The role of practice in fact retrieval.

Four experiments examined the relationship among massive practice, speed-up of memory retrieval, and the reduction of long-term memory interference. All experiments employed a multiday fact recognition procedure. Interference was varied by a fan manipulation: Concepts could appear in more than one fact (fan) or only one fact (no fan). We found that fact retrieval speeds up as a power function of days of practice but that the number of daily repetitions beyond four produced little or no impact on reaction time. In addition, interference decreased in proportion to the degree of practice but did not disappear even with 25 days of practice. Practice on specific facts and practice on the general task had multiplicative effects in reducing recognition time. Further, general task practice was found to decrease interference, suggesting that general central processes were speeding up. Most but not all of these practice effects and their interactions with interference are predicted by the ACT* model of fact retrieval.

[1]  B. R. Bugelski.  Principles of learning and memory , 1956 .

[2]  B. R. Bugelski.  Presentation time, total time, and mediation in paired-associate learning. , 1962, Journal of experimental psychology.

[3]  R. Seibel.  DISCRIMINATION REACTION TIME FOR 1,023-ALTERNATIVE TASK. , 1963, Journal of experimental psychology.

[4]  Psychology and military proficiency. , 1966, Advancement of science.

[5]  Psychology and military proficiency. , 1966 .

[6]  E H Cooper,et al.  The total-time hypothesis in verbal learning. , 1967, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  A. Paivio,et al.  Concreteness, imagery, and meaningfulness values for 925 nouns. , 1968, Journal of experimental psychology.

[8]  Joseph B. Sidowski,et al.  Behavior research methods and instrumentation , 1968 .

[9]  Douglas L. Hintzman,et al.  Recognition time: Effects of recency, frequency and the spacing of repetitions. , 1969 .

[10]  Leo Postman,et al.  Experimental Analysis of Learning To Learn , 1970 .

[11]  J. Eccles,et al.  Brain and Human Behavior , 1936, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[12]  A. W. Melton,et al.  Coding Processes in Human Memory. , 1973 .

[13]  H. Simon,et al.  Perception in chess , 1973 .

[14]  Richard C. Atkinson,et al.  Factors influencing speed and accuracy of word recognition , 1973 .

[15]  D. Meyer,et al.  Attention and Performance XIV , 1973 .

[16]  Douglas L. Hintzman,et al.  Spacing effects in picture memory , 1973, Memory & cognition.

[17]  Richard C. Atkinson,et al.  Search and decision processes in recognition memory. , 1974 .

[18]  Douglas L. Hintzman,et al.  Theoretical implications of the spacing effect. , 1974 .

[19]  Allan Collins,et al.  A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing , 1975 .

[20]  R. L. Solso.  Theories in cognitive psychology : the Loyola symposium , 1975 .

[21]  R. Atkinson,et al.  Search Processes for Associative Structures in Long-Term Memory. , 1975 .

[22]  Steven Schwartz,et al.  2 – DECISION PROCESSES IN RECOGNITION MEMORY , 1975 .

[23]  A. V. Reed,et al.  List length and the time course of recognition in immediate memory , 1976, Memory & cognition.

[24]  Wayne A. Wickelgren,et al.  Network Strength Theory of Storage and Retrieval Dynamics. , 1976 .

[25]  John R. Anderson.  Language, Memory, and Thought , 1976 .

[26]  R. Shiffrin,et al.  Controlled and automatic human information processing: I , 1977 .

[27]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing: 1. Detection, Search, and Attention. , 1977 .

[28]  B. Hayes-Roth.  Evolution of Cognitive Structures and Processes. , 1977 .

[29]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending and a general theory. , 1977 .

[30]  Richard G. Proudfoot,et al.  YEPS: Running real-time experiments on a timesharing system , 1978 .

[31]  Sentence Verification, Sentence Recognition, and the Semantic-Episodic Distinction. , 1978 .

[32]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Degree of Consistent Training and the Development of Automatic Processing. , 1980 .

[33]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Automatic Processing and the Unitization of Two Features. , 1980 .

[34]  John R. Anderson,et al.  Knowledge Compilation: Mechanisms for the Automatization of Cognitive Skills. , 1980 .

[35]  B. Fischhoff,et al.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory , 1980 .

[36]  John R. Anderson.  Interference: The relationship between response latency and response accuracy. , 1981 .

[37]  Allen and Rosenbloom Paul S. Newell,et al.  Mechanisms of Skill Acquisition and the Law of Practice , 1993 .

[38]  John R. Anderson.  Acquisition of cognitive skill. , 1982 .

[39]  L. Postman.  An examination of practice effects in recognition , 1982, Memory & cognition.

[40]  John R. Anderson.  A spreading activation theory of memory. , 1983 .

[41]  Allen Newell,et al.  The psychology of human-computer interaction , 1983 .