Maddox Geoffrey B, Balota David A
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA,
Mem Cognit. 2015 Jul;43(5):760-74. doi: 10.3758/s13421-014-0499-6.
In the present study, we examined how the function relating continued retrieval practice (e.g., one, three, or five tests) and long-term memory retention is modulated by desirable difficulty (R. A. Bjork, 1994). Of particular interest was how retrieval difficulty differed across young and older adults and across manipulations of lag (Exp. 1) and spacing (Exp. 2). To extend on previous studies, the acquisition phase response latency was used as a proxy for retrieval difficulty, and our analysis of final-test performance was conditionalized on acquisition phase retrieval success, to more directly examine the influence of desirable difficulty on retention. The results from Experiment 1 revealed that continued testing in the short-lag condition led to consistent increases in retention, whereas continued testing in the long-lag condition led to increasingly smaller benefits in retention for both age groups. The results from Experiment 2 revealed that repeated spaced testing enhanced retention relative to taking one spaced test, for both age groups; however, repeated massed testing only enhanced retention over taking one test for young adults. Across both experiments, the response latency results were overall consistent with an influence of desirable difficulty on retention. The discussion focuses on the role of desirable difficulty during encoding in producing the benefits of lag, spacing, and testing.
在本研究中，我们考察了将持续检索练习（例如，一次、三次或五次测试）与长期记忆保持联系起来的函数是如何受到合意难度（R. A. 比约克，1994）调节的。特别令人感兴趣的是，检索难度在年轻人和老年人之间以及在间隔（实验1）和间距（实验2）的操作上是如何不同的。为了扩展先前的研究，获取阶段的反应潜伏期被用作检索难度的指标，并且我们对最终测试表现的分析以获取阶段检索成功为条件，以便更直接地考察合意难度对保持的影响。实验1的结果表明，在短间隔条件下持续测试会导致保持的持续增加，而在长间隔条件下持续测试对两个年龄组的保持带来的益处越来越小。实验2的结果表明，相对于进行一次间隔测试，重复间隔测试增强了两个年龄组的保持；然而，重复集中测试仅相对于年轻人进行一次测试增强了保持。在两个实验中，反应潜伏期结果总体上与合意难度对保持的影响一致。讨论聚焦于合意难度在编码过程中产生间隔、间距和测试益处方面的作用。
