Part-list cuing with prose material: When cuing is detrimental and when it is not

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that the presentation of some studied items as retrieval cues at test can impair recall of the remaining items. This effect, often referred to as part-list cuing (PLC) impairment, has mostly been demonstrated with simple word lists and short retention intervals between study and test. Across 4 experiments, this study examined the effects of PLC with educationally relevant prose passages for retention intervals of up to one week. Results showed that the effects of PLC with prose material depend critically on retention interval and test format. In the absence of any further retrieval cues, Experiments 1–3 found detrimental effects of PLC after short delay but neutral effects of PLC after delays of 2 days or 1 week. In the presence of gapped sentences (“fill-in-the-blank”) serving as (additional) retrieval cues at test, Experiment 4 found a neutral effect of PLC after short delay but a beneficial effect after a delay of 2 days. With prose material, detrimental effects of PLC may thus be restricted to short retention interval and neutral or even beneficial effects may arise after prolonged retention interval. The findings suggest that both detrimental mechanisms — like blocking and inhibition – and beneficial mechanisms — like context reactivation – contribute to the effects of PLC with prose material.