Using Day and Night – Scheduling Retrieval Practice and Sleep

2020 ◽  
pp. 147572572096536
Author(s):  
Meike Kroneisen ◽  
Carolina E. Kuepper-Tetzel

Sleep right after studying new material is more conducive to memory than a period of wakefulness. Another way to counteract forgetting is to practice retrieval: taking a test strengthens memory more effectively than restudying the material. The current work aims at investigating the interaction between sleep and testing by asking if testing adds to, neutralizes, or decreases the effect of sleep on memory? We tested this in one pilot and one experiment by manipulating the timing of the practice test as well as whether practice was followed by sleep or wakefulness when learning foreign language vocabulary. Taking a delayed practice test significantly reduces forgetting for both the sleep and the wakefulness group. An immediate practice test, in contrast, had no such effect; here we find the standard beneficial sleep effect. However, the immediate practice test leads to higher recall in the final test in comparison to a delayed practice test, but only for the sleep group. Practical recommendations imply two things: first, if students study in the evening, they should test themselves immediately after learning. Second, if students study during the day the practice test should be delayed in order to reinforce memory and reduce forgetting of the material.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooja K. Agarwal ◽  
Ludmila Nunes ◽  
Janell Blunt

Given the growing interest in retrieval practice among educators, it is valuable to know when retrieval practice does and does not improve student learning—particularly for educators who have limited classroom time and resources. In this literature review, we developed a narrow operational definition for “classroom research” compared to previous reviews of the literature. We screened nearly 2,000 abstracts and systematically coded 50 experiments to establish a clearer picture of benefits from retrieval practice in real world educational settings. Our review yielded 49 effect sizes and a total n = 5,374, the majority of which (57%) revealed medium or large benefits from retrieval practice. We found that retrieval practice improved learning for a variety of education levels, content areas, experimental designs, final test delays, retrieval and final test formats, and timing of retrieval practice and feedback; however, only 6% of experiments were conducted in non-WEIRD countries. Based on our review of the literature, we make eight recommendations for future research and provide educators with a better understanding of the robust benefits of retrieval practice across a range of school and classroom settings.


eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhifang Ye ◽  
Liang Shi ◽  
Anqi Li ◽  
Chuansheng Chen ◽  
Gui Xue

Updating old memories with new, more current information is critical for human survival, yet the neural mechanisms for memory updating in general and the effect of retrieval practice in particular are poorly understood. Using a three-day A-B/A-C memory updating paradigm, we found that compared to restudy, retrieval practice could strengthen new A-C memories and reduce old A-B memory intrusion, but did not suppress A-B memories. Neural activation pattern analysis revealed that compared to restudy, retrieval practice led to stronger target representation in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) during the final test. Critically, it was only under the retrieval practice condition that the MPFC showed strong and comparable competitor evidence for both correct and incorrect trials during final test, and that the MPFC target representation during updating was predictive of subsequent memory. These results suggest that retrieval practice is able to facilitate memory updating by strongly engaging MPFC mechanisms in memory integration, differentiation and consolidation.


Author(s):  
O. Kuznetsova ◽  
V. Zlatnikov

At the present stage of expanding international contacts in various fields of activity for students it is becoming increasinglyimportant to expand their knowledge of languages outside of everyday foreign language (English). Learning foreign languages hasa number of benefits, including facilitating effective communication and building partnerships, business and military relationships with people from other countries/cultures. Since there are a number of factors that affect the effective acquisition of a foreign language in the context of bilin gualism, modern methods of teaching foreign languages have their own characteristics, considering the target areas and standards. There are many approaches to foreign language teaching developed at the end of the last centurythat have become widely used in teaching foreign languages for special purposes in higher education at the present stage of learning. The range of teaching methods varies depending on which aspects of language acquisition they emphasize – from teaching grammar to the lexicographic component of modern English-language culture of business and professional communication, which are seen as an element of communication skills of young military and civilian professionals [1]. As there is a wide range of different approaches and methods of teaching a foreign language for professional purposes used in lessons, the question will be whether there is evidence that some methods are more effective in acquiring and maintaining acquired skills. The article presents practical recommendations for motivating students to free oral/written communication in a foreign language, taking into account professional needs; the sequence of stages at which new programs for studying a foreign language of special purpose are logically executed, and also offers concerning a vocabulary is provided. The article evaluates and analyzes the latest trends in the methodology of teaching foreign languages, which provides a basis for effective study of a foreign language for professional purposes, taking into account the communicative orientation military, business and professional communication.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Mårtensson ◽  
Johan Eriksson ◽  
Nils Christian Bodammer ◽  
Magnus Lindgren ◽  
Mikael Johansson ◽  
...  

