Testing facilitates the regulation of subsequent study time

Abstract

We examined how testing potentiates self-regulated learning and alleviates the foresight bias—an illusion of competence that arises from information being present during study but absent at test—and whether such benefits can transfer to non-tested material. After studying paired associates that varied in difficulty, participants either restudied or were tested on all the pairs (Experiment 1); were tested on only half of the pairs (Experiment 2); or were tested on half of the pairs and restudied the remaining pairs (Experiments 3 and 4). All items were then restudied at participants’ own pace before a final cued-recall test. In Experiment 1, interim tests enhanced the effectiveness of subsequent study time and alleviated the foresight bias, whereas interim restudying had no such benefits. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 demonstrated that such test-potentiated self-regulated learning can transfer to non-tested items if restudied intermixed with items that were tested. The results demonstrate yet another practical benefit of testing and suggest that retrieval practice can foster metacognitive sophistication among learners, serving as an experiencebased debiasing procedure.