A Meta-Analysis of Testing Effects with Free Recall

Retrieval practice improves memory more than restudying— the testing effect (TE). While most studies have concentrated on the direct TE (improved memory for tested material), the designs used often fail to account for the influence of forward TEs (improved memory for material learned after a test). In many studies of “the testing effect,” both effects are at play. Mulligan et al. (2022) reported an absence of a direct TE when using free recall as retrieval practice and rather found evidence of forward TEs. Such findings warrant a new meta-analysis on TEs with free recall, that examines direct and forward TEs and the factors that moderate them. This meta-analysis does so by distinguishing between studies capable of isolating the direct TE and those that are susceptible to both direct and forward TEs. Significant differences between these categories of studies underscore the importance of differentiating between direct and forward TEs.