This article pursues the hypothesis that a scale-invariant representation of history could support performance in a variety of learning and memory tasks. This representation maintains a conjunctive representation of what happened when that grows continuously less accurate for events further and further in the past. Simple behavioral models using a few operations, including scanning, matching and a "jump back in time" that recovers previous states of the history, describe a range of behavioral phenomena. These behavioral applications include canonical results from the judgment of recency task over short and long scales, the recency and contiguity effect across scales in episodic recall, and temporal mapping phenomena in conditioning. A growing body of neural data suggests that neural representations in several brain regions have qualitative properties predicted by the representation of temporal history. Taken together, these results suggest that a scale-invariant representation of temporal history may serve as a cornerstone of a physical model of cognition in learning and memory.

Practicing retrieval is a powerful way to promote learning and long-term retention. This chapter addresses the theoretical underpinnings of retrieval-based learning. We review methodological issues in retrieval practice research, identify key findings to be Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Volume 61 # 2014 Elsevier Inc. ISSN 0079-7421 All rights reserved. http://dx. 237accounted for, and evaluate current candidate theories. We propose an episodic context account of retrieval-based learning, which explains retrieval practice in terms of context reinstatement, context updating, and restriction of the search set. Retrieval practice involves attempting to reinstate a prior learning context, and when retrieval is successful, the representation of context is updated to include features of retrieved contexts and the current context. Future retrieval is enhanced because updated context representations can be used to restrict the search set and hone in on a desired target. The context account accommodates a wide variety of phenomena in the retrieval practice literature and provides a comprehensive and cohesive account of retrieval-based learning.

Van Gog and Sweller (2015) claim that there is no testing effect-no benefit of practicing retrieval-for complex materials. We show that this claim is incorrect on several grounds. First, Van Gog and Sweller's idea of "element interactivity" is not defined in a quantitative, measurable way. As a consequence, the idea is applied inconsistently in their literature review. Second, none of the experiments on retrieval practice with worked-example materials manipulated element interactivity. Third, Van Gog and Sweller's literature review omitted several studies that have shown retrieval practice effects with complex materials, including studies that directly manipulated the complexity of the materials. Fourth, the experiments that did not show retrieval practice effects, which were emphasized by Van Gog and Sweller, either involved retrieval of isolated words in individual sentences or required immediate, massed retrieval practice. The experiments failed to observe retrieval practice effects because of the retrieval tasks, not because of the complexity of the materials. Finally, even though the worked-example experiments emphasized by Van Gog and Sweller have methodological problems, they do not show strong evidence favoring the null. Instead, the data provide evidence that there is indeed a small positive effect of retrieval practice with worked examples. Retrieval practice remains an effective way to improve meaningful learning of complex materials.Over the past decade, there has been robust interest in the effects of retrieval practice on learning, with a special emphasis on how best to apply the benefits of retrieval (or testing) to the complex tasks, materials, and assessments found in educational settings. The consistent Educ Psychol Rev

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