The effects of tests on learning and forgetting.
Open accessAbstract
In three experiments, we investigated whether memory tests enhance learning and reduce forgetting more than additional study opportunities do. Subjects learned obscure facts (Experiments 1 and 2) or Swahili-English word pairs (Experiment 3) by either completing a test with feedback (test/study) or receiving an additional study opportunity (study). Recall was tested after 5 min or 1, 2, 7, 14, or 42 days. We explored forgetting by means of an ANOVA and also by fitting a power function to the data. In all three experiments, testing enhanced overall recall more than restudying did. According to the power function, in two out of three experiments, testing also reduced forgetting more than restudying did, although this was not always the case according to the ANOVA. We discuss the implications of these results both for approaches to measuring forgetting and for the use of tests in promoting long-term retention. The stimuli used in these experiments may be found at www.psychonomic.org/archive.
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In the longer term (from several hours up to a week after learning), the benefits of retrieval practice tend to outweigh those arising from restudy.
“In the longer-term (e.g. from several hours up to a week after learning), by contrast, the benefits of retrieval practice tend to outweigh those arising from restudy [3,4].”
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- Authors
- Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., Wixted, J. T., & Vul, E.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Carpenter, Shana K.
- Venue
- Memory & Cognition
- Published
- 2008-03
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 438-448
- ISSN
- 0090-502X (ISSN-L)
- 1532-5946
- OpenAlex
- W2024462452
- Cited by
- 281
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 5.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Memory & Cognition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- testing effect, retrieval practice, forgetting, restudying, long-term retention, memory retrieval, feedback, word learning
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attention, Concept Formation, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Paired-Associate Learning, Practice, Psychological, Mental Recall, Retention, Psychology, Verbal Learning
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