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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

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

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

Published on: June 14, 2019

Do testing effects change over time? Insights from immediate and delayed retrieval speed.

Gesa S E van den Broek¹, Eliane Segers, Atsuko Takashima

¹a Behavioural Science Institute , Radboud University Nijmegen , The Netherlands.

Memory (Hove, England)

|September 4, 2013

Summary

Testing memory recall improves learning speed immediately and over time, unlike studying alone. This memory retrieval benefit, observed in recall speed, enhances learning efficiency even when accuracy initially favors restudying.

Keywords:

Response times Retrieval speed Retrieval success Testing effects Word learning

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Last Updated: May 8, 2026

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Published on: December 5, 2014

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Educational Psychology

Background:

The testing effect, where retrieving information improves recall accuracy, typically emerges over time.
Previous research indicates that immediate practice often shows higher accuracy for restudied material compared to tested material.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the immediate and delayed effects of testing on recall speed.
To examine the relationship between perceived retrieval success and testing effects on recall accuracy.

Main Methods:

Forty participants learned Swahili word translations.
Participants either restudied words or retrieved translations from memory.
Recall accuracy and response times were measured immediately after practice and after a 7-day delay.

Main Results:

Learners were faster recalling tested words than restudied words immediately and after 7 days.
Recall accuracy was higher for restudied words immediately but higher for tested words after 7 days.
Testing effects on accuracy were linked to perceived retrieval success during practice.

Conclusions:

Testing enhances recall speed both immediately and after a delay, suggesting strengthened cue-response associations.
The timing of testing effects on accuracy depends on item retrievability during practice.
Perceived retrieval success during practice influences the immediate impact of testing on recall accuracy.