When and Why a Failed Test Potentiates the Effectiveness of Subsequent Study

作者：Hays Matthew Jensen^*; Kornell Nate; Bjork Robert A

来源：Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition , 2013, 39(1): 290-296.

DOI：10.1037/a0028468

• spacing
• testing
• retrieval
• forgetting
• errorless learning

Teachers and trainers often try to prevent learners from making errors, but recent findings (e.g., Kornell, Hays, & Bjork, 2009) have demonstrated that tests can potentiate subsequent learning even when the correct answer is difficult or impossible to generate (e.g., "What is Nate Kornell's middle name?"). In 3 experiments, we explored when and why a failed test enhances learning. We found that failed tests followed by immediate feedback produced greater retention than did a presentation-only condition. Failed tests followed by delayed feedback, by contrast, did not produce such a benefit except when the direction of the final test was reversed (i.e., the-participants were provided with the target and had to produce the original cue). Our findings suggest that generating an incorrect response to a cue both activates the semantic network associated with the cue and suppresses the correct response. These processes appear to have 2 consequences: If feedback is presented immediately, the semantic activation enhances the mapping of the cue to the correct response; if feedback is presented at a delay, the prior suppression boosts the learning of the suppressed response.

• 出版日期2013-1