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Retrieval practice

Retrieval practice, also called the testing effect, active recall, practice testing or test-enhanced learning, suggests that long-term memory increases when part of the learning period is spent retrieving information from memory[1][2]. Testing prior knowledge is described as more beneficial for learning than only reading or passively studying the material, and even more so when the test is more challenging for memory[3].

Key points

  • Cognitive psychologists are working with educators to use tests as a teaching tool, not only as an assessment tool[4].
  • In more recent research, testing knowledge can produce better learning results when compared with other forms of study[5][6].
  • A meta-analysis of free-recall studies describes the testing-effect literature as a mixture of direct and forward testing effects rather than one coherent body[7].

How it works

Retrieval practice is different from the more general practice effect, which is any change or improvement that results from practice or repetition of task items or activities[8]. Retrieval practice improves memory compared with strategies such as restudying, and is thought to do so in at least two ways: the direct testing effect (improved memory for tested material) and the forward testing effect (improved memory for material learned after a practice test)[7].

One account says that testing helps memory by producing error signals that drive learning[9]. In one experiment using a colour wheel, larger errors during practice predicted greater memory updating[9]. In a second experiment, learners' own estimates of how wrong they were also predicted memory updating beyond the size of the actual error[9].

Brain imaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging) suggests that retrieval practice strengthens later retention through a "dual action" affecting the anterior and posterior hippocampus regions of the brain[10].

What the research says

When tested immediately after practice, restudied words were typically recalled more accurately, whereas tested words were recalled better as time moved on[11]. This suggests that using tests is more beneficial for long-term memory and retrieval, supporting the idea that tests are learning opportunities[12][13].

In one study of a staged tour (26 people per group), retrieving event details improved memory for those details after two weeks, if they were successfully retrieved during practice; the evidence is described as tentative[14]. Retrieval also increased the use of existing semantic knowledge in recall narratives[14]. In that same study, it did not otherwise affect memory for unreviewed content, narrative accuracy or narrative organisation[14].

Individual differences in personality traits or working memory capacity do not seem to have negative impacts on the testing effect, with a greater impact for lower ability individuals[15][16].

Learning vocabulary in another language

One study looked at Japanese vocabulary learning by native Chinese speakers who had English as a second language[17]. Fifty-eight participants with no prior knowledge of Japanese learned 30 Japanese-Chinese word pairs through either repeated studying or retrieval practice[17].

Retrieval practice with feedback gave better recall on a 15-minute cued recall test and better recognition on tests 30 and 50 days later than repeated studying[17]. Participants' predicted performance fell over longer intervals, with no significant difference between the two methods at any interval[17].

Limits of the evidence

A meta-analysis of free-recall studies found that 66% of "testing effects" came from mixed studies that confound direct and forward testing effects, and only 34% came from direct studies[7]. Mixed studies produced larger testing effects than direct studies, and the forward component sometimes increases, sometimes decreases and sometimes has an intermediate influence on the observed effect[7].

In a study of sentences learned with answer feedback, the transfer effect for non-trained items appeared 10 minutes after repeated study and training but not after single study and training[18]. It declined over time and was significantly lower than chance level at one week after repeated study and training[18].

Some researchers doubt that knowledge transfers across a topic when testing, with some studies showing contradictory evidence, although inferential thinking has been supported[19][20][21].

