Reductions in Retrieval Competition Predict the Benefit of Repeated Testing

Abstract

Repeated testing leads to improved long-term memory retention compared to repeated study, but the mechanism underlying this improvement remains controversial. In this work, we test the hypothesis that retrieval practice benefits subsequent recall by reducing competition from related memories. This hypothesis implies that the degree of reduction in competition between retrieval practice attempts should predict subsequent memory for practiced items. To test this prediction, we collected electroencephalography (EEG) data across two sessions. In the first session, participants practiced selectively retrieving exemplars from superordinate semantic categories (high competition), as well as retrieving the names of the superordinate categories from exemplars (low competition). In the second session, participants repeatedly studied and were tested on Swahili-English vocabulary. One week after session two, participants were again tested on the vocabulary. We trained a within-subject classifier on the data from session one to distinguish high and low competition states. We then used this classifier to measure the change in competition across multiple successful retrieval practice attempts in the second session. The degree to which competition decreased for a given vocabulary word predicted whether it was subsequently remembered in the third session. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that repeated testing improves retention by reducing competition.

A retrieval-specific mechanism of adaptive forgetting in the mammalian brain

“…mPFC involvement suggests that active control mechanisms related to those that promote behavioral flexibility underlie retrieval-induced forgetting, consistent with this structure’s role in mnemonic control 24 – 27 , 39 , 40 , 48 – 50 . Critically, the relationship between forgetting and declining prefrontal activity over repeated retrievals highlights how forgetting adapts memory to foster retrieval efficiency 24 – 26 , 51 . Together, these functional and neural parallels are consistent with the hypothesized species-general adaptive forgetting mechanism, although this bears careful scrutiny.…”

Emulating Cued Recall of Abstract Concepts via Regulated Activation Networks

“…Recall has been used to study the effect of cognitive strategies, such as chunking and the use of mnemonics for memorization of things (such as large numbers) [40]. One interesting study reported the benefits of subsequent recall in retrieval operations where memories are related or competing [41]. The proverb "practice makes a man perfect" relates to the fortification of memory, and an investigation shows how retrieval plays an important role in this memory strengthening [42].…”

“…The proverb "practice makes a man perfect" relates to the fortification of memory, and an investigation shows how retrieval plays an important role in this memory strengthening [42]. Technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and electroencephalography (EEG) played an active role in validating many recall related hypotheses [41,[43][44][45].…”

Does retrieving a memory insulate it against memory inhibition? A retroactive interference study

“…In contrast, retrieval-induced forgetting has been tied to the tendency for related memories to compete during retrieval practice, a phenomenon known as competition dependence (Anderson, 2003;see Murayama et al, 2014, for a meta-analysis). Not only do brain signals linked to competition predict retrieval-induced forgetting (Kuhl, Dudukovic, Kahn, & Wagner, 2007;Staudigl, Hanslmayr, & Bäuml, 2010), changes in competition levels between the retrieval practice attempts can be used to classify which newly acquired word pairs are recalled after a week-long delay (Rafidi, Hulbert, Brooks, & Norman, 2018).…”