Learning

The Testing Effect in the Psychology Classroom: A Meta-Analytic Perspective

Juliane Schwieren, Jonathan Barenberg, Stephan Dutke · Psychology Learning & Teaching · 2017 · 97 citations

The testing effect is a robust empirical finding in the research on learning and instruction, demonstrating that taking tests during the learning phase facilitates later retrieval from long-term memory. Early evidence came mainly from laboratory studies, though in recent years applied educational researchers have become increasingly interested in the effects of retrieval practice. We investigated the extent that the testing effect can also be observed and effectively used in psychology classes. Inspection of the research literature yielded 19 publications that tested the effect in the context of learning and teaching psychology. A total of 72 effect sizes were extracted from these publications and subjected to a meta-analysis. A significant overall effect size of d = 0.56 demonstrated that testing was beneficial to the learning outcomes. Further analyses focussed on the role of potential moderator variables, a possible publication bias, and the dependency between effect sizes. The results are discussed in the context of applications in learning and teaching psychology.

The Knowledge‐Learning‐Instruction Framework: Bridging the Science‐Practice Chasm to Enhance Robust Student Learning

Kenneth R. Koedinger, Albert T. Corbett, Charles A. Perfetti · Cognitive Science · 2012 · 712 citations

Despite the accumulation of substantial cognitive science research relevant to education, there remains confusion and controversy in the application of research to educational practice. In support of a more systematic approach, we describe the Knowledge-Learning-Instruction (KLI) framework. KLI promotes the emergence of instructional principles of high potential for generality, while explicitly identifying constraints of and opportunities for detailed analysis of the knowledge students may acquire in courses. Drawing on research across domains of science, math, and language learning, we illustrate the analyses of knowledge, learning, and instructional events that the KLI framework affords. We present a set of three coordinated taxonomies of knowledge, learning, and instruction. For example, we identify three broad classes of learning events (LEs): (a) memory and fluency processes, (b) induction and refinement processes, and (c) understanding and sense-making processes, and we show how these can lead to different knowledge changes and constraints on optimal instructional choices.

Working Memory Underpins Cognitive Development, Learning, and Education

Nelson Cowan · Educational Psychology Review · 2013 · 808 citations

Active‐Constructive‐Interactive: A Conceptual Framework for Differentiating Learning Activities

T. H. Michelene · Topics in Cognitive Science · 2009 · 1,498 citations

Active, constructive, and interactive are terms that are commonly used in the cognitive and learning sciences. They describe activities that can be undertaken by learners. However, the literature is actually not explicit about how these terms can be defined; whether they are distinct; and whether they refer to overt manifestations, learning processes, or learning outcomes. Thus, a framework is provided here that offers a way to differentiate active, constructive, and interactive in terms of observable overt activities and underlying learning processes. The framework generates a testable hypothesis for learning: that interactive activities are most likely to be better than constructive activities, which in turn might be better than active activities, which are better than being passive. Studies from the literature are cited to provide evidence in support of this hypothesis. Moreover, postulating underlying learning processes allows us to interpret evidence in the literature more accurately. Specifying distinct overt activities for active, constructive, and interactive also offers suggestions for how learning activities can be coded and how each kind of activity might be elicited.

Characteristics of dissociable human learning systems

David R. Shanks, Mark John · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · 1994 · 1,175 citations

Abstract A number of ways of taxonomizing human learning have been proposed. We examine the evidence for one such proposal, namely, that there exist independent explicit and implicit learning systems. This combines two further distinctions, (1) between learning that takes place with versus without concurrent awareness, and (2) between learning that involves the encoding of instances (or fragments) versus the induction of abstract rules or hypotheses. Implicit learning is assumed to involve unconscious rule learning. We examine the evidence for implicit learning derived from subliminal learning, conditioning, artificial grammar learning, instrumental learning, and reaction times in sequence learning. We conclude that unconscious learning has not been satisfactorily established in any of these areas. The assumption that learning in some of these tasks (e.g., artificial grammar learning) is predominantly based on rule abstraction is questionable. When subjects cannot report the “implicitly learned” rules that govern stimulus selection, this is often because their knowledge consists of instances or fragments of the training stimuli rather than rules. In contrast to the distinction between conscious and unconscious learning, the distinction between instance and rule learning is a sound and meaningful way of taxonomizing human learning. We discuss various computational models of these two forms of learning.

Task-Based Core-Periphery Organization of Human Brain Dynamics

Danielle S. Bassett, Nicholas F. Wymbs, M. Puck Rombach +3 more · PLoS Computational Biology · 2013 · 378 citations

As a person learns a new skill, distinct synapses, brain regions, and circuits are engaged and change over time. In this paper, we develop methods to examine patterns of correlated activity across a large set of brain regions. Our goal is to identify properties that enable robust learning of a motor skill. We measure brain activity during motor sequencing and characterize network properties based on coherent activity between brain regions. Using recently developed algorithms to detect time-evolving communities, we find that the complex reconfiguration patterns of the brain's putative functional modules that control learning can be described parsimoniously by the combined presence of a relatively stiff temporal core that is composed primarily of sensorimotor and visual regions whose connectivity changes little in time and a flexible temporal periphery that is composed primarily of multimodal association regions whose connectivity changes frequently. The separation between temporal core and periphery changes over the course of training and, importantly, is a good predictor of individual differences in learning success. The core of dynamically stiff regions exhibits dense connectivity, which is consistent with notions of core-periphery organization established previously in social networks. Our results demonstrate that core-periphery organization provides an insightful way to understand how putative functional modules are linked. This, in turn, enables the prediction of fundamental human capacities, including the production of complex goal-directed behavior.

