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Concept information

phenomenon > memory phenomenon > testing effect

Preferred term

testing effect  

Definition

  • Improvement of long-term retention when information is actively retrieved from memory compared to studying the information again or not practicing retrieval.

Broader concept

Narrower concepts

Related concepts

Entry terms

  • retrieval-based learning
  • retrieval-mediated learning
  • retrieval practice effect
  • test-enhanced learning

Belongs to group

Bibliographic citation(s)

  • • Adesope, O. O., Trevisan, D. A., & Sundararajan, N. (2017). Rethinking the use of tests: A meta-analysis of practice testing. Review of Educational Research, 87(3), 659–701. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316689306

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: closed]
  • • Agarwal, P. K., Nunes, L. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2021). Retrieval practice consistently benefits student learning: A systematic review of applied research in schools and classrooms. Educational Psychology Review, 33(4), 1409–1453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09595-9

    [Study type: literature review / Access: closed]
  • • Camerer, C. F., Dreber, A., Holzmeister, F., Ho, T.-H., Huber, J., Johannesson, M., Kirchler, M., Nave, G., Nosek, B. A., Pfeiffer, T., Altmejd, A., Buttrick, N., Chan, T., Chen, Y., Forsell, E., Gampa, A., Heikensten, E., Hummer, L., Imai, T., … Wu, H. (2018). Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(9), 637–644. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0399-z

    [Study type: empirical study, replication / Access: closed]
  • • Eisenkraemer, R. E., Jaeger, A., & Stein, L. M. (2013). A systematic review of the testing effect in learning. Paidéia, 23(56), 397–406. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-43272356201314

    [Study type: literature review / Access: open]
  • • Glover, J. A. (1989). The “testing” phenomenon: Not gone but nearly forgotten. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(3), 392–399. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.81.3.392

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772–775. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199327

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Lamotte, M., Izaute, M., & Darnon, C. (2021). Can tests improve learning in real university classrooms? Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 33(8), 974–992. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2021.1956939

    [Study type: literature review / Access: closed]
  • • Lima, M. F. R. de, & Buratto, L. G. (2023). The test–retest reliability of the retrieval practice effect. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 76(9), 2028–2036. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218221141586

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • McDermott, K. B. (2021). Practicing retrieval facilitates learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 609-633. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-051019

    [Study type: literature review / Access: open]
  • • Mulligan, N. W. (2020). Negative effects of repetition and testing. In A. M. Cleary & B. L. Schwartz (Eds.), Memory quirks : The study of odd phenomena in memory (p. 114‑136). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429264498-10

    [Study type: literature review / Access: closed]
  • • Mulligan, N. W., Buchin, Z. L., & West, J. T. (2020). Assessing why the testing effect is moderated by experimental design. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46(7), 1293–1308. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000787

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Phelps, R. P. (2012). The effect of testing on student achievement, 1910–2010. International Journal of Testing, 12(1), 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2011.602920

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: closed]
  • • Polack, C. W., & Miller, R. R. (2022). Testing improves performance as well as assesses learning: A review of the testing effect with implications for models of learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 48(3), 222–241. https://doi.org/10.1037/xan0000323

    [Study type: literature review / Access: closed]
  • • Pyc, M. A., & Rawson, K. A. (2010). Why testing improves memory: Mediator effectiveness hypothesis. Science, 330(6002), 335–335. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1191465

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Roediger, H. L., & Butler, A. C. (2011). The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 20–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.09.003

    [Study type: literature review / Access: closed]
  • • Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). The power of testing memory: Basic research and implications for educational practice. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(3), 181–210. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00012.x

    [Study type: literature review / Access: closed]
  • • Rowland, C. A. (2014). The effect of testing versus restudy on retention : A meta-analytic review of the testing effect. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1432–1463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037559

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: closed]
  • • Schwieren, J., Barenberg, J., & Dutke, S. (2017). The testing effect in the psychology classroom: A meta-analytic perspective. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 16(2), 179–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475725717695149

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: free]
  • • Sotola, L. K., & Crede, M. (2021). Regarding class quizzes: A meta-analytic synthesis of studies on the relationship between frequent low-stakes testing and class performance. Educational Psychology Review, 33(2), 407–426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09563-9

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: closed]
  • • Yang, C., Luo, L., Vadillo, M. A., Yu, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2021). Testing (quizzing) boosts classroom learning: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(4), 399–435. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000309

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: closed]

Creator

  • Frank Arnould

Moderator variable(s)

  • • Experimental design: larger effect in an inter-subject design than in an intra-subject design (Rowland, 2014).
  • • Feeback delay: larger effect when feedback is delayed (Rowland, 2014).
  • • Feedback: larger effect when feedback is given to the subject during the initial test compared to no feedback (Rowland, 2014).
  • • Initial test type: larger effect with a cued recall task compared to a free recall or recognition task (Rowland, 2014).
  • • Retention interval (categorical variable): Larger effect for retention intervals greater than or equal to 1 day compared to intervals less than 1 day (Rowland, 2014).
  • • Retention interval (continuous variable): The effect becomes increasingly important as the retention interval increases (Rowland, 2014).
  • • Stimulus type: larger effect for paired associates and prose (Rowland, 2014).
  • • Type of final test: larger effect in a cued recall task compared to a free recall or recognition task (Rowland, 2014).

Dataset citation(s)

  • • Akan, M., & Benjamin, A. (2017). The effects of testing on memory for context. https://osf.io/bqr5f/
  • • Eersel, G. van, Verkoeijen, P., & Bouwmeester, S. (2015). Does retrieval practice depend on semantic cues? Assessing the fuzzy trace account of the testing effect [Data set]. OSF. https://osf.io/nx3zm/
  • • Lima, M., & Buratto, L. (2022, November 18). The Test–Retest Reliability of the Retrieval Practice Effect. https://osf.io/chmb8
  • • Pan, S. C. (2019). Test-enhanced learning and effects of retrieval processes on long-term memory [Data set]. OSF. https://osf.io/jd5qh/
  • • Pan, S. C., Gupta, M., & Rickard, T. C. (2021, July 3). Dual memory model of the testing effect. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/GYB6C
  • • Sitoh, A. (2020, September 13). Testing Effect and Recognition Memory. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/WY8S2
  • • Zhifang Ye and Gui Xue (2020). Retrieval practice facilitates memory updating by enhancing and differentiating medial prefrontal cortex representations. OpenNeuro. [Dataset] doi: 10.18112/openneuro.ds002773.v1.0.0

In other languages

  • effet du testing

    French

  • apprentissage amélioré par le test
  • apprentissage médiatisé par la récupération
  • effet de la pratique de la récupération
  • effet du test
  • effet test

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-JRJHZ858-D

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RDF/XML TURTLE JSON-LD Created 12/4/17, last modified 5/11/24