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Updated: Oct 24, 2025
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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
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A mind-wandering account of the testing effect: Does context variation matter?
Sarah Shi Hui Wong1, Stephen Wee Hun Lim2
1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Block AS4, 9 Arts Link, Singapore, 117570, Singapore. psywshs@nus.edu.sg.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|August 14, 2021
Summary
Retrieval practice, combining study and testing, reduces mind-wandering more than restudying alone. This attentional benefit explains why retrieval practice improves learning and recall.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Learning Sciences
Background:
- Retrieval practice is known to enhance learning and reduce mind-wandering.
- The specific mechanisms by which testing improves attention remain underexplored.
- Understanding attentional differences between study methods is crucial for optimizing learning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the change in learning context during retrieval practice affects mind-wandering.
- To compare the attentional benefits of interleaved study-retrieval versus massed restudy.
- To examine the role of study mode (video vs. transcript) and its variation on attention and recall.
Main Methods:
- 120 learners were assigned to either restudy (SSSS) or retrieval practice (SRSR) conditions.
- Study modes (video lecture or transcript) were either kept consistent or alternated.
- Mind-wandering was measured via direct probing; free recall was assessed after one week.
Main Results:
- Retrieval practice led to significantly less mind-wandering compared to restudy.
- Reduced mind-wandering during retrieval practice mediated the observed recall advantage.
- Alternating study modes reduced mind-wandering in restudy only when modes were novel; retrieval practice maintained attention regardless of mode consistency.
Conclusions:
- Retrieval practice offers a robust attentional advantage over restudy by consistently reducing mind-wandering.
- The benefits of retrieval practice on attention are sustained even when study modes change.
- These findings support an attentional account of retrieval-based learning, highlighting its effectiveness in maintaining focus.
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