The Power of Retrieval
Picture this: You have a few more days to study before your first set of final exams, and you’re convinced that this is the year you’ll ace all of them. You sit down at your desk, poring over the pages of your textbook, and highlighting all of the key information.
If this sounds like you, you are among the 85% of undergraduates who study by rereading their notes or a textbook (Karpicke, Butler, and Roediger 2009). However, you may not be setting yourself up for success — there’s a better way to work for that 12.
Studies show that rereading does not lead to a significant improvement in testing scores. As such, it’s not the most effective way to study (Callendar and McDaniel, 2009; Karpicke, Butler, and Roediger 2009, Karpicke and Roediger, 2007; Roediger and Karpicke, 2006).
So if it’s not particularly helpful to reread your notes, how can you better prepare for your tests? There are a lot of study strategies out there, but keep in mind that some work better than others. It truly depends on the individual. One tried and true method for reviewing content is a process called retrieval.
What is retrieval?
Retrieval is a study technique that has been proven to enhance learning. When you practice retrieval, you are forced to deliberately recall, or “retrieve” the content from your memory, as opposed to having the answer in front of you as you would if you were rereading a textbook. The effectiveness of retrieval can be explained by a psychological phenomenon known as “the testing effect.” When you are forced to recall something from memory, this actually improves your ability to remember the material (Karpicke, Butler, and Roediger 2009). In a direct comparison of rereading to retrieval, a study found that university students perform better on a final test while retrieving the information, as opposed to rereading (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006).
Retrieval is also beneficial for long-term retention of material (Dunlosky et al, 2013; Karpicke and Roediger, 2007; Roediger and Karpicke, 2006). That means you’re less likely to forget the information the day after your exam!
Now unfortunately, retrieval may not be effective if you’re trying to cram course content the night before your exam. Retrieval works best if it’s spaced out over a longer period of time. Mass studying all of the material at once is not ideal (Karpicke and Bauernschmidt, 2011; Mulligan and Peterson, 2014). In fact, research has shown that there is a 200% improvement in retention of material when comparing spaced to non-spaced retrieval (Karpicke and Bauernschmidt, 2011).
It is well-established that retrieving your course content over a longer period of time is an effective study strategy, however, it turns out that very few students actually do this. Only 1% of students say that retrieval is their primary method of studying (Karpicke, Butler, and Roediger, 2009). Given that there are scientific benefits to this strategy, we believe that students should try it out!
How exactly do you practice retrieval?
It turns out that it’s fairly easy to incorporate recall activities into lectures or study sessions (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Next time you study, instead of rereading a passage of your textbook, take a blank piece of paper and write down everything you can remember about what you just read. Or, if you’re artistic, you can draw out whatever you can recall from that chapter, and even turn these drawings into a mind map. It may also be worthwhile to invest in some flashcards, as this is another convenient way of practicing retrieval. You can bring these cards onto the bus with you, or work through them if you have a few minutes between classes to practice.
If you’re not a fan of handwriting while studying, there are also plenty of digital tools that can be used to help with retrieval. Quizlet lets you make digital index cards, which can also be printed if you prefer to have a paper copy. Other apps like Cardflow and Anki serve a similar purpose and even allow you to add drawings or audio, which makes it useful for a variety of subjects. Anki also builds in the spacing that is so important for information retention, and has added features such as a difficulty rating.
So with all of this in mind, do we even need to read our textbooks?
Absolutely.
Textbooks are useful resources and can improve your understanding of lecture content. However, when it comes time to prepare for tests, reading the same page over and over isn’t going to help you do any better. Instead, you should try the retrieval method. Take some time to find which specific strategy works well for you, whether that be digital flashcards, mind maps, or just a basic blank sheet of paper. It may take a bit more time and effort compared to reading your textbook, but it’s a skill that you can carry with you throughout your university career.
Written by: Caitlin Reintjes
References
Callender, A.A. and McDaniel, M.A., 2009. The limited benefits of rereading educational texts. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34(1), pp.30–41.
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K.A., Marsh, E.J., Nathan, M.J. and Willingham, D.T., 2013. Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), pp.4–58.
Karpicke, J.D., and Bauernschmidt, A. (2011). Spaced Retrieval: Absolute Spacing Enhances Learning Regardless of Relative Spacing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Memory, and Cognition, 37(5), 1250 –1257
Karpicke, J.D., Butler, A.C. and Roediger III, H.L., 2009. Metacognitive strategies in student learning: Do students practise retrieval when they study on their own? Memory, 17(4), pp.471–479.
Karpicke, J.D. and Roediger III, H.L., 2007. Repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention. Journal of Memory and Language, 57(2), pp.151–162.
Mulligan, N.W., and Peterson, D.J. (2014). The Spacing Effect and Metacognitive Control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(1), 306 –311.
Roediger, H.L. and Karpicke, J.D., 2006. Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), pp.249–255.
