The Forward Testing Effect is Reliable and Independent of Learners’ Working Memory Capacity

Abstract

The forward testing effect refers to the finding that retrieval practice of previously studied information enhances learning and retention of subsequently studied other information. While most of the previous research on the forward testing effect examined group differences, the present study took an individual differences approach to investigate this effect. Experiment 1 examined whether the forward effect has test-retest reliability between two experimental sessions. Experiment 2 investigated whether the effect is related to participants’ working memory capacity. In both experiments (and each session of Experiment 1), participants studied three lists of items in anticipation of a final cumulative recall test. In the testing condition, participants were tested immediately on lists 1 and 2, whereas in the restudy condition, they restudied lists 1 and 2. In both conditions, participants were tested immediately on list 3. On the group level, the results of both experiments demonstrated a forward testing effect, with interim testing of lists 1 and 2 enhancing immediate recall of list 3. On the individual level, the results of Experiment 1 showed that the forward effect on list 3 recall has moderate test-retest reliability between two experimental sessions. In addition, the results of Experiment 2 showed that the forward effect on list 3 recall does not depend on participants’ working memory capacity. These findings suggest that the forward testing effect is reliable at the individual level and affects learners at a wide range of working memory capacities alike. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Do working memory capacity and test anxiety modulate the beneficial effects of testing on new learning?

“…Overall, these results imply that interim testing appears to reliably enhance subsequent learning and retention of new information regardless of trait/state test anxiety and WMC. The absence of any detectable modulating role of WMC in the FTE is consistent with what Pastötter and Frings (2019, Experiment 2) observed.…”

“…With one exception, the roles of WMC and test anxiety in the FTE have not been explored. Pastötter and Frings (2019, Experiment 2) recruited 240 participants to examine the relationship between WMC and the FTE. They found no relationship between these two factors, indicating that the FTE generalizes to individuals with different levels of WMC.…”

The Forward Testing Effect is Immune to Acute Psychosocial Encoding/Retrieval Stress

“…Moreover, no significant interaction between stress group and practice condition for a number of intrusions in the list 3 recall test was found. While, in the literature, the FTE on prior-list intrusions has been repeatedly found in studies using unrelated item material (e.g., Pastötter & Bäuml, 2019; Pastötter & Frings, 2019), the intrusion effect can be enhanced when inducing more interference between item lists. For example, this could be achieved by using semantically related word lists, that is, word lists that are composed of different words from the same categories, as item material (e.g., Chan et al, 2018; Szpunar et al, 2008).…”

“…The typical finding in this list 3 recall test is that preceding recall testing of lists 1 and 2 enhances the correct recall of list 3 and reduces the number of prior-list intrusions, that is, lists 1 and 2 items that are falsely recalled in the list 3 recall test (e.g., Pastötter, Engel, & Frings, 2018; Szpunar, McDermott, & Roediger, 2008). The FTE is a robust phenomenon that generalizes across different materials (e.g., words, pictures, videos, motor behavior; Pastötter & Frings, 2019; Szpunar, Khan, & Schacter, 2013; Tempel & Frings, 2019) and populations (e.g., children, older adults, patients with severe traumatic brain injury; Aslan & Bäuml, 2016; Pastötter & Bäuml, 2019; Pastötter, Weber, & Bäuml, 2013). The effect transfers to different domains of learning (Yang, Chew, Sun, & Shanks, 2019), shows retest reliability, and does not depend on student learners’ working memory capacity (Pastötter & Frings, 2019; for reviews, see Pastötter & Bäuml, 2014, or Yang, Potts, & Shanks, 2018; for meta-analysis, see Chan, Meissner, et al, 2018).…”

“…The FTE is a robust phenomenon that generalizes across different materials (e.g., words, pictures, videos, motor behavior; Pastötter & Frings, 2019; Szpunar, Khan, & Schacter, 2013; Tempel & Frings, 2019) and populations (e.g., children, older adults, patients with severe traumatic brain injury; Aslan & Bäuml, 2016; Pastötter & Bäuml, 2019; Pastötter, Weber, & Bäuml, 2013). The effect transfers to different domains of learning (Yang, Chew, Sun, & Shanks, 2019), shows retest reliability, and does not depend on student learners’ working memory capacity (Pastötter & Frings, 2019; for reviews, see Pastötter & Bäuml, 2014, or Yang, Potts, & Shanks, 2018; for meta-analysis, see Chan, Meissner, et al, 2018).…”