ABSTRACT

Tests given to learners before they study new information can enhance the learning of that information. When responding to these pretests, learners typically generate answers that are incorrect but that are nevertheless helpful for improving the learning of the correct answers. The present research examined how providing learners with context prior to pretesting can enhance the benefits of pretesting. Across two experiments, participants were given a pretest for half of the to-be-learned information and then asked to read a passage about a fictional topic, an alien civilisation known as Yoffas (Experiment 1 and Experiment 2), or a unique fruit called the Anona (Experiment 2). Participants who read a short paragraph contextualising the to-be-learned information exhibited a significantly larger pretesting effect than participants who did not, with this interaction being observed regardless of whether memory was tested after a 5-min delay or 1-week delay, and regardless of whether contextualisation was manipulated between-subjects or within-subjects. These results suggest that what learners know prior to a pretest can have an impact on the extent to which learners benefit from that pretest.

摘要

在学习者学习新信息之前对他们进行的测试可以增强对该信息的学习。在响应这些预测试时，学习者通常会生成不正确的答案，但仍然有助于改进正确答案的学习。本研究探讨了如何在预测试之前为学习者提供背景信息可以增强预测试的好处。在两个实验中，参与者被预先测试了一半的待学习信息，然后被要求阅读关于一个虚构主题的文章，一个名为 Yoffas 的外星文明（实验 1 和实验 2），或一种名为Anona（实验 2）。阅读短段落的参与者将要学习的信息情境化，比没有阅读的参与者表现出显着更大的预测试效果，无论是在延迟 5 分钟还是延迟 1 周后测试记忆，也无论是在受试者之间还是在受试者内部操纵情境化，都会观察到这种相互作用。这些结果表明，学习者在预测试之前所知道的会影响学习者从该预测试中受益的程度。