Retrieval (sometimes) enhances learning: Performance pressure reduces the benefits of retrieval practice

Summary Academic testing has received substantial support as a useful educational activity with robust retention benefits, given that tests can promote retrieval practice. However, testing can also instantiate performance-related pressure and anxiety that may misappropriate the resources responsible for producing learning benefits. The current project examined the effects of performance pressure on retrieval practice. In two experiments, we instantiated performance pressure with either high-stakes or low-stakes quizzes, and assessed memory and comprehension of content on both quizzes and final tests. Quiz performance was equivalent under high-stakes and low-stakes conditions, demonstrating that learners adapted to high-pressure quizzes. However, final test performance was better after low-stakes versus high-stakes quizzes, and only low-stakes quizzes led to a performance advantage over a rereading control group. Participants additionally exhibited some sensitivity to the difficulty of retrieving under pressure. These data highlight the benefits of retrieval practice but indicate that they can be disrupted under pressure-driven conditions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  Moshe Naveh-Benjamin,et al.  Asymmetry between encoding and retrieval processes: Evidence from divided attention and a calibration analysis , 2000, Memory & cognition.

[2]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Separate mnemonic effects of retrieval practice and elaborative encoding , 2012 .

[3]  Katherine A. Rawson,et al.  Testing the retrieval effort hypothesis: Does greater difficulty correctly recalling information lead to higher levels of memory? , 2009 .

[4]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping , 2011, Science.

[5]  James A. Kulik,et al.  Effects of Frequent Classroom Testing. , 1991 .

[6]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention , 2007 .

[7]  Jonas W. B. Lang,et al.  Priming Competence Diminishes the Link Between Cognitive Test Anxiety and Test Performance , 2010, Psychological science.

[8]  Shana K. Carpenter,et al.  Semantic information activated during retrieval contributes to later retention: Support for the mediator effectiveness hypothesis of the testing effect. , 2011, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[9]  Sian L. Beilock,et al.  More on the fragility of performance: choking under pressure in mathematical problem solving. , 2004, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[10]  R. Hembree.  Correlates, Causes, Effects, and Treatment of Test Anxiety , 1988 .

[11]  Mark A. McDaniel,et al.  Test-Enhanced Learning in a Middle School Science Classroom: The Effects of Quiz Frequency and Placement. , 2011 .

[12]  H. Pashler,et al.  Concurrent task effects on memory retrieval , 2003, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[13]  Shana K. Carpenter,et al.  Cue strength as a moderator of the testing effect: the benefits of elaborative retrieval. , 2009, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[14]  G. Walton,et al.  Latent Ability , 2009, Psychological science.

[15]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  The testing effect in free recall is associated with enhanced organizational processes , 2010, Memory & cognition.

[16]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Test-Enhanced Learning , 2006, Psychological science.

[17]  M. Ashcraft,et al.  The relationships among working memory, math anxiety, and performance. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[18]  A. C. Butler,et al.  The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention , 2011, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[19]  Sigmund Tobias,et al.  Test Anxiety: Interference, Defective Skills, and Cognitive Capacity , 1985 .

[20]  Harold Pashler,et al.  Using tests to enhance 8th grade students' retention of U.S. history facts , 2009 .

[21]  Jerrell C. Cassady,et al.  Cognitive Test Anxiety and Academic Performance , 2002 .

[22]  Mark A. McDaniel,et al.  Altering memory representations through retrieval. , 1985 .

[23]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  The Power of Testing Memory Basic Research and Implications for Educational Practice , 2006 .

[24]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Metacognitive strategies in student learning: Do students practise retrieval when they study on their own? , 2009, Memory.

[25]  P. Black,et al.  Assessment and Classroom Learning , 1998 .

[26]  M. Eysenck,et al.  Anxiety and cognitive performance: attentional control theory. , 2007, Emotion.

[27]  James W. Pellegrino,et al.  The importance of constructive comprehension processes in learning from tests , 2013 .

[28]  R. Engle,et al.  Individual differences in working memory capacity and learning: Evidence from the serial reaction time task , 2005, Memory & cognition.

[29]  Marci S. DeCaro,et al.  Choking under pressure: multiple routes to skill failure. , 2011, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[30]  T. Crooks.  The Impact of Classroom Evaluation Practices on Students , 1988 .

[31]  M. Naveh-Benjamin.  A Comparison of Training Programs Intended for Different Types of Test-Anxious Students: Further Support for an Information-Processing Model. , 1991 .

[32]  Colin MacLeod,et al.  Anxiety-linked task performance: Dissociating the influence of restricted working memory capacity and increased investment of effort , 2009 .

[33]  Erik A. Wing,et al.  Neural correlates of retrieval-based memory enhancement: An fMRI study of the testing effect , 2013, Neuropsychologia.

[34]  Arthur C. Graesser,et al.  Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning. IES Practice Guide. NCER 2007-2004. , 2007 .

[35]  Cheryl I. Johnson,et al.  A Testing Effect with Multimedia Learning , 2009 .

[36]  Jerrell C. Cassady,et al.  The Impact of Cognitive Test Anxiety on Text Comprehension and Recall in the Absence of External Evaluative Pressure , 2004 .

[37]  Matthew T. McCrudden,et al.  Processing and recall of seductive details in scientific text , 2007 .

[38]  Shana K. Carpenter.  Testing Enhances the Transfer of Learning , 2012 .

[39]  Nicole M. Dudukovic,et al.  Attention during memory retrieval enhances future remembering , 2009, Memory & cognition.

[40]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Test format and corrective feedback modify the effect of testing on long-term retention , 2007 .

[41]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Retrieval-Based Learning: A Perspective for Enhancing Meaningful Learning , 2012 .

[42]  Xiaoping Pu,et al.  The effectiveness of test-enhanced learning depends on trait test anxiety and working-memory capacity. , 2012, Journal of experimental psychology. Applied.

[43]  Jennifer Wiley,et al.  Testing the limits of testing effects using completion tests , 2011, Memory.

[44]  Peter W. Tuerk.  Research in the High-Stakes Era , 2005, Psychological science.

[45]  Sian L. Beilock,et al.  Writing About Testing Worries Boosts Exam Performance in the Classroom , 2011, Science.

[46]  H. Pashler,et al.  The influence of retrieval on retention , 1992, Memory & cognition.

[47]  Andrew C Butler,et al.  Repeated testing produces superior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying. , 2010, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[48]  Sian L. Beilock,et al.  When High-Powered People Fail , 2005, Psychological science.

[49]  F. Craik,et al.  The effects of divided attention on encoding and retrieval processes in human memory. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[50]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Retrieval Mode Distinguishes the Testing Effect from the Generation Effect. , 2010 .

[51]  Richard P. Heitz,et al.  An automated version of the operation span task , 2005, Behavior research methods.

[52]  Chen-Lin C. Kulik,et al.  The Instructional Effect of Feedback in Test-Like Events , 1991 .