An obvious way to promote acquisition of new information is to repeat the learning/encoding phase. However, recent evidence (Roediger & Butler, 2010) indicate that repeating the test phase may be even more effective, particularly when combined with feedback on response correctness.
The aim of this ongoing study is to examine whether repeated testing with feedback benefits learning compared to rereading of introductory psychology text-book facts in an educational context. The effect was examined immediate after practice, after 18-days, and at a five-week delay in a sample of undergraduate students.
Preliminary analyses revealed that repeated testing with feedback significantly enhanced learning compared to rereading at all delays, thus indicating that repeated retrieval enhances retention compared to repeated encoding in the short- and long-term. Learning methods including elements of repeated retrieval are important to consider by the educational system.