Retrieval Practice Research Articles

Timing of feedback and retrieval practice: a laboratory study with EFL students

The aim of this empirical laboratory study was to investigate the effect of immediate and delayed feedback on retrieval practice among Saudi EFL learners using short-answer tests administered at three different time points: immediately, one week later, and one month later. A total of 177 Saudi undergraduate EFL students were randomly assigned to four groups: Repeated Studying, Repeated Testing-no feedback, Repeated Testing-immediate feedback, and Repeated Testing-delayed feedback. Additionally, a restudy control group was included to compare retrieval practice and feedback effects to the restudy condition. Participants read a 487-word prose passage and underwent testing at the specified intervals. Results revealed that retrieval practice without feedback outperformed repeated studying in the one-month delayed test. Both immediate and delayed feedback groups outperform the no-feedback and restudying groups. Moreover, immediate feedback was found to be more effective than delayed feedback in enhancing long-term retention. These findings emphasize the importance of providing timely feedback to optimize retrieval practice and improve learning outcomes in EFL contexts.

The Neuroaesthetics of Art and Design Education

AbstractTeaching is increasingly defined through the syntax of cognitive science, by retrieval practice, spaced learning, and interleaving, generating a computational rhythm for learning as a system of inputs and outputs that builds up an individual's memory over time. This, I argue, is at odds with the choreography of art and design education as an aesthetic, social, and material practice. An alternative mapping is required to fully understand the chronology of learning that takes place in and through the subject of art and design with human and nonhuman others. Drawing from a review of research in the field of Neuroaesthetics, I will seek to defend the unique temporality of art and design education and imagine different visualisations of learning in the subject beyond the computational.

A learning theory‐based exploratory analysis of teacher professional development interventions for formative assessment

AbstractThere is substantial evidence in cognitive psychology for the effectiveness of learning theory‐based principles, such as activating prior knowledge or retrieval practice, for learning. In this exploratory study, we analysed to what degree such learning theory‐based principles are applied in teacher professional development (TPD) interventions for formative assessment and how, and whether differences in the use of these principles between TPD interventions explain differences in the effectiveness of such interventions. We found that the impact of TPD interventions for formative assessment on student achievement was evaluated rigorously in very few studies, with only five in our sample. Our results also showed that most learning theory‐based principles were applied only to a very limited degree, and not deliberately. Both findings imply that no patterns relating the application of learning theory‐based principles and intervention effectiveness were discernible. However, given the general evidence for the principles, there is probably much to gain by applying the learning theory‐based principles when developing TPD interventions for formative assessment. Context and implicationsRationale for this studyStudies in cognitive psychology have resulted in clear principles to promote learning. It is unknown whether these have been used to improve teacher professional development (for formative assessment).Why the new findings matterThe limited use of learning theory‐based principles in TPD development is remarkable, as there is strong evidence that these principles are effective.Implications for researchersOnly 5 of 44 evaluated studies adhered to high standards for randomised controlled trials set by Cheung and Slavin (2016) and What Works Clearinghouse (2020), meaning that we ultimately have very little reliable data on the effectiveness of TPD interventions for formative assessment. If we want to know what influences improvement in teacher skills when conducting TPD interventions, then better interventions and evaluations are needed.The learning theory‐based principles themselves are the result of thorough research, and it is therefore worthwhile to further investigate how the learning theory‐based principles can be used to improve TPD interventions for formative assessment.

The role of variable retrieval in effective learning

Current research on memory indicates that learning is most effective when it involves spaced retrieval practice of study materials. Here, we investigated whether the benefits of both retrieval practice and spacing can be further boosted when variability is introduced across practice sessions. Across six experiments, participants learned translations of foreign vocabulary, with foreign words embedded in contextual sentences hinting at the meaning of these words. These sentences were then either kept constant or varied from one learning cycle to another. Whenever repeated practice took the form of retrieval from long-term memory with contextual sentences serving as cues (with or without feedback after retrieval attempts), variable sentences led to better learning of the meanings of the embedded foreign words than constant sentences. The benefits of variable retrieval were observed both immediately after study and after a 24-h delay, and they were larger when retrieval practice was spaced rather than massed. However, these benefits were not appreciated by the learners who judged learning to be more effective with constant rather than variable cues. This metacognitive illusion, misaligning the effectiveness of learning and its appraisal by learners, was confirmed in the seventh experiment which focused on learning lecture content. Thus, while spaced retrieval practice employing variable cues clearly produces robust benefits for memory performance, such benefits may be severely underappreciated by the learners.

