Abstract
Retrieval practice has been shown to enhance later recall of information reviewed through testing, whereas final-test measures involving making inferences from the learned information have produced mixed results. In four experiments, we examined whether the benefits of retrieval practice could transfer to deductive inferences. Participants studied a set of related premises and then reviewed these premises either by rereading or by taking fill-in-the-blank tests. As was expected, the testing condition produced better final-test recall of the premises. However, performance on multiple-choice inference questions showed no enhancement from retrieval practice.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnett, S. M., & Ceci, S. J. (2002). When and where do we apply what we learn?: A taxonomy for far transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 612–637. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.612
Butler, A. C. (2010). Repeated testing produces superior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(5), 1118–1133. doi:10.1037/a0019902
Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., & Cepeda, N. J. (2009). Using tests to enhance 8th grade students’ retention of U.S. history facts. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(6), 760–771. doi:10.1002/acp.1507
Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., & Vul, E. (2006). What types of learning are enhanced by a cued recall test? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13(5), 826–830. doi:10.3758/BF03194004
Carrier, M., & Pashler, H. (1992). The influence of retrieval on retention. Memory & Cognition, 20(6), 633–642. doi:10.3758/BF03202713
Hinze, S. R., & Wiley, J. (2011). Testing the limits of testing effects using completion tests. Memory, 19(3), 290–304. doi:10.1080/09658211.2011.560121
McDaniel, M. A., Anderson, J. L., Derbish, M. H., & Morrisette, N. (2007a). Testing the testing effect in the classroom. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 19(4–5), 494–513. doi:10.1080/09541440701326154
McDaniel, M. A., Roediger, H. L., & McDermott, K. B. (2007b). Generalizing test-enhanced learning from the laboratory to the classroom. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(2), 200–206. doi:10.3758/BF03194052
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x
Rohrer, D., Taylor, K., & Sholar, B. (2010). Tests enhance the transfer of learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(1), 233–239. doi:10.1037/a0017678
Smith, M. A., Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2013). Covert retrieval practice benefits retention as much as overt retrieval practice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(6), 1712–1725. doi:10.1037/a0033569
Tulving, E. (1967). The effects of presentation and recall of material in free-recall learning. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 6(2), 175–184. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(67)80092-6
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a collaborative activity award to H. Pashler from the J. S. McDonnell Foundation, a MURI award from the Office of Naval Research (25684A), and an NSF Grant (SBE-0542013, G.W. Cottrell, PI). We thank Noriko Coburn for many thoughtful comments and Dorothy Uong, Monica Kullar, Matt Su, and Alison Bennett for collecting and/or scoring the data. We would also like to thank Andy Butler and Roddy Roediger for providing many helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
ESM 1
(PDF 142 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tran, R., Rohrer, D. & Pashler, H. Retrieval practice: the lack of transfer to deductive inferences. Psychon Bull Rev 22, 135–140 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-014-0646-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-014-0646-x