TESTING EFFECT ACROSS TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The study of episodic memory has been an emerging body of research since the 1970's. Various learning strategies for episodic recall have been developed and tested, such as repetition and testing-based learning. Previous research has been completed observing testing-based learning over periods of delay in children and adolescents. Until now, no studies have observed recall performance using a 6 month delay in typically developing children. Participants in our study completed the deferred imitation (DI) paradigm, a method of measuring the retention of memory patterns over periods of delay. In this paradigm, (N = 72) 3 to 17-year-old participants were presented with sequences that fell into one of three modeling conditions: model model model (MMM), model model delay (MMD), and model model test (MMT). The purpose of this study was to observe if learning through different modeling conditions affected retrieval and recall performance across development. Actions and pairs completed were used as measurement of retrieval abilities. The preliminary results of this study indicate that the testing condition allows for greater recall performance during delays of 1 month and 6 months, while the model condition resulted in less recall at delays of 1 month and 6 months. While the results were consistent across children, they did not differ with age. This study further supports the testing effect and the benefits of testing-based learning across development.