Source-checked: 2026-10-11

Sources

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  2. C E. Bruce Goldstein (2010-06-21). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience . Cengage Learning. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-133-00912-2 . books.google.com (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  3. C "The Testing Effect" . Revunote . 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. web.archive.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  4. B Bae, Christine L.; Therriault, David J.; Redifer, Jenni L. (2018). "Investigating the testing effect: Retrieval as a characteristic of effective study strategies". Learning and Instruction . 60 : 206– 214. doi : 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.12.008 . ISSN 0959-4752 . S2CID 149067724 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  5. B Brown, Alan S. (1976). "Review of Information Processing and Cognition: The Loyola Symposium". The American Journal of Psychology . 89 (2): 357– 361. doi : 10.2307/1421430 . ISSN 0002-9556 . JSTOR 1421430 . doi.org; Carrier, M.; Pashler, H. (1992). "The influence of retrieval on retention" . Memory & Cognition . 20 (6): 632– 642. doi : 10.3758/bf03202713 . PMID 1435266 . S2CID 15893469 . doi.org; Izawa, Chizuko (1971-05-01). "The test trial potentiating model". Journal of Mathematical Psychology . 8 (2): 200– 224. doi : 10.1016/0022-2496(71)90012-5 . ISSN 0022-2496 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  6. B Carrier, M.; Pashler, H. (1992). "The influence of retrieval on retention" . Memory & Cognition . 20 (6): 632– 642. doi : 10.3758/bf03202713 . PMID 1435266 . S2CID 15893469 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  7. A Gereau AD, Mulligan NW. Research on "the testing effect" routinely conflates direct and forward testing effects: A meta-analysis of testing effects with free recall. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2026. doi:10.1037/xlm0001634
  8. C "Practice effect" . APA Dictionary of Psychology . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association . n.d . Retrieved 2021-12-04 . dictionary.apa.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  9. B Shi A, Liu XL. Learning from mistakes: Objective and subjective error magnitudes predict the testing effect. Psychon Bull Rev. 2026. doi:10.3758/s13423-026-03009-z
  10. B Wiklund-Hörnqvist, Carola; Stillesjö, Sara; Andersson, Micael; Jonsson, Bert; Nyberg, Lars (January 2021). "Retrieval practice facilitates learning by strengthening processing in both the anterior and posterior hippocampus" . Brain and Behavior . 11 (1): e01909. doi : 10.1002/brb3.1909 . ISSN 2162-3279 . PMC 7821628 . PMID 33094555 . ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  11. B van den Broek, Gesa S. E.; Segers, Eliane; Takashima, Atsuko; Verhoeven, Ludo (2014-10-03). "Do testing effects change over time? Insights from immediate and delayed retrieval speed". Memory . 22 (7): 803– 812. doi : 10.1080/09658211.2013.831455 . hdl : 2066/129864 . ISSN 0965-8211 . PMID 23998337 . S2CID 23919228 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  12. B Roediger, H. L.; Karpicke, J. D. (2006). "Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests Improves Long-Term Retention" (PDF) . Psychological Science . 17 (3): 249– 255. doi : 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x . PMID 16507066 . S2CID 16067307 . Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2015 . Retrieved 17 August 2015 . web.archive.org; Toppino, Thomas C.; Cohen, Michael S. (1 January 2009). "The Testing Effect and the Retention Interval". Experimental Psychology . 56 (4): 252– 257. doi : 10.1027/1618-3169.56.4.252 . PMID 19439397 . S2CID 2736571 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  13. B Foos, Paul W.; Fisher, Ronald P. (1988). "Using tests as learning opportunities" . Journal of Educational Psychology . 80 (2): 179– 183. doi : 10.1037/0022-0663.80.2.179 . ISSN 0022-0663 . doi.apa.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  14. B Homann LA, Jahed M, Barense MD. Retrieval practice promotes semantic integration of real-world memories without compromising episodic integrity. Psychon Bull Rev. 2026. doi:10.3758/s13423-026-03003-5
  15. B Bertilsson, Frida; Stenlund, Tova; Wiklund-Hörnqvist, Carola; Jonsson, Bert (March 2021). "Retrieval Practice: Beneficial for All Students or Moderated by Individual Differences?" . Psychology Learning & Teaching . 20 (1): 21– 39. doi : 10.1177/1475725720973494 . ISSN 1475-7257 . S2CID 229459300 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  16. B Agarwal, Pooja K.; Finley, Jason R.; Rose, Nathan S.; Roediger, Henry L. (2017-07-03). "Benefits from retrieval practice are greater for students with lower working memory capacity" . Memory . 25 (6): 764– 771. doi : 10.1080/09658211.2016.1220579 . ISSN 0965-8211 . PMID 27531308 . S2CID 3649863 . tandfonline.com (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  17. B Long S, Wang Y, Chen J, Cao H, Tang Y. The Benefits of Covert Retrieval Practice on Short- and Long-Term L3 Vocabulary Retention. Behav Sci (Basel). 2026. doi:10.3390/bs16071124
  18. B Wang L, Yang J. Interaction of repetition and retention interval influences the transfer effect after answer feedback for episodic memory. Front Psychol. 2025. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1638780
  19. B McKenzie, Gary R. (1972-01-01). "Some Effects of Frequent Quizzes on Inferential Thinking". American Educational Research Journal . 9 (2): 231– 240. doi : 10.3102/00028312009002231 . ISSN 0002-8312 . S2CID 144657297 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  20. B Mulligan, N. W.; Picklesimer, M (2016). "Attention and the testing effect". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition . 42 (6): 938– 950. doi : 10.1037/xlm0000227 . PMID 26618913 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)
  21. B Butler, A.C. (2010). "Repeated testing produces superior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition . 36 (5): 1118– 1133. doi : 10.1037/a0019902 . PMID 20804289 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Testing effect)

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