Temporal recall in the shadow of emotion: separate emotional contexts during encoding enhance the temporal source memory retrieval.

Episodic memory, with its emphasis on temporal-spatial contexts, has been a longstanding focus in memory research. While previous studies have investigated the role of emotion in temporal source memory using emotionally charged stimuli, such as emotional words or images, the influence of a separated emotional context remains less explored. This study sought to understand the impact of separate emotional contexts on temporal source memory. Participants were shown Chinese characters alongside separate emotional contexts (i.e. a neutral or negative picture) and then engaged in either a retrieval practice or a control condition. Finally, they were tested for recognition, temporal source memory, and emotional source memory for all the learned characters. Results revealed that a negative emotional context, unlike a neutral setting, enhanced the accuracy of temporal memory for adjacent neutral characters. However, this negative context reduced the accuracy of recalling the associated emotion. Importantly, the boost in temporal memory due to the emotional context remained even when participants were unsure or mistaken about the associated emotion. This study demonstrates the complex interplay between emotion and temporal memory, underscoring the enhancement effect of separated emotional contexts on temporal recall, irrespective of explicit emotional memory retrieval.

Comparing generating predictions with retrieval practice as learning strategies for primary school children.

This eye tracking study run in 2019 examines the learning benefits of two common active learning approaches-generating predictions and retrieval practice-for young children. Both generating predictions and retrieval practice are active learning approaches that involve generating responses and then being provided with the correct information or retrieving previously provided correct information. Participants included 90 children (Mage = 7 years; female = 46, male = 42). Parents reported children's race and ethnicity as follows: 2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 5% African American, 74% Caucasian, 3% other, and 6% identified as two or more categories; demographics largely reflective of the county where the data were collected, but nevertheless the generalizability of these findings to more diverse populations may be limited. In this study, young children learned facts about insects (e.g., "Insects are hard on the outside.") while we measured their attention to the lesson using eye tracking technology. Then their knowledge was assessed on an immediate test. All children were presented with the same materials, but the presentation order was modified based on condition assignment. In the generating predictions condition, children saw examples of animals and were asked if an animal was an insect or they saw animals and were asked to identify which one was the insect, followed by the correct response. In the retrieve condition, the presentation order was reversed such that children first saw the correct response and then were asked if the animal was an insect, or which of two examples was an insect. Results suggest that although retrieval practice results in overall better learning outcomes, generating predictions increased children's attention to the materials (d = 1.92), and among children who were able to maintain attention, learning outcomes were equal among the two conditions in an immediate test. This work highlights the importance of considering student-level factors when deciding the best learning strategies to implement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Science of Learning Strategy Series: Article 6, Elaboration

Abstract: The science of learning (learning science) is an interprofessional field that concerns itself with how the brain learns and remembers important information. Learning science has compiled a set of evidence-based strategies, such as distributed practice, retrieval practice, and interleaving, which are quite relevant to continuing professional development. Spreading out study and practice separated by cognitive breaks (distributed practice), testing oneself to check mastery and memory of previously learned information (retrieval practice), and mixing the learning of separate but associated information (interleaving) represent strategies that are underutilized in continuing professional development. Participants and planners alike can benefit from learning science recommendations to inform their decisions. Elaboration, the subject of this article, is another evidence-based strategy that relates to how one studies or practices priority information.