The instruction of reading comprehension

P. David Pearson, Margaret C. Gallagher · Contemporary Educational Psychology · 1983 · 1,144 citations

Lexical Information Drives Perceptual Learning of Distorted Speech: Evidence From the Comprehension of Noise-Vocoded Sentences.

Matthew H. Davis, Ingrid S. Johnsrude, Alexis Hervais‐Adelman +2 more · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · 2005 · 540 citations

Speech comprehension is resistant to acoustic distortion in the input, reflecting listeners' ability to adjust perceptual processes to match the speech input. For noise-vocoded sentences, a manipulation that removes spectral detail from speech, listeners' reporting improved from near 0% to 70% correct over 30 sentences (Experiment 1). Learning was enhanced if listeners heard distorted sentences while they knew the identity of the undistorted target (Experiments 2 and 3). Learning was absent when listeners were trained with nonword sentences (Experiments 4 and 5), although the meaning of the training sentences did not affect learning (Experiment 5). Perceptual learning of noise-vocoded speech depends on higher level information, consistent with top-down, lexically driven learning. Similar processes may facilitate comprehension of speech in an unfamiliar accent or following cochlear implantation.

Dynamic Properties of Human Brain Structure: Learning-Related Changes in Cortical Areas and Associated Fiber Connections

Marco Taubert, Bogdan Draganski, Alfred Anwander +4 more · Journal of Neuroscience · 2010 · 514 citations

Recent findings in neuroscience suggest that adult brain structure changes in response to environmental alterations and skill learning. Whereas much is known about structural changes after intensive practice for several months, little is known about the effects of single practice sessions on macroscopic brain structure and about progressive (dynamic) morphological alterations relative to improved task proficiency during learning for several weeks. Using T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging in humans, we demonstrate significant gray matter volume increases in frontal and parietal brain areas following only two sessions of practice in a complex whole-body balancing task. Gray matter volume increase in the prefrontal cortex correlated positively with subject's performance improvements during a 6 week learning period. Furthermore, we found that microstructural changes of fractional anisotropy in corresponding white matter regions followed the same temporal dynamic in relation to task performance. The results make clear how marginal alterations in our ever changing environment affect adult brain structure and elucidate the interrelated reorganization in cortical areas and associated fiber connections in correlation with improvements in task performance.

Explicit and Implicit Processes Constitute the Fast and Slow Processes of Sensorimotor Learning

Samuel D. McDougle, Krista Bond, Jamie Taylor · Journal of Neuroscience · 2015 · 416 citations

A popular model of human sensorimotor learning suggests that a fast process and a slow process work in parallel to produce the canonical learning curve (Smith et al., 2006). Recent evidence supports the subdivision of sensorimotor learning into explicit and implicit processes that simultaneously subserve task performance (Taylor et al., 2014). We set out to test whether these two accounts of learning processes are homologous. Using a recently developed method to assay explicit and implicit learning directly in a sensorimotor task, along with a computational modeling analysis, we show that the fast process closely resembles explicit learning and the slow process approximates implicit learning. In addition, we provide evidence for a subdivision of the slow/implicit process into distinct manifestations of motor memory. We conclude that the two-state model of motor learning is a close approximation of sensorimotor learning, but it is unable to describe adequately the various implicit learning operations that forge the learning curve. Our results suggest that a wider net be cast in the search for the putative psychological mechanisms and neural substrates underlying the multiplicity of processes involved in motor learning.

How vocabulary is learned

Paul Nation · Indonesian JELT Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching · 2017 · 545 citations

Vocabulary learning requires two basic conditions – repetition (quantity of meetings with words) and good quality mental processing of the meetings. Other factors also affect vocabulary learning. For example, learners may differ greatly in their motivation to engage in learning, and words may differ greatly in their learning burden. However, without quantity and quality of processing, learning cannot occur. The greater the number of repetitions, the more likely learning is to occur. The deeper and more thoughtful the quality of processing, the more likely learning is to occur. This paper explains quantity and quality, and shows how teachers and learners can increase the quantity and quality of their processing of vocabulary, thus increasing their vocabulary size.

Test-enhanced learning in the classroom: Long-term improvements from quizzing.

Henry L. Roediger, Pooja K. Agarwal, Mark A. McDaniel +1 more · Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied · 2011 · 380 citations

Three experiments examined whether quizzing promotes learning and retention of material from a social studies course with sixth grade students from a suburban middle school. The material used in the experiments was the course material students were to learn and some of the dependent measures were the actual tests on which students received grades. In within-subject designs, students received three low-stakes multiple-choice quizzes in Experiments 1 and 2 and performance on quizzed items was compared to that on items that were presented twice (Experiment 2) or items that were not presented on the initial quizzes (Experiments 1 and 2). We found that students' performance on both chapter exams and semester exams improved following quizzing relative to either not being quizzed or relative to the twice-presented items. In Experiment 3, students were given one multiple-choice quiz in class and encouraged to quiz themselves outside of class using a Web-based system. The assessment in this experiment was a short answer test in which students had to produce answers, but we also used multiple-choice tests. Once again, we found that quizzing of material produced a positive effect on chapter and semester exams. These results show the robustness of retrieval practice via testing as a learning mechanism in a classroom setting using the subject matter of the course and (in most cases) the tests on which students received grades as the dependent measures. Our results add to a growing body of evidence that retrieval practice in the classroom can boost academic performance.

