Retrieval enhances route knowledge acquisition, but only when movement errors are prevented.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• The testing effect demonstrates retrieval practice enhances learning of declarative knowledge.
• Previous research has primarily focused on verbal, declarative information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if testing improves the acquisition of route knowledge, which involves procedural components.
• To examine the influence of feedback timing on the testing effect for procedural learning.

Main Methods:

• Participants learned a virtual route, with encoding similar to GPS navigation.
• Subsequent exposures involved either restudying or active recall of the route sequence.
• A final test assessed route traversal without guidance, with varied feedback conditions.

Main Results:

• Testing enhanced route memory when feedback preceded action.
• When feedback followed errors, testing impaired performance compared to studying.
• Findings align with errorless learning principles for procedural skill acquisition.

Conclusions:

• The effectiveness of testing for procedural knowledge depends critically on feedback timing.
• Minimizing errors during learning, especially with feedback after mistakes, is crucial for efficient skill acquisition.