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

Abstract

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.