Talker-specific learning in speech perception

Lynne C. Nygaard, David B. Pisoni · Perception & Psychophysics · 1998 · 602 citations

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Shelly J. Schmidt · Journal of Food Science Education · 2015 · 388 citations

Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel. 2014. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 313 p. ISBN: 978-0-674-72901-8; List Price: $17.26 at Amazon.com (hardback). Over the past several months, I have been on a mission. I am on the hunt for resources on how to help my students learn how to learn. As I was searching the Internet for ideas, I came across a highly recommended resource – a book entitled “Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning." After flipping through a few virtual pages, using the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon.com, I pressed the “Add to Cart” button and I am so glad that I did! Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology as well as other disciplines, Brown and crew offer numerous concrete strategies for becoming more productive learners – a coveted skill needed by students of all ages. Brown and others begin with a chapter on how learning is misunderstood. One of the main tenets put forth in this chapter is that “learning is an acquired skill, and the most effective strategies are often counterintuitive (p. 2).” The remainder of the book is a rich exploration of learning practices that really work (based on numerous studies, replete with examples), while showing why other commonly-used practices are actually counterproductive. Below is a sampling of the “Don'ts” and “Dos” of productive learning put forth by Brown and others (2014), based on the latest research findings. Some of the most commonly used, yet least productive learning strategies are rereading the material (for example, textbooks, notes, articles, and other resources), underlining and highlighting, massed practice1 (that is, cramming), and blocked practice2 . For example, though rereading textbooks is a very popular study strategy used by more than 80% of college students in some surveys, it is often “labor in vain.” “Rereading has three strikes against it. It is time consuming. It doesn't result in durable memory. And it often involves a kind of unwitting self-deception, as growing familiarity with the text comes to feel like mastery of the content (p. 10).” Do not just reread material and highlight important concepts, because familiarity ≠ mastery! The strongly-held belief in the effectiveness of massed practice to master a new skill is widely held by students, teachers, and coaches alike. This belief is mainly attributable to the fast gains that are often observed during the learning phase of massed practice. However, what is apparent from research studies is that these gains are transitory and quickly fade away. What is gained quickly is also lost quickly. In general, the most productive learning strategies, the ones that result in deeper and more durable learning, are effortful; whereas “learning that is easy is like writing in sand, here today and gone tomorrow (p. 3).” With productive learning strategies, it seems that the saying “no pain, no gain” once again rings true. Brown and others (2014) put forth eight key, research-based strategies for enhanced learning (Table 1). Though teachers can and should purposefully embed these strategies throughout their courses (for example, via activities, assignments, and assessments), for ultimate effectiveness, students must “take charge of their own learning” (p. 201) and implement these learning strategies themselves, whether the teacher promotes and reinforces them or not. Putting these learning strategies into practice is often more difficult, but has been shown to work. Short-term strategies that require more effort and that slow learning down, like space practice, interleave practice, and others (see Table 1), are know as desirable difficulties. The good news is that implementing these more effortful strategies “will more than compensate for their inconvenience by making learning stronger, more precise, and more enduring (p. 68).” Though one would need to read the book cover to cover to obtain the underlying details of each of these approaches (Table 1) and how to put them into practice to enhance learning, a couple of select themes to entice the reader are provided below. The first theme is for teachers and is a controversial one – testing. The increased focus in recent years on standardized assessment “has turning testing into a lightening rod for frustration” (p. 19). But Brown and others (2014) call us to stop thinking of testing as a dipstick for measuring learning and assigning grades and start thinking of testing as a powerful tool for learning and durable retention. It's a change in philosophy that will results in dramatic, positive consequences. Testing, in its most basic form, is active retrieval practice. One of the most striking research findings discussed in the book is the power of active retrieval to strengthen memory (literally via strengthening neural pathways) and interrupt forgetting. “The act of retrieving learning from memory has two profound benefits. One, it tells you what you know and don't know, and therefore where to focus further study to improve the areas where you're weak. Two, recalling what you have learned causes your brain to reconsolidate the memory, which strengthens its connections to what you already know and making it easier for you to recall in the future” (p. 20). For example, a research study in a middle school in Columbia, Ill., showed that material reviewed with low-stakes quizzing with feedback three times during the course was much better recalled a month later (students averaged 92%, an A-) compared to material that was reviewed three times, but not quizzed (students averaged 79%, a C+). These results are not an isolated case at the middle school level, but have been replicated a number of times at many levels. There is solid evidence that the “testing effect” (as it is known among psychologists) works – whether implemented by the teacher or by the student (for example, self-quizzing). So, just like fruits and vegetables, quizzes are really good for you! The second theme is for students – studying for tests. Brown and others (2014) describe an all-too familiar scenario. A college professor answers a knock on her office door. It's a first-year student in distress, asking to discuss his low grade on the first exam. The student attended all the lectures and took diligent notes on them. He read the text and highlighted all the critical passages. Why didn't he do better on the exam? The problem is the student had used largely ineffective study strategies, ones that resulted in familiarity with the text and lecture notes, producing the illusion of mastery, rather than true mastery, of the material. “The illusion of mastery is an example of poor metacognition: what we know about what we know” (p.16). The student was not an accurate judge of his knowledge and, as commonly occurs, he overestimated how well he knew the material. The student viewed himself “as the model student, diligent to a fault,” but truthfully he did not know how to study. So what study strategies would have been more effective? Some study strategies that would assist in producing true mastery for the student include: 1) using the set of key concepts in the back of each chapter to test himself on what he knows (and what he needs to work on); 2) defining the key terms from memory and use them in a paragraph to explain their meaning and application; 3) converting the main points in the text into a series of questions and then later trying to answer the questions from memory; 4) rephrasing the main ideas in his own words as he is reading; 5) relating what he is learning to what he already knows; and 6) searching for examples in addition to the ones provided in the text. To gain true mastery, students need to employ effortful study strategies that cause them to be deeply engaged with the course content, so much so that they themselves become content builders, not just memorizers of information from PowerPoint slides that are flashed before eyes during lecture. This engagement will also help students develop sound metacognitive skills, allowing them to judge what they know and what still needs more work. As I read “Make It Stick,” I found myself jotting down numerous study activities – ones from the book as well as ones the book inspired – of what I could do in my classroom to help my students learn better and what my students could to for themselves to learn better. Table 2 contains 10 items from the list I complied, starting with an obvious, but often overlooked one – Explain to students how learning works and what strategies are most effective. I am confident that you will come up with many more ideas and that the learning of our students will deepen and become more durable because of it! Bottom line, learning how to learn is a critically important skill that we need to intentionally develop in our students. As emphasized by Brown and others (2014) in the opening paragraph of chapter 8 - “No matter what you may set your sights on doing or becoming, if you want to be a contender, it's mastering the ability to learn that will get you in the game and keep you there” (p. 200).

