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

重复检索先前学习过的材料不仅能提高对已检索材料的记忆，还能提高对后续学习材料的学习和记忆。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的存在及其对不同环境和参与者群体的普遍性，但关于该效应的核心特征还没有太多的了解。例如，目前尚不清楚FTE是依赖于对先前学习材料的检索实践，还是也可能由其他形式的检索活动产生。目前尚不清楚，如果学习和考试之间的记忆间隔延长，FTE是否持续存在，是否仍然存在。然而，特别是，目前尚不清楚FTE是否随材料而变化，以及是否可以用不同的材料产生数量甚至质量不同的FTE。这个项目和它的一系列8个实验的目标是为这些和其他开放的研究问题提供答案。该项目还旨在提供理论贡献。目前最受欢迎的对FTE的解释是，改进的检索诱导的学习材料的语义组织是FTE的基础，与另一种解释形成对比，该解释预测了不同材料的FTE在质量上的不同。对于本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种说法的广泛测试，并将大大提高我们对调解FTE的认知机制的理解。在过去的十年中，测试效果在文献和媒体中受到了很多关注，部分原因是FTE在教育背景下具有相当大的应用潜力。该项目的研究成果将首次详细地介绍该产业的主要特征，从而大大促进这一潜力。

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.