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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 6, 2026

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

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Enhancing visuospatial learning: the benefit of retrieval practice.

Sean H K Kang¹

¹Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0109, USA. seankang@ucsd.edu

Memory & Cognition

|December 16, 2010

Summary

Testing abstract visuospatial information, like Chinese characters, significantly improves memory recall compared to restudying. This finding suggests retrieval practice is more effective for learning new visual information.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Educational Psychology

Background:

Memory research predominantly uses verbal materials.
The impact of testing on visuospatial learning remains less explored.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if retrieval practice enhances learning of novel, abstract visuospatial information.
To compare the effectiveness of retrieval practice versus repeated studying for visuospatial memory.

Main Methods:

Participants with no prior Chinese language experience studied English-Chinese word pairs.
Learning conditions involved either repeated studying or retrieval practice (with feedback).
Study and retrieval/feedback trial durations were equated.

Main Results:

Retrieval practice led to significantly more accurate recall of Chinese characters compared to repeated studying.
This effect was observed after both short (10 min) and longer (24 h) delays.
Participants underestimated the benefits of retrieval practice on their future performance.

Conclusions:

Testing, or retrieval practice, demonstrably enhances visuospatial learning.
Repeated retrieval is more effective than repeated studying for acquiring new visual information.
Findings have implications for foreign language learning, particularly for languages with different writing systems.