The influence of retrieval on retention

L. Mark Carrier, Harold Pashler · Memory & Cognition · 1992 · 577 citations

Mind wandering and education: from the classroom to online learning

Karl K. Szpunar, Samuel T. Moulton, Daniel L. Schacter · Frontiers in Psychology · 2013 · 261 citations

In recent years, cognitive and educational psychologists have become interested in applying principles of cognitive psychology to education. Here, we discuss the importance of understanding the nature and occurrence of mind wandering in the context of classroom and online lectures. In reviewing the relevant literature, we begin by considering early studies that provide important clues about student attentiveness via dependent measures such as physical markers of inattention, note taking, and retention. We then provide a broad overview of studies that have directly measured mind wandering in the classroom and online learning environments. Finally, we conclude by discussing interventions that might be effective at curbing the occurrence of mind wandering in educational settings, and consider various avenues of future research that we believe can shed light on this well-known but little studied phenomenon.

Inexpensive techniques to improve education: Applying cognitive psychology to enhance educational practice.

Henry L. Roediger, Mary A. Pyc · Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition · 2012 · 317 citations

The need to improve the educational system has never been greater. People in congress and business argue for expensive technological applications to improve education despite a lack of empirical evidence for their efficacy. We argue that one inexpensive avenue for improving education has been largely ignored. Cognitive and educational psychologists have identified strategies that greatly improve learning and retention of information, and yet these techniques are not generally applied in education nor taught in education schools. In fact, teachers often use instructional practices known to be wrong (i.e., massing rather than interleaving examples to explain a topic). We identify three general principles that are inexpensive to implement and have been shown in both laboratory and field experiments to improve learning: (1) distribution (spacing and interleaving) of practice in learning facts and skills; (2) retrieval practice (via self testing) for durable learning; and (3) explanatory questioning (elaborative interrogation and self-explanation) as a study strategy. We describe each technique, provide supporting evidence, and discuss classroom applications. Each principle can be applied to most subject matters from kindergarten to higher education. Applying findings from cognitive psychology to classroom instruction is no panacea for educational problems, but it represents one helpful and inexpensive strategy.

Metacognitive control and strategy selection: deciding to practice retrieval during learning.

Karpicke JD · J Exp Psychol Gen · 2009 · 302 citations

Study smart – impact of a learning strategy training on students’ study behavior and academic performance

Felicitas Biwer, Anique B. H. de Bruin, Adam M. Persky · Advances in Health Sciences Education · 2022 · 54 citations

A single-session learning strategy training program, combined with targeted follow-up support for low-performing students, shifted students away from ineffective study habits (rereading, highlighting) toward evidence-based strategies (distributed practice, interleaving, elaboration), and reduced the final-exam performance gap between high- and low-performing students by roughly 50% compared to a previous cohort that received no training.

Remindings and their effects in learning a cognitive skill

Brian H. Ross · Cognitive Psychology · 1984 · 407 citations

Impoverished cue support enhances subsequent retention: Support for the elaborative retrieval explanation of the testing effect

Shana K. Carpenter, Edward L. DeLosh · Memory & Cognition · 2006 · 390 citations

Test-potentiated learning: Distinguishing between direct and indirect effects of tests.

Kathleen M. Arnold, Kathleen B. McDermott · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · 2012 · 212 citations

The facilitative effect of retrieval practice, or testing, on the probability of later retrieval has been the focus of much recent empirical research. A lesser known benefit of retrieval practice is that it may also enhance the ability of a learner to benefit from a subsequent restudy opportunity. This facilitative effect of retrieval practice on subsequent encoding is known as test-potentiated learning. Thus far, however, the literature has not isolated the indirect effect of retrieval practice on subsequent memory (via enhancing the effectiveness of restudy) from the direct effects of retrieval on subsequent memory. The experiment presented here uses conditional probability to disentangle test-potentiated learning from the direct effects of retrieval practice. The results indicate that unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance the effectiveness of subsequent restudy, demonstrating that tests do potentiate subsequent learning.

