Plugins | The Mnemosyne Project. List of flashcard software. Testing effect. The testing effect is a psychological phenomenon that refers to an enhancement in the long-term retention of information as a result of taking a memory test. [1] However, in order for this effect to be demonstrated the test trials must have a medium to high retrieval success. Logically if the test trials are so difficult that no items are recalled or if the correct answers to the non-recalled items are not given to the test subject, then minimal or no learning will occur.[2] This is by no means a new concept in the field of human memory, with the first documented empirical study occurring in 1917 by Gates.[3] The effect is also sometimes referred to as retrieval practice or test-enhanced learning.
Two conflicting views have arisen as to why testing seems to provide such a benefit over simply repeated studying. Applications[edit] Before much experimental evidence had been collected, the utility of testing was already apparent to some insightful observers. See also[edit] References[edit] Active recall. A study done by J.D. Karpicke and H.L. Roediger, III (2008) lent support to the idea that practicing information retrieval is integral to learning.
They had college students study 40 pairs of foreign language words on flash cards. One group learned the words by going through the deck of cards each time until they could recall all the words. Karpicke and Janell R. McDaniel et al. (2009) came up with the 3R (read-recite-review) method for learning from textbooks. Thus there is much support that active recall is better than rereading text for enhancing learning. Some critics of active recall claim that using retrieval techniques only improves learning a specific response. See also[edit] References[edit] Flashcards: The world's largest online library of printable flash cards. Free recall. Free recall is a basic paradigm in the psychological study of memory. In this paradigm, participants study a list of items on each trial, and then are prompted to recall the items in any order (hence the name "free" recall).
Items are usually presented one at a time for a short duration, and can be any of a number of nameable materials, although traditionally, words from a larger set, are chosen. The recall period typically lasts a few minutes, and can involve spoken or written recall. The standard paradigm involves the recall period starting immediately after the final list item; this can be referred to as Immediate Free Recall (IFR) to distinguish it from Delayed Free Recall (DFR). Methodology used in measuring Free recall performance[edit] Recency effects show how well subjects can remember the last items relative to how well they remember the other items.
Serial recall paradigm[edit] Studies have also been done to address the best method for recalling lists of unrelated words. Spacing effect. Researchers have offered several possible explanations of the spacing effect, and much research has been conducted that supports its impact on recall. In spite of these findings, the robustness of this phenomenon and its resistance to experimental manipulation have made empirical testing of its parameters difficult. Causes for spacing effect[edit] Decades of research on memory and recall have produced many different theories and findings on the spacing effect. In a study conducted by Cepeda et al. (2006) participants who used spaced practice on memory tasks outperformed those using massed practice in 259 out of 271 cases. As different studies support different aspects of this effect, some now believe that an appropriate account should be multifactorial, and at present, different mechanisms are invoked to account for the spacing effect in free recall and in explicit cued-memory tasks.
Not much attention has been given to the study of the spacing effect in long-term retention tests. Spaced repetition. An evidence-based learning technique performed with flashcards In the Leitner system, correctly answered cards are advanced to the next, less frequent box, while incorrectly answered cards return to the first box for more aggressive review and repetition. Spaced repetition is an evidence-based learning technique that is usually performed with flashcards. Newly introduced and more difficult flashcards are shown more frequently while older and less difficult flashcards are shown less frequently in order to exploit the psychological spacing effect.
The use of spaced repetition has been shown to increase rate of learning.[1] Although the principle is useful in many contexts, spaced repetition is commonly applied in contexts in which a learner must acquire many items and retain them indefinitely in memory. History[edit] Over the years, techniques and tests have been formed to better patients with memory difficulties. Research and application[edit] In 1939, H.
Algorithms[edit] Software[edit] Flashcard. A set of flashcards demonstrating the Leitner system. Cards that the learner knows are promoted to a box for less frequent review (indicated by green arrows); cards for which the learner has forgotten the meaning are demoted to be studied more frequently (indicated by red arrows.) A flashcard or flash card is a set of cards bearing information, as words or numbers, on either or both sides, used in classroom drills or in private study. One writes a question on a card and an answer overleaf. Flashcards can bear vocabulary, historical dates, formulas or any subject matter that can be learned via a question and answer format.
Flashcards are widely used as a learning drill to aid memorization by way of spaced repetition. Use[edit] Flashcards exercise the mental process of active recall: given a prompt (the question), one produces the answer. Two-sided[edit] Systems[edit] Three-sided cards[edit] Physical flashcards are necessarily two-sided. Examples[edit] Q: person A: 人, rén Reverse: Q: 人 Q: assez.