When retrieval practice improves learning - characteristics of this testing effect and the influence of study material

对以前学习过的材料的重复提取不仅提高了对检索到的材料的回忆，而且还改善了对随后学习的材料的学习和记忆。这种效应通常被称为正向测试效应(FTE)。虽然先前的工作已经证明了基本FTE的存在及其对不同背景和参与者群体的普适性，但对这种效应的核心特征还没有太多的了解。例如，FTE是依赖于以前研究的材料的检索实践，还是也可能由其他形式的检索活动引起，目前还远不清楚。如果学习和考试之间的保留间隔延长，目前还不清楚FTE是否持续并仍然存在。然而，具体而言，尚不清楚FTE是否因材料而异，以及不同材料能否产生数量上甚至质量上不同的FTE。这是这个项目和它的8个系列实验的目标，为这些和其他开放的研究问题提供答案。该项目还旨在提供一定的理论贡献。目前受欢迎的FTE解释声称，研究材料的改进提取诱导的语义组织是FTE的基础，与另一种解释形成对比，后者预测不同材料之间的FTE质量上的不同。对于这个项目中涉及的所有研究问题，这两种说法导致了不同的预测。因此，该项目将导致对这两个账户的广泛测试，并将极大地提高我们对调节FTE的认知机制的理解。在过去的十年里，测试效应在文献和媒体中受到了很大的关注，部分原因是FTE在教育背景下的相当大的应用潜力。通过提供FTE的主要特征的第一个详细图景，该项目的结果将大大促进这一潜力。

The repeated retrieval of previously studied material does not only improve recall of the retrieved material but also improves learning and memory of subsequently studied material. This effect is often termed the forward testing effect (FTE). While prior work has demonstrated the existence of the basic FTE and its generalizability to different settings and participant groups, there is not much knowledge yet about central characteristics of the effect. For instance, it is still far from clear whether the FTE depends on retrieval practice of the previously studied material or may also arise by other forms of retrieval activities. It is unclear whether the FTE is lasting and still present if the retention interval between learning and test is prolonged. In particular, however, it is unclear whether the FTE varies with material, and whether quantitatively or even qualitatively different FTEs can be created with different materials. It is the goal of this project and its series of 8 experiments to provide answers on these and other open research questions. The project also aims to provide a theoretical contribution. The currently favored explanation of the FTE, which claims that improved retrieval-induced semantic organization of the study material underlies the FTE, is contrasted with an alternative account, which predicts qualitatively different FTEs across different materials. For all research questions addressed in this project, the two accounts lead to different predictions. The project will thus lead to an extensive test of the two accounts and will drastically improve our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms mediating the FTE. During the past decade, testing effects have received a lot of attention in the literature and the media partly because considerable application potential of the FTE is seen within the educational context. By providing a first detailed picture of central characteristcs of the FTE, the results of this project will significantly contribute to this potential.