Educational Method to Promote Recognition, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Eating Disorders: A Cluster-Randomized Study of the Effects of Retrieval Practice Amongst Medical Trainees

Educational Method to Promote Recognition, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Eating Disorders: A Cluster-Randomized Study of the Effects of Retrieval Practice Amongst Medical Trainees

Supplemental Material for Comparing Generating Predictions With Retrieval Practice as Learning Strategies for Primary School Children

Supplemental Material for Comparing Generating Predictions With Retrieval Practice as Learning Strategies for Primary School Children

Supplemental Material for Direct and Indirect Effects of Fluid Intelligence on the Retrieval Practice Effect

Supplemental Material for Direct and Indirect Effects of Fluid Intelligence on the Retrieval Practice Effect

Contextualised retrieval practice: the effect of context type and working memory capacity on word retention

ABSTRACT The present study on intentional retrieval practice compared the benefits of presenting words in either informative or uninformative sentence contexts. Participants first studied a list of English words with their translations. Then, they were all exposed to half of the words with informative sentences containing meaning clues in the Context Inference (CI) condition and half with uninformative sentences devoid of such clues in the Memory Retrieval (MR) condition as part of retrieval-based practising. Participants were required to type the L1 translation for each word presented using a mobile application. Data were collected by both form-recall and meaning-recall tests immediately afterwards and then a week later. In addition, this study focused on the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and word retention in these two conditions to explore the suggestion that individuals may benefit differently from retrieval practices. Although the results showed that both conditions contributed to word retention, the MR condition was significantly more effective than the CI condition for the participants’ long-term retention. Further, the results revealed an overall positive effect of WMC on word retention in both conditions, with high-WMC individuals achieving higher retention scores than low-WMC individuals. However, this effect was not modulated by the type of context condition.

Far transfer of retrieval-practice benefits: rule-based learning as the underlying mechanism.

Benefits of self-testing for learning have been consistently shown for simple materials such as word lists learned by rote memorization. Considerably less evidence for such benefits exists for complex, more educationally relevant materials and its application to new situations. The present study explores the mechanisms underlying this transfer. To this end, a typical retrieval-practice-effect paradigm was applied to foster the learning of an artificial language. Participants either repeatedly studied grammatically correct exemplar sentences of the artificial language or engaged in a cloze test as the interim testafter learning. To assess far transfer, participants in both groups of restudy and retrieval practice engaged in a grammaticality judgment test after a delay of 5min and 1week. In addition, participants in both groups completed a final memory test (i.e., a cloze test identical to the initial test) 1week after learning. In addition to a long-term memory benefit of retrieval practice,results revealed alsoa retrieval-practicebenefit in the far-transfer test after the 1-week delay. The findings further support the view that far transfer is supported by learning the underlying grammatical rules as opposed to memorizing the material. Thus, retrieval practice is also effective for fostering learning of complex materials and, even more importantly, for promoting transfer of learning-a crucial goal in modern educational practices.

Learning Verbs in Sentences: Children With Developmental Language Disorder and the Role of Retrieval Practice.

Retrieval practice has been shown to assist the word learning of children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Although this has been true for learning new verbs as well as new nouns and adjectives, these children's overall verb learning has remained quite low. In this preregistered study, we presented novel verbs in transitive sentences with varying subjects/agents and objects/patients to determine if recall could be improved and if retrieval practice continued to be facilitative. Fourteen children with DLD aged 4-5 years and 13 same-age peers with typical language development (TD) learned eight novel verbs over two sessions. Half of the novel verbs were presented with spacing between study and retrieval trials, and half were presented with the same frequency in study trials without the opportunity for retrieval. All novel verbs were presented in sentences such as, "The woman is deeking the shoe." Children's ability to recall and use the novel verbs in the same sentence structure was tested after the second session and 1 week later. The children were also required to use the novel verbs in bare-stem form in a new structure, as in, "That woman likes to deek the towel." Both groups of children showed increased recall relative to a previous novel verb study. The children with TD showed the expected advantages of spaced retrieval over repeated study and could use the novel verbs in the new morphological form and sentence structure. The children with DLD, however, showed an advantage for spaced retrieval only shortly after the learning period. These children had great difficulty changing the novel verbs to a bare stem and using them in a new structure. Although spaced retrieval assists children's novel verb recall, children with DLD in particular require additional help using these verbs with morphological and syntactic flexibility.

