The Pretesting Effect: Exploring the Impact of Feedback and Final Test Timing
References
- Aljabri, S. (2024). Timing of feedback and retrieval practice: a laboratory study with EFL students. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1–10. 10.1057/s41599-024-03983-6
- Atienza, M., Crespo-Garcia, M., & Cantero, J. L. (2011). Semantic congruence enhances memory of episodic associations: role of theta oscillations. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 23(1), 75–90. 10.1162/jocn.2009.21358
- Ausubel, D. P., Novak, J. D., & Hanesian, H. (1969). Educational psychology: A cognitive view. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
- Bahrick, H. P., & Hall, L. K. (2005). The importance of retrieval failures to long-term retention: A metacognitive explanation of the spacing effect. Journal of Memory and Language, 52, 566–577. 10.1016/j.jml.2005.01.012
- Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.
- Bartl, J., Kliegl, O., & Bäuml, K. H. T. (2024). The role of mediators for the pretesting effect. Memory, 32(3), 358–368. 10.1080/09658211.2024.2323930
- Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2011).
Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning . In M. A. Gernsbacher, R. W. Pew, L. M. Hough & J. R. Pomerantz (Eds.), Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society (pp. 56–64). Worth Publishers. - Boakes, R. A., & Costa, D. S. (2014). Temporal contiguity in associative learning: Interference and decay from an historical perspective. Journal of experimental psychology: Animal learning and cognition, 40(4), 381–400. 10.1037/xan0000040
- Bridges, D., Pitiot, A., MacAskill, M. R., & Peirce, J. W. (2020). The timing mega-study: Comparing a range of experiment generators, both lab-based and online. PeerJ, 8,
e9414 . 10.7717/peerj.9414 - Brod, G. (2021). Predicting as a learning strategy. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 28(6), 1839–1847. 10.3758/s13423-021-01904-1
- Brod, G., Hasselhorn, M., & Bunge, S. A. (2018). When generating a prediction boosts learning: The element of surprise. Learning and Instruction, 55, 22–31. 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.01.013
- Butler, A. C., Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2007). The Effect of Type and Timing of Feedback on Learning From Multiple-Choice Tests. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 13(4), 273–281. 10.1037/1076-898X.13.4.273
- Butler, A. C., Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). Correcting a Metacognitive Error: Feedback Increases Retention of Low-Confidence Correct Responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 34(4), 918–928. 10.1037/0278-7393.34.4.918
- Butterfield, B., & Mangels, J. A. (2003). Neural correlates of error detection and correction in a semantic retrieval task. Cognitive Brain Research, 17(3), 793–817. 10.1016/S0926-6410(03)00203-9
- Butterfield, B., & Metcalfe, J. (2001). Errors Committed with High Confidence Are Hypercorrected. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 27(6), 1491–1494. 10.1037/0278-7393.27.6.1491
- Carpenter, S. K. (2009). Cue Strength as a Moderator of the Testing Effect: The Benefits of Elaborative Retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 35(6), 1563–1569. 10.1037/a0017021
- Carpenter, S. K. (2011). Semantic Information Activated During Retrieval Contributes to Later Retention: Support for the Mediator Effectiveness Hypothesis of the Testing Effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 37(6), 1547–1552. 10.1037/a0024140
- Carpenter, S. K., Wilford, M. M., Kornell, N., & Mullaney, K. M. (2013). Appearances can be deceiving: Instructor fluency increases perceptions of learning without increasing actual learning. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 20(6), 1350–1356. 10.3758/s13423-013-0442-z
- Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, 82(6), 407–428. 10.1037//0033-295X.82.6.407
- DiMarco, D., Laursen, S. J., Churey, K. R., & Fiacconi, C. M. (2024). Examining the influence of list composition on the mnemonic benefit of errorful generation. Memory, 1–12. 10.1080/09658211.2024.2413159
- Duchon, A., Perea, M., Sebastián-Gallés, N., Martí, A., & Carreiras, M. (2013). EsPal: One-stop shopping for Spanish word properties. Behavior Research Methods, 45(4), 1246–1258. 10.3758/s13428-013-0326-1
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. 10.1177/1529100612453266
- Dutilh, G., Vandekerckhove, J., Forstmann, B. U., Keuleers, E., Brysbaert, M., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2012). Testing theories of post-error slowing. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 74(2), 454–465. 10.3758/s13414-011-0243-2
- Ebbinghaus, H. (1964). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology (H.A. Ruger, C.E. Bussenius & E.R. Hilgard, trans.). Dover. (Original work published 1885).
- Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G* Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191. 10.3758/BF03193146
- Fazio, L. K., & Marsh, E. J. (2009). Surprising feedback improves later memory. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 16(1), 88–92. 10.3758/PBR.16.1.88
- Fernández, A., Díez, E., & Alonso, M. A. (2010). Normas de Asociación libre en Castellano de la Universidad de Salamanca [Online database]. Retrieved from
https://iblues-inico.usal.es/iblues/nalc_home.php - Giebl, S., Mena, S., Storm, B. C., Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2021). Answer first or Google first? Using the internet in ways that enhance, not impair one’s subsequent retention of needed information. Psychology Learning and Teaching, 20(1), 58–75. 10.1177/1475725720961593
- Godden, D. R., & Baddeley, A. D. (1975). Context-dependent memory in two natural environments: on land and underwater. British Journal of Psychology, 66(3), 325–331. 10.1111/J.2044-8295.1975.TB01468.X
- Grimaldi, P. J., & Karpicke, J. D. (2012). When and why do retrieval attempts enhance subsequent encoding? Memory & Cognition, 40(4), 505–513. 10.3758/s13421-011-0174-0
- Hartley, J. (1973). The effect of pre-testing on post-test performance. Instructional Science, 2(2), 193–214. 10.1007/BF00139871
- Hays, M. J., Kornell, N., & Bjork, R. A. (2013). When and why a failed test potentiates the effectiveness of subsequent study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 39(1), 290–296. 10.1037/a0028468
- Hollins, T. J., Seabrooke, T., Inkster, A., Wills, A., & Mitchell, C. J. (2023). Pre-testing effects are target-specific and are not driven by a generalised state of curiosity. Memory, 31(2), 282–296. 10.1080/09658211.2022.2153141
- Huelser, B. J., & Metcalfe, J. (2012). Making related errors facilitates learning, but learners do not know it. Memory & Cognition, 40(4), 514–527. 10.3758/s13421-011-0167-z
- Iwaki, N., Nara, T., & Tanaka, S. (2017). Does delayed corrective feedback enhance acquisition of correct information? Acta Psychologica, 181, 75–81. 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.10.005
- Jeffreys, H. (1961). Theory of probability (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
- Kang, S. H. K., Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., Rohrer, D., Carpenter, S. K., & Mozer, M. C. (2011). Does Incorrect Guessing Impair Fact Learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(1), 48–59. 10.1037/a0021977
- Kapur, M. (2008). Productive failure. Cognition and Instruction, 26(3), 379–424. 10.1080/07370000802212669
- Kliegl, O., Bartl, J., & Bäuml, K.-H. T. (2024). The pretesting effect comes to full fruition after prolonged retention interval. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 13(1), 63–70. 10.1037/mac0000085
- Knight, J. B., Hunter Ball, B., Brewer, G. A., DeWitt, M. R., & Marsh, R. L. (2012). Testing unsuccessfully: A specification of the underlying mechanisms supporting its influence on retention. Journal of Memory and Language, 66(4), 731–746. 10.1016/j.jml.2011.12.008
- Kornell, N. (2014). Attempting to answer a meaningful question enhances subsequent learning even when feedback is delayed. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(1), 106–114. 10.1037/a0033699
- Kornell, N., Hays, M. J., & Bjork, R. A. (2009). Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 35(4), 989–998. 10.1037/a0015729
- Kornell, N., & Son, L. K. (2009). Learners’ choices and beliefs about self-testing. Memory, 17, 493–501. 10.1080/09658210902832915
- Kowialiewski, B., & Majerus, S. (2020). The varying nature of semantic effects in working memory. Cognition, 202, 104278. 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104278
- Kulhavy, R. W. (1977). Feedback in Written Instruction. Review of Educational Research, 47(2), 211–232. 10.3102/00346543047002211
- Kuhn, D., Black, J., Keselman, A., & Kaplan, D. (2000). The development of cognitive skills to support inquiry learning. Cognition and Instruction, 18(4), 495–523. 10.1207/S1532690XCI1804_3
- Latimier, A., Riegert, A., Peyre, H., Ly, S. T., Casati, R., & Ramus, F. (2019). Does pre-testing promote better retention than post-testing? NPJ Science of Learning, 4(1), 1–7. 10.1038/s41539-019-0053-1
- Lee, M. D., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2013). Bayesian cognitive modelling: A practical course. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139087759
- Li, S. (2020). What is the ideal time to provide corrective feedback? Replication of Li, Zhu & Ellis (2016) and Arroyo & Yilmaz (2018). Language Teaching, 53(1), 96–108. 10.1017/S026144481800040X
- Loibl, K., & Leuders, T. (2019). How to make failure productive: Fostering learning from errors through elaboration prompts. Learning and Instruction, 62, 1–10. 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.03.002
- Loibl, K., Roll, I., & Rummel, N. (2017). Towards a theory of when and how problem solving followed by instruction supports learning. Educational Psychological Review, 29, 693–715. 10.1007/s10648-016-9379-x
- Lu, X., Sales, A., & Heffernan, N. T. (2021). Immediate Versus Delayed Feedback on Learning: Do People’s Instincts Really Conflict With Reality? Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 21(16). 10.33423/jhetp.v21i16.4925
- Maraver, M. J., Lapa, A., Garcia-Marques, L., Carneiro, P., & Raposo, A. (2022). Can we learn from errors? Retrieval facilitates the correction of false memories for pragmatic inferences. PloS One, 17(8),
e0272427 . 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0272427 - Marin-Garcia, E., Mattfeld, A.T., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2021). Neural Correlates of Long-Term Memory Enhancement Following Retrieval Practice. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15, 584560. 10.3389/fnhum.2021.584560
- McDaniel, M. A., Agarwal, P. K., Huelser, B. J., McDermott, K. B., & Roediger, H. L.
