Taking tests enhances learning. But what happens when one cannot answer a test question--does an unsuccessful retrieval attempt impede future learning or enhance it? The authors examined this question using materials that ensured that retrieval attempts would be unsuccessful. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were asked fictional…

More than a century of research shows that increasing the gap between study episodes using the same material can enhance retention, yet little is known about how this so-called distributed practice effect unfolds over nontrivial periods. In two three-session laboratory studies, we examined the effects of gap on retention of foreign vocabulary,…

In essentially every domain of neuroscience, the generally implicit assumption that few, if any, meaningful differences exist between male and female brain function is being challenged. Here we address how this development is influencing studies of the neurobiology of learning and memory. While it has been commonly held that males show an…

THE EXPERIMENT DESCRIBED IN THIS REPORT INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS UPON CRITERION PERFORMANCE OF THE LEARNER'S TEST-ANXIETY LEVEL AND THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF FEEDBACK IN PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION. FOUR EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESES WERE TESTED DURING THE PROJECT. THE PROCEDURE EMPLOYED IDENTIFIED EXTREME GROUPS ON A MEASURE OF TEST ANXIETY, AND THEN…

A PATTERN OF PROBLEMS IN COMMUNICATION AMONG STUDENT COUNCIL MEMBERS AND BETWEEN THE COUNCIL AND ITS FACULTY ADVISORS CONTRIBUTED TO A DECISION TO SUBSTITUTE A PROGRAM OF SENSITIVITY TRAINING FOR THE USUAL STUDENT COUNCIL ORIENTATION PROGRAM. IT WAS HOPED THAT SUCH A PROGRAM WOULD FACILITATE A FLOW OF EXPRESSION AND A REDUCTION OF INTERPERSONAL…