Selective restudy can reset recall of forgotten information

Abstract

Recall of studied material is typically impaired as time between study and test increases. Selective restudy can interrupt such time-dependent forgetting by enhancing recall not only of the restudied but also of the not restudied material. In two experiments, we examined whether this interruption of time-dependent forgetting reflects a transient or more lasting effect on recall performance. We analyzed time-dependent forgetting of studied items right after study and after time-lagged selective restudy. Restudy boosted recall of the not restudied items up to the levels observed directly after study and created a restart of time-dependent forgetting from this enhanced recall level. Critically, the forgetting after restudy was indistinguishable from the forgetting after study, suggesting that restudy induced a reset of recall for the not restudied items. The results are consistent with the idea that restudy reactivates the temporal context during study, thus facilitating recall of the not restudied items. In particular, the findings suggest that such context updating reflects a lasting effect that entails a restart of the original time-dependent forgetting. Results are discussed with respect to recent, similar findings on effects of time-lagged selective retrieval.