Metacognitive awareness of learning strategies in undergraduates

Jennifer A. McCabe · Memory & Cognition · 2010 · 303 citations

On the Cognitive Processes Underlying Contextual Interference and Observational Learning

Yannick Blandin, Luc Proteau, Claude Alain · Journal of Motor Behavior · 1994 · 81 citations

The main goal of the present study was to determine whether observation of an unskilled model learning a timing task enables the observer to develop a cognitive representation of the task similar to the one acquired through physical practice (Adams, 1986; Bandura, 1977; Lee & White, 1990). To reach that goal, we tested whether a contextual interference effect would be obtained in a retention test of subjects who had observed an individual practicing three variations of a timing task under a random or a blocked schedule of practice. Similar patterns of results in an immediate retention test were found following observation and physical practice. This suggests that observation indeed engaged the observers in the same type of cognitive activities as did physical practice. Moreover, a schedule of practice made up of 100% physical practice led to improved learning compared with a schedule of practice made up of 50% observation followed by 50% physical practice. This suggests that learning is enhanced more by numerous implementations of a motor program than by its mere construction or retrieval.

Ultralearning

Scott Young · HarperCollins Publishers Limited · 2019 · ★ 4.3 (13)

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel · Harvard University Press · 2014

Common study habits like rereading, highlighting, and cramming create the illusion of mastery but produce rapid forgetting; instead, self-testing, spacing out practice, interleaving different topics, and embracing desirable difficulties produce learning that is more durable and transferable to new problems.

Retrieval-Based Word Learning in Young Typically Developing Children and Children With Development Language Disorder II: A Comparison of Retrieval Schedules

Eileen Haebig, Laurence B. Leonard, Patricia Deevy +7 more · Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research · 2019 · 70 citations

Purpose Retrieval practice has been found to be a powerful strategy to enhance long-term retention of new information; however, the utility of retrieval practice when teaching young children new words is largely unknown, and even less is known for young children with language impairments. The current study examined the effect of 2 different retrieval schedules on word learning at both the behavioral and neural levels. Method Participants included 16 typically developing children ( M TD = 61.58 months) and 16 children with developmental language disorder ( M DLD = 59.60 months). Children participated in novel word learning sessions in which the spacing of retrieval practice was manipulated: Some words were retrieved only after other words had been presented (i.e., repeated retrieval that required contextual reinstatement [RRCR]); others were taught using an immediate retrieval schedule. In Experiment 1, children's recall of the novel word labels and their meanings was tested after a 5-min delay and a 1-week delay. In Experiment 2, event-related brain potentials were obtained from a match–mismatch task utilizing the novel word stimuli. Results Experiment 1 findings revealed that children were able to label referents and to retain the novel words more successfully if the words were taught in the RRCR learning condition. Experiment 2 findings revealed that mismatching picture–word pairings elicited a robust N400 event-related brain potential only for words that were taught in the RRCR condition. In addition, children were more accurate in identifying picture–word matches and mismatches for words taught in the RRCR condition, relative to the immediate retrieval condition. Conclusions Retrieval practice that requires contextual reinstatement through spacing results in enhanced word learning and long-term retention of words. Both typically developing children and children with developmental language disorder benefit from this type of retrieval procedure. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7927112

Brain–behavior correlates of optimizing learning through interleaved practice

Chien‐Ho Lin, Barbara J. Knowlton, Ming-Chang Chiang +3 more · NeuroImage · 2011 · 90 citations

The benefit of generating errors during learning.

R B Potts, David R. Shanks · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · 2013 · 165 citations

Testing has been found to be a powerful learning tool, but educators might be reluctant to make full use of its benefits for fear that any errors made would be harmful to learning. We asked whether testing could be beneficial to memory even during novel learning, when nearly all responses were errors, and where errors were unlikely to be related to either cues or targets. In 4 experiments, participants learned definitions for unfamiliar English words, or translations for foreign vocabulary, by generating a response and being given corrective feedback, by reading the word and its definition or translation, or by selecting from a choice of definitions or translations followed by feedback. In a final test of all words, generating errors followed by feedback led to significantly better memory for the correct definition or translation than either reading or making incorrect choices, suggesting that the benefits of generation are not restricted to correctly generated items. Even when information to be learned is novel, errorful generation may play a powerful role in potentiating encoding of corrective feedback. Experiments 2A, 2B, and 3 revealed, via metacognitive judgments of learning, that participants are strikingly unaware of this benefit, judging errorful generation to be a less effective encoding method than reading or incorrect choosing, when in fact it was better. Predictions reflected participants' subjective experience during learning. If subjective difficulty leads to more effort at encoding, this could at least partly explain the errorful generation advantage.

Why does interleaving improve math learning? The contributions of discriminative contrast and distributed practice

Nathaniel L. Foster, Michael L. Mueller, Christopher A. Was +2 more · Memory & Cognition · 2019 · 64 citations

Metacognition of the testing effect: Guiding learners to predict the benefits of retrieval

Jonathan G. Tullis, Jason R. Finley, Aaron S. Benjamin · Memory & Cognition · 2012 · 117 citations

Combined eyetracking and keystroke-logging methods for studying cognitive processes in text production

Åsa Wengelin, Mark Torrance, Kenneth Holmqvist +4 more · Behavior Research Methods · 2009 · 127 citations

Not New, but Nearly Forgotten: the Testing Effect Decreases or even Disappears as the Complexity of Learning Materials Increases

Tamara van Gog, John Sweller · Educational Psychology Review · 2015 · 155 citations