AbstractAdult foreign language acquisition is challenging, and the degree of success varies among individuals. Anatomical differences in brain structure prior to training can partly explain why some learn more than others. We followed a sample of conscript interpreters undergoing intense language training to study learning-related changes in white-matter microstructure (FA, MD, RD and AD) and associations between differences in brain structure prior to training with acquired language proficiency. No evidence for changes in white matter microstructure relative to a control group was found. Starting values of RD, AD and MD were positively related to final test scores of language proficiency, corroborating earlier findings in the field and highlighting the need for further study of how initial brain structure influences and interacts with learning outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Felipe Rodrigues de Lima ◽  
Sebastião Venâncio ◽  
Júlia Feminella ◽  
Luciano Grüdtner Buratto

Abstract Retrieving information by testing improves subsequent retention more than restudy, a phenomenon known as the retrieval practice effect. According to the retrieval effort hypothesis (REH), difficult items require more retrieval effort than easier items and, consequently, should benefit more from retrieval practice. In two experiments, we tested this prediction. Participants learned sets of easy and difficult Swahili–Portuguese word pairs (study phase) and repeatedly restudied half of these items and repeatedly retrieval practiced the other half (practice phase). Forty-eight hours later, they took a cued-recall test (final test phase). In both experiments, we replicated both the retrieval practice and the item difficulty effects. In Experiment 1 (N = 51), we found a greater retrieval practice effect for easy items, MDifference = .26, SD = .17, than for difficult items, MDifference = .19, SD = .19, t(50) = 2.01, p = .05, d = 0.28. In Experiment 2 (N = 28), we found a nonsignificant trend—F(1, 27) = 2.86, p = .10, $$ {\upeta}_{\mathrm{p}}^2 $$ = .10—toward a greater retrieval practice effect for difficult items, MDifference = .28, SD = .22, than for easy items, MDifference = .18, SD = .21. This was especially true for individuals who benefit from retrieval practice (difficult: MDifference = .32, SD = .18; easy: MDifference = .20, SD = .20), t(24) = –2.08, p = .05, d = –0.42. The results provide no clear evidence for the REH and are discussed in relation to current accounts of the retrieval practice effect.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 759-770
Author(s):  
Jack M. I. Leggett ◽  
Jennifer S. Burt ◽  
Annemaree Carroll

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Pan ◽  
Faria Sana

The use of practice tests to enhance learning, or test-enhanced learning, ranks among the most effective of all pedagogical techniques. We investigated the relative efficacy of pretesting (i.e., errorful generation) and posttesting (i.e., retrieval practice), two of the most prominent practice test types in the literature to date. Pretesting involves taking tests before to-be-learned information is studied, whereas posttesting involves taking tests after information is studied. In five experiments (combined n = 1,573), participants studied expository text passages, each paired with a pretest or a posttest. The tests involved multiple-choice (Experiments 1-5) or cued recall format (Experiments 2-4) and were administered with or without correct answer feedback (Experiments 3-4). On a criterial test administered 5 minutes or 48 hours later, both test types enhanced memory relative to a no-test control, but pretesting yielded higher overall scores. That advantage held across test formats, in the presence or absence of feedback, at different retention intervals, and appeared to stem from enhanced processing of text passage content (Experiment 5). Thus, although the benefits of posttesting are more well-established in the literature, pretesting is highly competitive with posttesting and can yield similar, if not greater, pedagogical benefits. These findings have important implications for the incorporation of practice tests in education and training contexts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-345
Author(s):  
Marina A. Pastushkova ◽  
Oxana V. Savateeva

The article is focused on the problem of teaching bilingual children. To solve this issue, the authors use the vast experience in addressing it in the Russian and British pedagogical thought in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The authors believe that the comparison of diverse approaches makes it possible to use the ideas of various researchers for resolving the current issues of teaching bilinguals. Besides, the authors of the article try to present the key recommendations and learning approaches for teaching a second language to preschool children. The article stresses the importance of foreign language learning. The authors consider that it is very important to pay attention to the peculiarities of mastering foreign languages and the influence of the bilingual environment on the mental, speech, and personal development of the child. The article further analyses the main approaches to language learning and gives practical recommendations to bilingual children’s parents for teaching a second language. Finally, the article touches upon the problem of learning content. In the authors’ opinion, the latter should be as close as possible to children's understanding. It should be noted that early learning of a foreign language has many advantages in the modern multicultural world. More and more parents want to raise their children as bilinguals, to allow them to communicate in several languages. The authors hope that the recommendations given in the article will help parents of bilingual children and teachers find their approach to teaching a child a second language.


Author(s):  
Ekaterina Yu. Samartseva

The article deals with different methods of systematizing the lexical material which is presented to students at the certain period of the lesson with the aim of enlarging their vocabulary on the topic or reducing lexical difficulties. The author gives practical recommendations on the ways of systematizing the lexical material which can be used at the English lessons both at the stage of shaping students’ lexical skills and at the stage of their improvement.


Author(s):  
Natalia N. Drobysheva

The article concerns the use of learning styles in professionally oriented foreign language training, depending on the characteristics connected with the perception of educational information by students (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.). Based on the analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature and empirical data, it is proposed to use the project methods in teaching a foreign language with senior students of non-linguistic universities, taking into account learning styles both in group and individual student work. The purpose of the article is to show one of the teaching techniques that can solve several problems: the development of foreign-language communicative competencies, information and technical skills, presentation skills and team building. In addition, practical recommendations on the use of learning styles in the process of mastering a language for professional purposes (LPP) at a non-linguistic university can facilitate in creating the conditions for forming, development and improvement of the system involving stylistic characteristics of students’ intellectual behavior, which will ultimately affect the results of their educational activities


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