The Testing Effect for Visual Materials Depends on Preexisting Knowledge

Autor/inn/en	Ferreira, Catarina S.; Wimber, Maria
Titel	The Testing Effect for Visual Materials Depends on Preexisting Knowledge
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 49 (2023) 10, S.1557-1571 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Ferreira, Catarina S.) ORCID (Wimber, Maria)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/xlm0001248
Schlagwörter	Testing; Student Evaluation; Memory; Recall (Psychology); Visual Stimuli; Cognitive Tests; Recognition (Psychology); Semantics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Testdurchführung; Testen; Schulnote; Studentische Bewertung; Gedächtnis; Abberufung; Kognitiver Fähigkeitstest; Recognition; Wiedererkennen; Semantik
Abstract	Remembering facilitates future remembering. This benefit of practicing by active retrieval, as compared to more passive relearning, is known as the testing effect and is one of the most robust findings in the memory literature. It has typically been assessed using verbal materials such as word pairs, sentences, or educational texts. We here investigate if memory for visual materials equally benefits from retrieval-mediated learning. Based on cognitive and neuroscientific theories, we hypothesize that testing effects will be limited to meaningful visual images that can be related to preexisting knowledge. In a series of four experiments, we systematically varied the type of material (meaningless "squiggle" shapes vs. meaningful object images) and the format of the test used to probe memory (a visually driven alternative forced-choice test vs. a remember/know recognition test). Within each experiment, we assessed the effects of practice type (retrieval or restudy) and the delay of the final test (immediate vs. 1 week) on the resulting practice benefits. Abstract shapes never showed a significant testing benefit, irrespective of test format. Meaningful object images did benefit from testing, particularly at long delays, and with a test format probing the recollective component of recognition memory. Together, our results indicate that retrieval can facilitate the recollection of visual images when they represent meaningful semantic units. This pattern of results is predicted by cognitive and neurobiologically motivated theories proposing that retrieval's benefits emerge through spreading activation in semantic networks, producing more easily accessible and longer-lasting memory traces. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01