The testing effect is a finding from cognitive psychology with relevance for education. It shows that after an initial study period, taking a practice test improves long-term retention compared to not taking a test and—more interestingly—compared to restudying the learning material. Boundary conditions of the effect that have received attention include the test format, retrieval success on the initial test, the retention interval, or the spacing of tests. Another potential boundary condition concerns the complexity of learning materials, that is, the number of interacting information elements a learning task contains. This insight is not new, as research from a century ago already had indicated that the testing effect decreases as the complexity of learning materials increases, but that finding seems to have been nearly forgotten. Studies presented in this special issue suggest that the effect may even disappear when the complexity of learning material is very high. Since many learning tasks in schools are high in element interactivity, a failure to find the effect under these conditions is relevant for education. Therefore, this special issue hopes to put this potential boundary condition back on the radar and provide a starting point for discussion and future research on this topic.

Desirable Difficulties in Vocabulary Learning

Robert A. Bjork, Judith F. Kroll · The American Journal of Psychology · 2015 · 152 citations

In this article we discuss the role of desirable difficulties in vocabulary learning from two perspectives, one having to do with identifying conditions of learning that impose initial challenges to the learner but then benefit later retention and transfer, and the other having to do with the role of certain difficulties that are intrinsic to language processes, are engaged during word learning, and reflect how language is understood and produced. From each perspective we discuss evidence that supports the notion that difficulties in learning and imposed costs to language processing may produce benefits because they are likely to increase conceptual understanding. We then consider the consequences of these processes for actual second-language learning and suggest that some of the domain-general cognitive advantages that have been reported for proficient bilinguals may reflect difficulties imposed by the learning process, and by the requirement to negotiate cross-language competition, that are broadly desirable. As Alice Healy and her collaborators were perhaps the first to demonstrate, research on desirable difficulties in vocabulary and language learning holds the promise of bringing together research traditions on memory and language that have much to offer each other.

High-Intensity Aerobic Exercise Enhances Motor Memory Retrieval

Cameron S. Mang, Nicholas J. Snow, Katie P. Wadden +2 more · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · 2016 · 71 citations

INTRODUCTION: In previous work, acute high-intensity aerobic exercise benefited continuous motor sequence task learning. As memory processes underlying motor sequence learning vary between tasks involving continuous and discrete movements, the objective of the current study was to determine whether the beneficial effects of acute aerobic exercise generalize to the learning of a discrete motor sequence task. METHODS: Sixteen young healthy individuals practiced a discrete motor sequence task preceded by either a period of rest or a bout of high-intensity cycling. Participants moved a cursor with a computer mouse to a series of discretely presented targets on a screen. Target presentation followed either a repeated or a random sequence, which allowed the evaluation of implicit sequence-specific motor learning. The change in movement response time over practice (△-ACQ) and from practice to a 24-h "no-exercise" retention test (△-RET) and the rate of improvement over practice (α-ACQ) and during the retention test (α-RET) were calculated. RESULTS: α-RET was greater for the repeated sequence than random sequences after aerobic exercise (P = 0.01), but not rest (P = 0.33). Further, α-RET for the repeated sequence was greater after aerobic exercise than for either sequence (repeated, random) in the rest condition (P ≤ 0.01). There were no differences between sequences and/or conditions for △-ACQ, △-RET, or α-RET (P ≥ 0.57). CONCLUSION: Our findings show a positive effect of acute high-intensity aerobic exercise on implicit discrete motor sequence learning. Performing exercise before practice increased the rate of improvement at a 24-h delayed retention test, suggesting an effect on the rate of motor memory retrieval. Pairing acute aerobic exercise with motor practice may facilitate learning of discrete movement sequences in sport or rehabilitation settings.

Self-regulated learning of a natural category: Do people interleave or block exemplars during study?

Sarah K. Tauber, John Dunlosky, Katherine A. Rawson +2 more · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · 2012 · 69 citations

Students Can (Mostly) Recognize Effective Learning, So Why Do They Not Do It?

Stephany Duany Rea, Lisi Wang, Katherine Muenks +1 more · Journal of Intelligence · 2022 · 65 citations

Cognitive psychology research has emphasized that the strategies that are effective and efficient for fostering long-term retention (e.g., interleaved study, retrieval practice) are often not recognized as effective by students and are infrequently used. In the present studies, we use a mixed-methods approach and challenge the rhetoric that students are entirely unaware of effective learning strategies. We show that whether being asked to describe strategies used by poor-, average-, and high-performing students (Study 1) or being asked to judge vignettes of students using different strategies (Study 2), participants are generally readily able to identify effective strategies: they were able to recognize the efficacy of explanation, pretesting, interpolated retrieval practice, and even some interleaving. Despite their knowledge of these effective strategies, they were still unlikely to report using these strategies themselves. In Studies 2 and 3, we also explore the reasons why students might not use the strategies that they know are effective. Our findings suggest that interventions to improve learners' strategy use might focus less on teaching them about what is effective and more on increasing self-efficacy, reducing the perceived costs, and establishing better habits.

Desirable Difficulty: Theory and application of intentionally challenging learning.

Nelson A, Eliasz KL · Med Educ · 2023 · 43 citations

A learning method for all: The testing effect is independent of cognitive ability.

