The pretesting effect thrives in the presence of competing information
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21602432 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Oliver Kliegl (0000-0001-7730-4019, Department of Experimental Psychology, Regensburg University, Regensburg, Germany, corresponding author), Johannes Bartl (0000-0003-1547-6450, Department of Experimental Psychology, Regensburg University, Regensburg, Germany), Johannes D Bartl (0000-0003-3767-8782, University of Regensburg), Karl-Heinz T Bäuml (0000-0002-4966-9288, Department of Experimental Psychology, Regensburg University, Regensburg, Germany) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 705-714 |
| Publication date | 2023-05-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Memory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0965-8211 • E-ISSN: 1464-0686 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09658211.2023.2190568 |
| PMID | 36927213 |
| OpenAlex | W4327546873 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 41 |
Taking a pretest (e.g., blanket – ?) before some target material (blanket – sheet) is studied can promote recall of that material on a subsequent final test compared to material which was initially only studied. Here, we examine whether such pretesting can shield the tested material from interference-induced forgetting, which often occurs when before final testing, related material is encountered. We applied a typical pretesting task but asked subjects, between acquisition and final testing of the target list (list 1), to study two additional lists of items with either completely new and unique pairs (e.g., atom – cell) or overlapping – and thus potentially interfering – pairs (e.g., blanket – sleep). Target-list recall on the final test showed a typical pretesting effect for unique pairs, but the size of the effect even increased for overlapping pairs, as recall of study-only pairs was impaired, whereas recall of pretest pairs was left largely unaffected. This held regardless of whether a low (Experiment 1) or high (Experiment 2) degree of learning was induced for the interfering material, suggesting that pretesting can indeed protect the tested material from interference. These findings indicate that pretesting could play a significant role in educational settings where information often needs to be retained in the presence of competing information
Cognitive psychology · Forgetting · Interference theory · Motivated forgetting · Recall · Working memory · Educational Strategies and Epistemologies · Memory Processes and Influences · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Psychology · Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
The role of mediators for the pretesting effect
The pretesting effect under divided attention
Interpolated pretesting can boost memory of related and distinct prose materials
Do individual differences in working memory capacity, episodic memory ability, or fluid intelligence moderate the pretesting effect
The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention
Test-Enhanced Learning
The Psychology and Neuroscience of Forgetting
Interpolated memory tests reduce mind wandering and improve learning of online lectures
Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1
Pretesting boosts recognition, but not cued recall, of targets from unrelated word pairs
A little can go a long way
Retrieval potentiates new learning
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |