SuperMemo is a method of computer-aided learning based on research into long-term memory. It provides the learner with an optimum plan of repetition while studying. Repetition is crucial to knowledge retention as it prevents forgetting. By analysing the processes of retention and forgetting for each user individually, SuperMemo finds the optimum timing for reviewing the material. Each item of information is set with a unique pattern of repetition. With SuperMemo, you waste no time on repeating material you remember well. The method aims at allowing the learners to reach their required level of knowledge retention with a minimum amount of repetition and time spent on revisions. By changing the required level of retention the learners can make the system plan their learning schedule more or less intensively. The system sets repetition in daily intervals and requires systematic use for optimum results. With regular learning and repeating for just 10 minutes a day, a student working with SuperMemo can learn over 500 new words per month with an average retention exceeding 95%.

Basing on the data from the learning process, SuperMemo assigns each item of information its current difficulty level and predicts how long you will remember it. Your next review is planned shortly before the expected moment of forgetting.

Non-deductive information requires repeating in order to be remembered. Statistically, a simple information item (like a date, number, or a new foreign word) is remembered for up to several days without recalling it through use, association or repetition. Successive repetition tends to reinforce memory traces, therefore the intervals between repetition necessary to keep the information in the memory become longer.