatively easy to remember
- U-Factor - U-Factor and the
current estimation of element's retrievability. U-Factor is the quotient of the previous interval and
the next interval. In items that have been repeated only once, U-Factor equals the first
interval (in days). U-Factors make up an important element of the SuperMemo
Algorithm. If you do not know the algorithm, U-Factors do not have much meaning to you.
Retrievability corresponds with the probability of correct recall of the
item at a given point in time. Theoretically, retrievability should decline
exponentially from 100% on the day of the last repetition, to 100% minus the
forgetting index on the day when the repetition should take place. Here
U-Factor is 3104/1652=1.872, and the retrievability is 86.1%. Had the item
not been postponed 14 times (see Delay), the retrievability should
stand at 90% on the date of repetition as the requested Forgetting index had
been set at 10%
- Future repetitions - estimated number of repetitions
of the item in the next thirty years, and the time needed for executing
repetitions in that period. This value is easily derived from A-Factor, Repetitions,
Forgetting index, and the matrix of optimal factors (see: SuperMemo
Algorithm). You can click on the Forgetting index field to change
the forgetting index and see
how that changes the estimation of future repetitions. SuperMemo roughly predicts that
there will still be two repetitions of the presented item in the next 30 years. As the
13th repetition has just taken place, the most likely number of repetitions before
2036 is
two, of which one should take place in 2018. Avg Time in Statistics
makes it possible to estimate that the cost of retaining the presented item
in memory until 2036 is 18 seconds on the assumption the item will not be
forgotten in the meantime. Still, the probability of a memory lapse before
2036, assuming no delays, is 19% (two repetitions with the forgetting index
of 10% result in 0.9*0.9=0.81 probability of correct recall)
- Delay - repetition delay as compared with the optimum date. Due
to 14 postpones, the presented item has been delayed by 689 days
resulting in the interval delay quotient of 1.42 (i.e. used interval /
optimum interval = 3104/2186 = 1.42)
- Type - type of the element: item, topic or task (see
also: Topics vs. items) and its current status: dismissed, pending
or memorized. The presented element is an example of a memorized item.
Memorized items are color-coded in aqua blue, while memorized topics are
lime green
Repetition data (right panel)
To understand repetition parameters displayed on the right
of the element data window you may need some rudimentary knowledge of the SuperMemo
Algorithm. This knowledge is not essential for your progress in learning. Here are the fields of the repetition data in element data window:
- Repetitions - number of repetitions of the displayed
item (including the just-made repetition). If the item had been forgotten, the number of memory lapses is displayed after the colon. The number in the
parentheses indicates the number of repetitions that the item would need to reach its
current interval assuming the current value of the matrix of optimal factors and no memory
lapses on the way (the so called repetition category). This hypothetical value is used to index the matrix of optimal
factors and the matrix of retention factors in computing the new values of individual
matrix entries at repetitions. The exemplary item in the picture has just been repeated for the
13th time and has been forgotten once. In a stable collection with
relatively few repetition delays, the
repetition category is usually close to the repetition number. Here it is
14.0
- New interval - interval
increase displayed as used interval -> new interval. New interval
would optimally be equal to Optimal interval;
however, two factors may make these two values differ: (1) a degree of interval dispersion is
needed to avoid scheduling a large number of repetitions on the same day
(this dispersion also speeds up the convergence of the optimization algorithm), and (2) some
constraints imposed on the new interval may make it impossible for it to equal Optimum
interval. For example, SuperMemo will never set the new interval to be shorter than the old interval (Interval).
For a low forgetting index, it is quite common that Optimal interval is shorter
than Interval. This is not a reason for worry, but might be an indication that the
forgetting index is set too low. Used interval may be greater than Interval
if the repetition has been delayed. The interval after the presented repetition will
increase from 3104 days (i.e. over 8 years) to 4192 days (i.e. over 11 years)
- Optimum interval - optimum interval the item should
use to ensure the forgetting probability determined by Forgetting index. The
optimum interval before the next repetition is 4275 days, i.e. nearly 12
years. SuperMemo determines that if the item is repeated after that date,
the probability of forgetting will surpass 10%
- Next repetition - date on which the next repetition
should take place and the number of repetitions already scheduled on that
day (in parentheses). Next repetition will be scheduled on May 19, 2018.
There has only been one element scheduled for review on that day.
- New Priority - new priority of the element in percent and as
a position in the priority queue. The priority of items does not change
during repetitions. Priority of topics is reduced gradually unless their
interval is shortened manually or some incremental reading operations are
executed on the topic. This field is color-coded in the same way as Priority.
In the picture, the priority of the item has not changed as a result of
the repetition
- Expected FI - expected forgetting index derived from the
interval (see the description of the SuperMemo
Algorithm).
Due to the longer than optimum interval, the expected forgetting index was
14.1% (i.e. slightly more than the requested
forgetting index of 10%)
- Estimated FI - estimated forgetting index derived from the
grade scored (see the description of the SuperMemo
Algorithm).
From the grade scored in the present repetition, the estimated forgetting index was computed as
0.2%. This low value indicates that the presented items is doing quite well
in repetitions (as determined by a good grade scored)
- New A-Factor - new value of A-Factor
estimated for the displayed item after the just-made repetition. A-Factor was
increased during the presented repetition from 4.136 to 5.242 (as a
result of a good grade and a low Estimated FI)
- New U-Factor - new value of U-Factor (i.e. the
quotient of the new interval and the old interval.
U-Factor was changed from 1.879 to 1.351. In other words, the present increase in interval
is less than the last increase in the interval back in 1998
- Normalized grade - grade normalized for the optimum
interval for the forgetting index equal 10% (see the description of the SuperMemo
Algorithm). Here the normalized grade is 4.34. The numbers in the parentheses shows the
minimum and maximum values of the normalized grade computed using four
different methods
- R-Factor change - change of the R-Factor
corresponding to the current repetition category (the one displayed in parentheses at Repetitions)
and A-Factor (displayed at A-Factor among element parameters). See
the description of the SuperMemo Algorithm
for details. In the parentheses, the number of repetition cases used to
compute that particular RF matrix entry is displayed. Only
grades less than Pass (3) reduce the R-Factor (forgetting pulls the forgetting curve down
reducing the interval needed to reach the same forgetting index). In the presented case,
the grade 5 increased the relevant entry of the R-Factor matrix slightly
(from 2.631 to 2.633). That entry can be found in the RF matrix in Analysis
as RF[14,3.9] where 14 is a rounded value of the repetition category
(14.0),
and 3.9 is the lower limit of the A-Factor category (for A-Factor 4.136).
734 repetitions have been executed for repetition category 14 and A-Factor
within the [3.9-4.2) range
- O-Factor change - change of the O-Factor
corresponding to the current repetition category (the one displayed in parentheses at Repetitions)
and A-Factor (displayed at A-Factor among element parameters). See
the description of the SuperMemo Algorithm
for details. In the parentheses, the number of repetition cases used to
compute that particular OF matrix entry is displayed. For good
grades, O-Factors also increase; however, as they come from smoothing R-Factors, these
changes are less prominent. In the presented case, the O-Factor has not changed detectably
and stayed at the level of 1.301. 734 repetitions have been
executed for repetition category 14 and A-Factor within the [3.9-4.2) range