Forgetting and the illusion of knowing: what testing showed

Step 1 Warm-up recall

From M1.L2: define chunking in one sentence.

Your answer

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Step 2 Learning goal

By the end of this lesson you can:

• describe the design of Roediger and Karpicke (2006) (Foundation);
• explain why a result can reverse over time (Core);
• distinguish familiarity from recall (Core).

Step 3 A familiar example

You reread a page and think, “yes, I know this”. The page feels familiar. But if someone closed the book and asked you to explain it, you might struggle. Familiarity and recall are different.

Step 4 Clear explanation

Roediger and Karpicke (2006) asked students to study prose passages. Some then took one or three immediate free-recall tests without feedback; others restudied the material the same number of times. A final retention test followed 5 minutes, 2 days or 1 week later. At 5 minutes, repeated studying gave better recall than repeated testing. On the delayed tests, prior testing produced substantially greater retention, even though repeated studying had increased students’ confidence that they would remember. The authors concluded that testing is a powerful means of improving learning, not just assessing it.

The table below is invented to show the shape of that result; it does not report the paper’s data.

Two lessons follow. A method can look better early and worse later, so judge study methods by delayed recall. And confidence is a poor guide: restudying raised confidence yet did not produce the best later recall. See the encyclopedia entry on retrieval practice.

Step 5 Worked example (4 marks)

A student says: “Rereading works for me; I remember it right after.” Respond.

1. Right after, restudying can give better recall than testing. (1 mark)
2. The comparison that matters is after days or a week. (1 mark)
3. In the experiment, prior testing gave substantially greater retention on delayed tests. (1 mark)
4. Suggestion: test yourself, then check delayed recall rather than trusting a feeling of familiarity. (1 mark)

Step 6 Learner practice (instant-marked)

Step 7 Recap

• Restudying led at 5 minutes; testing led on delayed tests.
• Confidence rose with restudying but did not predict later recall.
• Judge methods by delayed recall.

Step 8 Exit ticket (ungraded)

Write one sentence explaining why a feeling of familiarity is a poor test of learning.

Your answer

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Step 9 Go further (Extension)

Read the abstract of Roediger and Karpicke (2006) in Psychological Science and find the three delay times.