Improving the Use of Retrieval Practice for Both Easy and Difficult Materials: The Effect of an Instructional Intervention

Improving the Use of Retrieval Practice for Both Easy and Difficult Materials: The Effect of an Instructional Intervention

Retrieval Practice: Strategy for Reducing Cognitive Anxiety through Students’ Concept Mastery and Cognitive Ability

Retrieval Practice: Strategy for Reducing Cognitive Anxiety through Students’ Concept Mastery and Cognitive Ability

Children’s Retrieval of Science Facts: The Role of Hints and Confidence

ABSTRACT The effortful process of retrieving information from memory has been established as an effective strategy for improving student learning. However, we have a limited understanding of the development of retrieval practice in children, including contexts that may scaffold its benefit. In the current pre-registered study, we examined whether the use of hints during retrieval practice improved free recall in an online science learning task in 8- to 13-years-olds (N = 77, N females = 36). We found partial evidence supporting the provision of hints as boosting the benefit of retrieval practice. Children’s long-term retention of science facts was higher when they received hints during an earlier practice test compared to restudying information, but not compared to a test only condition without hints. Furthermore, we found similar effects across both age and levels of confidence, suggesting that retrieval practice remains stable across these factors.

Testing the dual-memory framework: individual differences in the magnitude of the retrieval practice effect and fluid intelligence.

Retrieving information from memory enhances long-term retention. In this manuscript, we describe the dual-memory framework, which makes interval-scale predictions of the magnitude of this retrieval practice effect. After outlining the framework, we use data from our laboratory-both at the group level and at the distribution level-to fit the equations from the dual-memory framework. Overall, we successfully fitted the model predictions to the observed average data. In addition, we compared the predicted and the observed distributions of performance in the retrieval practice condition. More importantly, we introduce a useful approach to simulate empirical scenarios and test the relationship between individual-difference variables and the retrieval practice effect. We illustrate the application of this approach using data from a study that measured fluid intelligence. Future studies may benefit from contrasting different strength-based frameworks.

Medial Prefrontal Cortex Stimulation Reduces Retrieval-Induced Forgetting via Fronto-parietal Beta Desynchronization.

The act of recalling memories can paradoxically lead to the forgetting of other associated memories, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). Inhibitory control mechanisms, primarily mediated by the prefrontal cortex, are thought to contribute to RIF. In this study, we examined whether stimulating the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) with transcranial direct current stimulation modulates RIF and investigated the associated electrophysiological correlates. In a randomized study, 50 participants (27 males and 23 females) received either real or sham stimulation before performing retrieval practice on target memories. After retrieval practice, a final memory test to assess RIF was administered. We found that stimulation selectively increased the retrieval accuracy of competing memories, thereby decreasing RIF, while the retrieval accuracy of target memories remained unchanged. The reduction in RIF was associated with a more pronounced beta desynchronization within the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (left-DLPFC), in an early time window (<500 ms) after cue onset during retrieval practice. This led to a stronger beta desynchronization within the parietal cortex in a later time window, an established marker for successful memory retrieval. Together, our results establish the causal involvement of the mPFC in actively suppressing competing memories and demonstrate that while forgetting arises as a consequence of retrieving specific memories, these two processes are functionally independent. Our findings suggest that stimulation potentially disrupted inhibitory control processes, as evidenced by reduced RIF and stronger beta desynchronization in fronto-parietal brain regions during memory retrieval, although further research is needed to elucidate the specific mechanisms underlying this effect.

Retrieval practice can promote new learning with both related and unrelated prose materials.

Retrieval practice can promote new learning with both related and unrelated prose materials.

Distributed retrieval practice and picture illustrations: Improving initial aural foreign vocabulary learning.

Distributed retrieval practice and picture illustrations: Improving initial aural foreign vocabulary learning.