Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: __abstract__ \n \nYou will most likely remember learning lists of foreign vocabulary words (such as \nFrench) in high school. Most of my classmates and I did this by reading the entire list \nof words once and then covering the column with French words with a piece of paper. \nReading one Dutch word at a time, I tried to remember the French equivalent and \nchecked whether my answer was correct. If it was, I put a small note next to the word \nto signify that I did not have to study that word anymore. And if I was wrong, I tried to \nimprint the right answer and tested myself again on that word in the next cycle. By \ndoing this, the cycles became shorter and shorter until I was convinced that I would \nremember all the words during the exam. Without knowing it, I was using the effect of \ntesting to my advantage. I then thought testing myself during learning was just a \nmeans of assessing which words deserved more attention. However, I now know that \nthe act of retrieving information strengthens memory. This is called the testing effect: \ninformation that is tested is remembered better than information that is only \nrestudied. Research into the testing effect often uses cue-target pairs, such as word \npairs. The testing effect in learning cue-target pairs is the topic of this dissertation. \nIn sum, the testing effect refers to the result of taking an intervening test (often \ncalled retrieval practice) during learning on later performance on a final memory test. \nIn the short term, for example on a final test just a few minutes after learning, the \neffect of intervening testing is negative: people perform worse on a short term final \ntest after intervening testing than after repeatedly
Author: Leonora C. Coppens
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W270928394