Bert Jonsson, Carola Wiklund‐Hörnqvist, Tova Stenlund +2 more · Journal of Educational Psychology · 2020 · 42 citations

The testing effect, defined as the positive effect of retrieval practice (i.e., self-testing) on long-term memory retention relative to other ways to support learning, is a robust empirical phenomenon. Despite substantial scientific evidence for the testing effect, less is known about its effectiveness in relation to individual differences in cognitive ability. In the present study, we examine whether the effect of retrieval practice is beneficial independent of cognitive ability using behavioral and brain imaging data. In a within-subject design, upper-secondary students learned Swahili–Swedish word pairs through retrieval practice and study. The testing effects were assessed at a direct test and for a subsample after 1- and 4-weeks retention intervals, respectively. Another subsample performed the 1-week retention test during functional MRI (fMRI). Memory retention was analyzed in relation to an educationally relevant composite score dividing participants into low, intermediate, and high cognitive-ability groups. We provide behavioral evidence that the testing effect is independent of cognitive ability. The fMRI findings confirmed a general effectiveness of retrieval practice by showing that brain regions associated with successful retrieval of conceptual representations and semantic processing were more strongly engaged after retrieval practice in all cognitive-ability groups. It is argued that the advantages of retrieval practice should be conveyed to all teachers and students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

The Effect of Retrieval Practice in Primary School Vocabulary Learning

Nicole A. M. C. Goossens, Gino Camp, Peter P. J. L. Verkoeijen +1 more · Applied Cognitive Psychology · 2013 · 72 citations

Summary The testing effect refers to the finding that retrieval practice leads to better long‐term retention than additional study of course material. In the present study, we examined whether this finding generalizes to primary school vocabulary learning. We also manipulated the word learning context. Children were introduced to 20 words by listening to a story in which novel words were embedded (story condition) or by listening to isolated words (word pairs condition). The children practised the meaning of 10 words by retrieval practice and 10 words by restudy. After 1 week, they completed a cued recall test and a multiple choice test. Words learned by retrieval practice were recalled better than words learned by additional study, but there was no difference in recognition. Furthermore, the children in the word pairs condition outperformed the children in the story condition. These results show that retrieval practice may improve vocabulary learning in children. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Multiple-choice testing as a desirable difficulty in the classroom.

Elizabeth Ligon Bjork, Jeri L. Little, Benjamin C. Storm · Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition · 2014 · 72 citations

Abstract We examined whether the power of tests as learning events, frequently demonstrated in the laboratory, would also occur in a large undergraduate course. Our goals were to determine: if learning of information tested on multiple-choice quizzes administered across the course would be enhanced compared to non-tested control information; and what the effects of quizzing would be for the learning of information conceptually related to the tested information but not itself tested on the quizzes. Given that retrieval practice can have positive ( testing effect ) and negative consequences ( retrieval-induced forgetting ), our concern was that the learning and later retention of non-tested conceptually related information might be impaired by the multiple-choice quizzes. Importantly, learning benefits were found for both types of information on the final exam, indicating that quizzing within a course can enhance not only the learning of specifically tested information, but the learning of non-tested conceptually related information as well.

Testing potentiates new learning across a retention interval and a lag: A strategy change perspective

Jason C. K. Chan, Krista D. Manley, Sara D. Davis +1 more · Journal of Memory and Language · 2018 · 64 citations

The benefit of retrieval practice over elaborative restudy in primary school vocabulary learning

Nicole A. M. C. Goossens, Gino Camp, Peter P. J. L. Verkoeijen +2 more · Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition · 2014 · 47 citations

The testing effect is the phenomenon that retrieval practice of learning material after studying enhanceslong-term retention more than restudying. We examined retrieval practice in primary school vocabularylearning in two experiments. Nine-year-old children studied word definitions and completed exercisesaccording to three learning conditions: pure restudy, elaborative restudy or retrieval practice. Children inthe pure restudy condition reread and partly copied the definitions. In the elaborative restudy conditionchildren reread the definitions and connected semantically related words to the target words. Childrenin the retrieval practice condition recalled the words based on their definitions. Overall, on the fill-in-the-blank test after one week children in the retrieval practice condition outperformed children in theother conditions, but on the multiple-choice test there were no differences. Retrieval practice may beeffective for primary school vocabulary learning, but there is uncertainty about the practical value andthe magnitude of the retrieval practice effect.

Neural Signatures of Test-Potentiated Learning in Parietal Cortex

Scott M. Nelson, Kathleen M. Arnold, Adrian W. Gilmore +1 more · Journal of Neuroscience · 2013 · 60 citations

Testing, or retrieval practice, is beneficial for long-term memory both directly, by enhancing performance on tested information, and indirectly, by facilitating learning from subsequent encounters with the information. Although a wealth of behavioral research has examined the "testing effect," neuroimaging has provided little insight regarding the potential mechanisms that underlie the benefits of retrieval practice. Here, fMRI was used to examine the effects of retrieval practice on later study trials. Human subjects studied pairs of associated words, which were then tested, restudied, or neither tested nor restudied. All pairs were then studied once more in expectation of a final test. We asked how this Final Study episode was affected by prior history (whether the pair had been previously tested, restudied, or neither). The data revealed striking similarities between responses in lateral parietal cortex in the present study and those in a host of studies explicitly tapping recognition memory processes. Moreover, activity in lateral parietal cortex during Final Study was correlated with a behavioral index of test-potentiated learning. We conclude that retrieval practice may enhance learning by promoting the recruitment of retrieval mechanisms during subsequent study opportunities.

When logic fails: Implicit transitive inference in humans

Michael J. Frank, Jerry W. Rudy, William B. Levy +1 more · Memory & Cognition · 2005 · 89 citations

Expanding retrieval practice: An effective aid to preschool children's learning

Catherine O. Fritz, Peter E. Morris, Debra Nolan +1 more · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · 2006 · 82 citations

The benefits of expanding retrieval practice for preschool children were explored in two experiments. In Experiment 1, three groups learned names for six plush toy pigs using expanding retrieval practice, a reward incentive, or a control condition. Reward did not significantly improve learning but retrieval practice doubled recall. In Experiment 2, three groups learned names to soft toys, comparing recall following massed elaborative study with either expanding retrieval practice or expanding re-presentation. Recall was tested after 1 minute, 1 day, and 2 days. A very large effect size (d = 1.9) indicated the very considerable benefit from expanding retrieval practice over the elaboration condition. Comparison with the re-presentation condition suggested that half of the benefit of expanding retrieval practice came from spaced scheduling and half from retrieval practice. Expanding retrieval practice provides an effective method to improve learning by young children.

Mechanisms behind the testing effect: an empirical investigation of retrieval practice in meaningful learning

Tino Endres, Alexander Renkl · Frontiers in Psychology · 2015 · 72 citations

The testing effect-more learning by testing as compared to restudying-is a well-established finding. A typical testing procedure in the context of meaningful learning comprises a recall task after an initial study phase. Different theories refer to different mechanisms when explaining the positive effects of such recall tasks. In the context of learning from expository texts, we tested three mechanisms as suggested by a variety of prominent approaches: the elaborative-retrieval theory, the theory of transfer-appropriate processing, and the unspecific-goal perspective. We experimentally varied the type of testing task (short-answer task vs. free-recall task, both compared to a restudy task) in a within-subject design (N = 47 university students). We replicated the testing effect. We found no evidence for a transfer-appropriate processing effect or an unspecific-goal effect. The testing effect disappeared when statistically controlling for mental effort. Initially non-tested material was also fostered by testing (spreading activation effect). These findings indicate that testing helps learning when learners must invest substantial mental effort, as suggested by the elaborative retrieval theory. For educational purposes, testing tasks should be assigned that require the learners to invest substantial mental effort.

Interleaved practice enhances memory and problem-solving ability in undergraduate physics

Joshua Samani, Steven C. Pan · npj Science of Learning · 2021 · 53 citations

We investigated whether continuously alternating between topics during practice, or interleaved practice, improves memory and the ability to solve problems in undergraduate physics. Over 8 weeks, students in two lecture sections of a university-level introductory physics course completed thrice-weekly homework assignments, each containing problems that were interleaved (i.e., alternating topics) or conventionally arranged (i.e., one topic practiced at a time). On two surprise criterial tests containing novel and more challenging problems, students recalled more relevant information and more frequently produced correct solutions after having engaged in interleaved practice (with observed median improvements of 50% on test 1 and 125% on test 2). Despite benefiting more from interleaved practice, students tended to rate the technique as more difficult and incorrectly believed that they learned less from it. Thus, in a domain that entails considerable amounts of problem-solving, replacing conventionally arranged with interleaved homework can (despite perceptions to the contrary) foster longer lasting and more generalizable learning.

Metacognition in Upper-Division Biology Students: Awareness Does Not Always Lead to Control

Kathryn Morris Dye, Julie Dangremond Stanton · CBE—Life Sciences Education · 2017 · 71 citations

Students with awareness and control of their own thinking can learn more and perform better than students who are not metacognitive. Metacognitive regulation is how you control your thinking in order to learn. It includes the skill of evaluation, which is the ability to appraise your approaches to learning and then modify future plans based on those appraisals. We asked when, why, and how upper-division biology students evaluated their approaches to learning. We used self-evaluation assignments to identify students with potentially high metacognition and conducted semistructured interviews to collect rich qualitative data from them. Through content analysis, we found that students evaluated their approaches to learning when their courses presented novel challenges. Most students evaluated in response to an unsatisfactory grade. While evaluating study strategies, many students considered performance and learning simultaneously. We gained insights on the barriers students face when they try to change their approaches to learning based on their evaluations. A few students continued to use ineffective study strategies even though they were aware of the ineffectiveness of those strategies. A desire to avoid feeling uncomfortable was the primary reason they avoided strategies that they knew were more effective. We examined the behavioral change literature to help interpret these findings.

Retrieval Practice: Beneficial for All Students or Moderated by Individual Differences?

Frida Bertilsson, Tova Stenlund, Carola Wiklund‐Hörnqvist +1 more · Psychology Learning & Teaching · 2020 · 38 citations

Retrieval practice is a learning technique that is known to produce enhanced long-term memory retention when compared to several other techniques. This difference in learning outcome is commonly called “the testing effect”. Yet there is little research on how individual differences in personality traits and working memory capacity moderate the size of the retrieval-practice benefits. The current study is a conceptual replication of a previous study, further investigating whether the testing effect is sensitive to individual differences in the personality traits Grit and Need for Cognition, and working memory capacity. Using a within-subjects design ( N = 151), participants practiced 60 Swahili–Swedish word pairs (e.g., adhama–honor) through retrieval practice and re-studying. Learning was assessed at three time points: five minutes, one week, and four weeks after practice. The results revealed a significant testing effect at all three time points. Further, the results showed no association between the testing effect and the personality traits, or between the testing effect and working memory, at any time point. To conclude, retrieval practice seems to be a learning technique that is not moderated by individual differences in these specific personality traits or with working memory capacity, thus possibly beneficial for all students.