The testing effect, defined as the positive effect of "retrieval practice" (i.e., self-testing) on long-term memory retention relative to other ways to support learning, is a robust empirical phenomenon. Despite substantial scientific evidence for the testing effect, less is known about its effectiveness in relation to individual…

The authors examined whether individual differences in fluid intelligence (gF) modulate the testing effect. Participants studied Swahili--English word pairs and repeatedly studied half the pairs or attempted retrieval, with feedback, for the remaining half. Word pairs were easy or difficult to learn. Overall, participants showed a benefit of…

Although memory retrieval often enhances subsequent memory, Peterson and Mulligan (2013) reported conditions under which retrieval produces poorer subsequent recall--the negative testing effect. The item-specific--relational account proposes that the effect occurs when retrieval disrupts interitem organizational processing relative to the restudy…

The rate at which people process information appears to influence many aspects of cognition across the lifespan. However, many commonly accepted measures of "processing speed" may require goal maintenance, manipulation of information in working memory, and decision-making, blurring the distinction between processing speed and executive…

The Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (APM) is a well-known measure of higher order general mental ability. The time to administer the test, 40 to 60 minutes, is sometimes regarded as a drawback. To meet efficiency needs, the APM can be administered as a 30-or 40-minute timed test, or one of two developed short versions could be used. In…