The Role of Episodic Context in Retrieval Practice Effects

• Published in: Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition Vol. 43; no. 7; pp. 1036 - 1046
• Main Authors: Whiffen, Joshua W, Karpicke, Jeffrey D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychological Association 01.07.2017
• Subjects: Cognitive Processes; Discrimination (Psychology); Evaluative Thinking; Female; Humans; Intentional Learning; Judgment - physiology; Learning; Male; Mental Recall - physiology; Prior Learning; Reaction Time - physiology; Recall (Psychology); Retention (Psychology); Retention (Psychology) - physiology; Semantics; Undergraduate Students; Verbal Learning - physiology; Word Lists; Indiana

The episodic context account of retrieval-based learning proposes that retrieval enhances subsequent retention because people must think back to and reinstate a prior learning context. Three experiments directly tested this central assumption of the context account. Subjects studied word lists and t...