Expecting to teach enhances learning and organization of knowledge in free recall of text passages

• Published in: Memory & cognition Vol. 42; no. 7; pp. 1038 - 1048
• Main Authors: Nestojko, John F., Bui, Dung C., Kornell, Nate, Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-10-2014; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Advantages; Anxiety; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognitive Psychology; Doppler effect; Experiments; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Learning; Learning - physiology; Learning. Memory; Male; Memory; Mental Recall - physiology; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Students; Teaching; Young Adult; Memory; Recall; Text processing; Human; Free recall; Cognition; Knowledge organization; Text; Experimental study; Teaching; Learning; Acquisition process; Expectation
• DOI: 10.3758/s13421-014-0416-z
• EISSN: 1532-5946
• ISSN: 0090-502X

The present research assessed the potential effects of expecting to teach on learning. In two experiments, participants studied passages either in preparation for a later test or in preparation for teaching the passage to another student who would then be tested. In reality, all participants were tested, and no one actually engaged in teaching. Participants expecting to teach produced more complete and better organized free recall of the passage (Experiment
1
) and, in general, correctly answered more questions about the passage than did participants expecting a test (Experiment
1
), particularly questions covering main points (Experiment
2
), consistent with their having engaged in more effective learning strategies. Instilling an expectation to teach thus seems to be a simple, inexpensive intervention with the potential to increase learning efficiency at home and in the classroom.