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Putting evidence‐based claims to the test: A multi‐site classroom study of retrieval practice and spaced practice
Author(s) -
Gurung Regan A.R.,
Burns Kathleen
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3507
Subject(s) - psychology , test (biology) , clinical practice , repetition (rhetorical device) , variance (accounting) , class (philosophy) , mathematics education , computer science , medicine , artificial intelligence , family medicine , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , accounting , business , biology
Summary Retrieval practice and spacing out studying help increase learning. Introductory Psychology students at nine colleges/universities took quizzes with more (RP+) or less (RP−) retrieval practice and more (SP+) or less (SP−) spacing between quizzes. We compared ( N = 351) scores on class exams and on a standardized test. We also measured key student variables (e.g., depth of processing). GPA predicted a significant portion of variance in exam scores, R 2 = 0.05, F (1, 204) = 10.84, p = 0.001. We found a main effect for retrieval practice and a significant retrieval by spacing practice interaction, R 2 = 0.28, F (3, 201) = 27.38, p < 0.001. Students using SP+, as well as those with SP− and RP−, scored higher than students using SP− and RP+. In practice, closer attention needs to be paid to quiz and exam content overlap and the duration within which repetition is used.