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Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear

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Does testing enhance new learning because it insulates against proactive interference?

Dahwi Ahn¹, Jason C K Chan²

¹Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA. dahn@iastate.edu.

Memory & Cognition

|February 1, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Testing prior material boosts new learning. This study suggests the benefit isn't due to reduced proactive interference (PI), challenging a common explanation for the forward testing effect.

Keywords:

Forward testing effect New learning Proactive interference Retrieval practice

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Educational Psychology
Learning Sciences

Background:

The forward testing effect demonstrates that testing enhances subsequent learning.
One proposed mechanism is that retrieval reduces proactive interference (PI).
Existing evidence is largely correlational, limiting causal claims.

Purpose of the Study:

To causally investigate whether reduced proactive interference (PI) underlies the forward testing effect.
To test the release-from-PI account by manipulating PI levels during learning and testing.

Main Methods:

Participants studied multiple lists with or without interpolated tests.
Proactive interference (PI) levels were manipulated during the study phase.
The impact of testing on subsequent new learning was assessed across different PI conditions.

Main Results:

Testing benefited new learning irrespective of the level of proactive interference (PI).
Results contradicted previous findings that linked the forward testing effect to minimized PI.
Replication attempts of prior contradictory results were unsuccessful.

Conclusions:

Reduced proactive interference (PI) may be a consequence, not a cause, of the forward testing effect.
The findings challenge the release-from-PI explanation for enhanced learning after testing.
Further research is needed to elucidate the causal mechanisms of the forward testing effect.