III. . (2011). Test-enhanced learning in a middle school science classroom: The effects of quiz frequency and placement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(2), 399–414. 10.1037/a0021782 - Mera, Y., Dianova, N., & Marin-Garcia, E. (in preparation). Testing Before Learning: Exploring the Robustness of the Pretesting Effect. Manuscript submitted for publication.
- Mera, Y., Migueles, M., & Marin-Garcia, E. (2025). Enhancing Memory trough Error Correction. Psicológica 46(1),
e17154 . 10.20350/DIGITALCSIC/17154 - Mera, Y., Modirrousta-Galian, A., Thomas, G., Higham, P., & Seabrooke, T. (2025). Erring on the Side of Caution: A Failed Replication of the Derring Effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 154(3), 658–671. 10.1037/xge0001707
- Mera, Y., Rodríguez, G., & Marin-Garcia, E. (2022). Unraveling the benefits of experiencing errors during learning: Definition, modulating factors, and explanatory theories. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29, 753–765. 10.3758/S13423-021-02022-8
- Metcalfe, J. (2017). Learning from errors. Annual Review of Psychology, 68(1), 465–489. 10.1146/annurev-psych-010416-044022
- Metcalfe, J., Butterfield, B., Habeck, C., & Stern, Y. (2012). Neural Correlates of People’s Hypercorrection of Their False Beliefs. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24(7), 1571–1583. 10.1162/jocn_a_00228
- Metcalfe, J., & Kornell, N. (2007). Principles of cognitive science in education: The effects of generation, errors, and feedback. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 14(2), 225–229. 10.3758/BF03194056
- Metcalfe, J., Kornell, N., & Finn, B. (2009). Delayed versus immediate feedback in children’s and adults’ vocabulary learning. Memory & Cognition, 37(8), 1077–1087. 10.3758/MC.37.8.1077
- Morey, R. D., & Rouder, J. N. (2023). BayesFactor: Computation of Bayes factors for common designs (R package Version 0.9.12-4.7) [Computer software].
https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=BayesFactor - Murre, J. M. J., & Dros, J. (2015). Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve. PLOS ONE, 10(7),
e0120644 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0120644 - Overoye, A. L., James, K. K., & Storm, B. C. (2021). A little can go a long way: giving learners some context can enhance the benefits of pretesting. Memory, 29(9), 1206–1215. 10.1080/09658211.2021.1974048
- Pan, S. C., & Rivers, M. L. (2023). Metacognitive awareness of the pretesting effect improves with self-regulation support. Memory & Cognition, 51, 1461–1480. 10.3758/s13421-022-01392-1
- Pan, S. C., & Sana, F. (2021). Pretesting versus posttesting: Comparing the pedagogical benefits of errorful generation and retrieval practice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 27(2), 237–257. 10.1037/xap0000345
- Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2005). When Does Feedback Facilitate Learning of Words? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 31(1), 3–8. 10.1037/0278-7393.31.1.3
- Pastötter, B., & Bäuml, K. H. T. (2014). Retrieval practice enhances new learning: The forward effect of testing. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 83305. 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00286
- Peirce, J., Gray, J. R., Simpson, S., MacAskill, M., Höchenberger, R., Sogo, H., Kastman, E., & Lindeløv, J. K. (2019). PsychoPy2: Experiments in behavior made easy. Behavior Research Methods, 51(1), 195–203. 10.3758/s13428-018-01193-y
- Potts, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2014). The benefit of generating errors during learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(2), 644–667. 10.1037/a0033194
- R Core Team. (2023). R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing.
https://www.r-project.org/ - Rabbitt, P., & Rodgers, B. (1977). What does a Man do after he Makes an Error? An Analysis of Response Programming. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 29(4), 727–743. 10.1080/14640747708400645
- Rescorla, R. A., & Wagner, A. R. (1972).
