Prior episodic learning and the efficacy of retrieval practice

• Published in: Memory & cognition Vol. 50; no. 4; pp. 722 - 735
• Main Authors: Gupta, Mohan W., Pan, Steven C., Rickard, Timothy C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-05-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Classrooms; Cognition; Cognitive Psychology; Cues; Experiments; Feedback; Humans; Hypotheses; Learning; Medical research; Memory, Episodic; Mental Recall; Psychology; Retention; Prior knowledge; Cued-recall; Retrieval practice; Testing effect; Dual-memory model; Individual differences
• ISSN: 0090-502X; 1532-5946
• DOI: 10.3758/s13421-021-01236-4

In three experiments we investigated how the level of study-based, episodic knowledge influences the efficacy of subsequent retrieval practice (testing) as a learning event. Possibilities are that the efficacy of a test, relative to a restudy control, decreases, increases, or is independent of the degree of prior study-based learning. The degree of study-based learning was manipulated by varying the number of item repetitions in the initial study phase between one and eight. Predictions of the dual-memory model of test-enhanced learning for the case of one study-phase repetition were used as a reference. Results support the hypothesis that the advantage of testing over restudy is independent of the degree of prior episodic learning, and they suggest that educators can apply cued-recall testing with the expectation that its efficacy is similar across varying levels of prior content learning. Implications for testing effect theory are discussed.