Interpolated testing and content pretesting as interventions to reduce task-unrelated thoughts during a video lecture

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Learning Sciences

Background:

• Task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) are common during learning and can hinder academic performance.
• Previous research on reducing TUTs is limited by small sample sizes and unvalidated assessments.
• Interventions like interpolated testing and pretesting are explored for their potential to minimize distractions during learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if interpolated testing and pretesting reduce task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) during a video lecture.
• To examine the effects of interpolated testing and pretesting on learning outcomes.
• To conceptually replicate and extend previous findings on the impact of these interventions on student attention and learning.

Main Methods:

• 195 U.S. undergraduates participated in an experiment involving a video lecture on statistics.
• Participants completed either a content-matched or content-mismatched pretest.
• During the lecture, participants engaged in either interpolated testing or interpolated restudy.
• Thought probes were used to assess task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) during the lecture.

Main Results:

• Interpolated testing significantly reduced task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) compared to interpolated restudy, though the effect size was small.
• No significant evidence was found for an effect of interpolated testing on learning outcomes.
• Matched-content pretesting did not significantly affect TUT rates or learning.

Conclusions:

• Interpolated testing may offer limited benefits for improving student attention by reducing task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs).
• The small effect size and lack of Bayes-factor support suggest caution in interpreting the findings on TUT reduction.
• Further research is necessary to clarify the utility of interpolated testing and its varying effect sizes across different studies and contexts.