Testing effect

The finding that retrieving information through a test can improve long-term retention more than additional study does.

Retrieval practice: The act of recalling information from memory to improve learning or assess knowledge. This broader learning strategy includes tests that produce the testing effect.
Testing effect experiments: Studies comparing later memory after retrieval practice with memory after additional study. These experiments establish the effect by holding learning time or material constant.
Practice testing: Using tests or quizzes as a learning activity rather than solely as an assessment. It is the most direct practical use of the testing effect.
Restudying: Reviewing previously studied material again without first trying to recall it. Additional restudy is the central comparison condition in testing-effect studies.
Retrieval-induced forgetting: The reduced accessibility of related information after selective retrieval of some memories. Retrieval can strengthen practiced material while making competing material harder to recall.
Memory consolidation: The processes that stabilize and reorganize memories after initial learning. Retrieval can trigger processes that make memories more durable.
Roediger and Karpicke (2006): A study showing that repeated testing can improve delayed retention of prose passages relative to repeated study. Its one-week results became a widely cited demonstration of long-term testing benefits.
Formative assessment: Assessment used during instruction to inform teaching and improve learning. Frequent low-stakes retrieval can both reveal progress and support retention.
Rereading: Reading previously encountered material again to review it. Rereading often feels easier than testing but can yield poorer delayed recall.
Test anxiety: Anxiety associated with evaluation that can disrupt attention and performance. Anxiety may limit the benefits of using tests as learning exercises.

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