Interim testing prospectively and retrospectively boosts precision and accuracy but not bias of continuous visual...

Testing studied information not only facilitates long-term consolidation of tested content but also enhances subsequent acquisition of new knowledge. These dual aspects of test-enhanced learning have predominantly been examined using verbal materials. In the present study, we extended this investigation to low-level visual features, in particular visual salience (luminance and color saturation), to determine whether interim testing can retrospectively consolidate and prospectively boost learning of continuous visual information. Across two experiments, participants studied five lists of scene images with varying levels of visual salience. Participants in the interim test group were tested on each list, while those in the interim restudy group restudied the prior list after studying Lists 1-4 and were tested only on List 5. A cumulative final test was administered after either a brief delay of 30 s (Experiment 1) or an extended delay of 2 days (preregistered Experiment 2). Both experiments showed that interim testing prospectively enhanced the precision, absolute accuracy, and relative accuracy of visual memory in the List 5 interim test without altering memory bias. Similar retrospective effects of interim testing were observed on the cumulative test. These findings demonstrate the generalizability of test-enhanced learning to the precision and accuracy of continuous visual memory for subtle features and provide support for reset-of-encoding and motivation-based accounts of test-enhanced learning while challenging semantic explanations. In addition, design-related insights into the replicability of memory fading are provided, and practical implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).