A theory of Pavlovian conditioning: variations in the effectiveness of reinforcement and nonreinforcement . In A. H. Black & W. F. Prokasy (Eds.), Classical conditioning II: current research and theory (pp. 64–99). Appleton-Century-Crofts. - Richland, L. E., Kornell, N., & Kao, L. S. (2009). The pretesting effect: Do unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance learning? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 15(3), 243–257. 10.1037/a0016496
- Roediger, H. L.
III. , & Butler, A. C. (2011). The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 20–27. 10.1016/j.tics.2010.09.003 - Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006a). The power of testing memory: Basic research and implications for educational practice. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(3), 181–210. 10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00012.x
- Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006b). Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests Improves Long-Term Retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x
- Rowland, C. A. (2014). The effect of testing versus restudy on retention: a meta-analytic review of the testing effect. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1432–1463. 10.1037/A0037559
- Seabrooke, T., Hollins, T. J., Kent, C., Wills, A. J., & Mitchell, C. J. (2019). Learning from failure: Errorful generation improves memory for items, not associations. Journal of Memory and Language, 104, 70–82. 10.1016/j.jml.2018.10.001
- Seabrooke, T., Mitchell, C. J., Wills, A. J., & Hollins, T. J. (2021). Pretesting boosts recognition, but not cued recall, of targets from unrelated word pairs. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 28(1). 10.3758/s13423-020-01810-y
- Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. Simon and Schuster.
- Skinner, B. F. (1958). Teaching machines: From the experimental study of learning come devices which arrange optimal conditions for self-instruction. Science, 128(3330), 969–977. 10.1126/science.128.3330.969
- Spencer, H. (1855). The principles of psychology. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 10.1037/14065-000
- Tanaka, S., Miyatani, M., & Iwaki, N. (2019). Response format, not semantic activation, influences the failed retrieval effect. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1–13. 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00599
- Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal intelligence. Macmillan. 10.5962/bhl.title.55072
- Toppino, T. C., & Cohen, M. S. (2009). The testing effect and the retention interval: questions and answers. Experimental psychology, 56(4), 252–257. 10.1027/1618-3169.56.4.252
- Van den Broek, G., Takashima, A., Wiklund-Hörnqvist, C., Wirebring, L. K., Segers, E., Verhoeven, L., & Nyberg, L. (2016). Neurocognitive mechanisms of the “testing effect”: A review. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 5(2), 52–66. 10.1016/j.tine.2016.05.001
- Vaughn, K. E., Hausman, H., & Kornell, N. (2017). Retrieval attempts enhance learning regardless of time spent trying to retrieve. Memory, 25(3), 298–316. 10.1080/09658211.2016.1170152
- Vaughn, K. E., & Rawson, K. A. (2012). When is guessing incorrectly better than studying for enhancing memory? Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 19(5), 899–905. 10.3758/s13423-012-0276-0
- Walker, I., & Hulme, C. (1999). Concrete words are easier to recall than abstract words: Evidence for a semantic contribution to short-term serial recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 25(5), 1256–1271. 10.1037/0278-7393.25.5.1256
- Wong, S. S. H., & Lim, S. W. H. (2022). The derring effect: Deliberate errors enhance learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 151(1), 25–40. 10.1037/xge0001072
- Yan, V. X., Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2016). On the difficulty of mending metacognitive illusions: A priori theories, fluency effects, and misattributions of the interleaving benefit. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(7), 918–933. 10.1037/xge0000177
- Yang, C., Potts, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2017). Metacognitive unawareness of the errorful generation benefit and its effects on self-regulated learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 43(7), 1073–1092. 10.1037/xlm0000363
- Zawadzka, K., & Hanczakowski, M. (2019). Two routes to memory benefits of guessing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(10), 1748–1760. 10.1037/xlm0000676
- Zawadzka, K., Zaborowska, O., Butowska, E., Piątkowski, K., & Hanczakowski, M. (2023). Guessing can benefit memory for related word pairs even when feedback is delayed. Memory & Cognition, 51(5), 1235–1248. 10.3758/s13421-022-01385-0
- Zhang, Q., & Fiorella, L. (2023). An integrated model of learning from errors. Educational Psychologist, 58(1), 18–34. 10.1080/00461520.2022.2149525
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.455 | Journal eISSN: 2514-4820
Language: English
Submitted on: Jan 14, 2025
Accepted on: Jul 11, 2025
Published on: Jul 22, 2025
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year
Keywords:
© 2025 Yeray Mera, Nataliya Dianova, Eugenia Marin-Garcia, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.