Testing the primary and convergent retrieval model of recall: Recall practice produces faster recall success but also faster recall failure

Abstract

The primary and convergent retrieval (PCR) model assumes that the act of successful recall not only boosts associations between the item and retrieval cues but additionally strengthens associations within the item (i.e., between the features of an item), speeding the rate of information retrieval from memory. The latter effect is termed intra-item learning and is a unique benefit of recall practice (i.e., the Btesting effect^). Prior work confirmed the prediction that recall practice produces faster subsequent recall than restudy practice even if accuracy is higher following restudy. The current study replicated this result, but also examined the downside of recall practice: that after a failure to recall during practice, participants will be faster in their failure to recall on a subsequent recall test. This prediction was confirmed in a multisession cued recall experiment that collected accuracy and recall latency measurements for no practice, recall practice, or restudy, with an immediate or delayed final test. The linear ballistic accumulator model was fit to latency distributions, and model comparison determined that these effects reflect differences in drift rates, as predicted by the PCR model.

Retrieval Practice in Free Recall: Effects of Delay, Additional Tests, and Practice Success

“…Cumulative recall curves revealed RP also resulted in faster retrieval, and this advantage occurred primarily for those items that had already been successfully retrieved (for a similar finding with a different analysis, see Hopper & Huber, 2019). Subjects also displayed higher levels of recall and made fewer intrusions when provided with additional testing opportunities, although recall was highest for subjects who had both a restudy and an RP opportunity before the final Session 2 test.…”

Item repetition and retrieval processes in cued recall: Analysis of recall-latency distributions

“…This is somewhat interesting because most models, including the SAM and relative strength models, provide specific predictions regarding only correct responses, not error responses. However, Hopper and Huber (2018b) recently found that after a failure to recall during test practice, failure to recall on a subsequent test was also faster, compared with restudy. According to their PCR model, it is because interitem associations are learned even after retrieval failure (i.e., learning from the failure to recall), as the learning rule of the model concerns the temporal activation of features.…”