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Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory
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Published on: June 14, 2019

The effects of free recall testing on subsequent source memory.

Gene A Brewer1, Richard L Marsh, Joseph T Meeks

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3013, USA. gabrewer@uga.edu

Memory (Hove, England)
|April 22, 2010
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Summary

Prior retrieval of information, known as the testing effect, improves later memory recall. This study found that the type of initial free recall test influences which specific memory details are enhanced for later testing.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Memory Research

Background:

  • The testing effect demonstrates that retrieving information enhances subsequent memory.
  • One proposed mechanism is that initial testing increases the availability of recollective details.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if initial free recall testing differentially enhances specific recollective details.
  • To explore the impact of different free recall task types on memory enhancement.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted.
  • Participants underwent initial free recall tests followed by a source-monitoring test phase.

Main Results:

  • Memory enhancement varied for different recollective details based on the initial free recall task.
  • The nature of the free recall task influenced the degree of memory improvement.

Conclusions:

  • Free recall testing differentially enhances specific memorial details.
  • Further research is needed to elucidate how various types of memorial details are enhanced by free recall testing.