title: Failure of further learning: activities, structure, and meaning.
abstract: Previous research has shown that little benefit is achieved through spaced study and recall of text passages after the first recall attempt, an effect that we term the failure-of-further-learning. We hypothesized that the effect occurs because a situation model of the text's gist is formed when the text is first comprehended and is consolidated when recalled; it dominates later recall after verbatim memories of more recent study episodes have been lost. Experiments 1 and 2 attempted to circumvent the effect by varying the activities of participants and requiring interactive exploration. In both experiments, recall after four, weekly sessions showed little benefit beyond performance on the first recall. Experiment 3 interfered with the formation of an immediate situation model by introducing passages that were hard to comprehend without a title. Performance improved substantially across four sessions when titles were not supplied, but the standard effect was replicated when titles were given. Experiment 4 made verbatim memories available by incorporating all re-presentations and tests into one session; as predicted, recall improved over successive tests.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Northampton, UK.
authors.forename: Catherine O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Fritz
authors.forename: Peter E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aghdassi
authors.forename: Claire E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Naven
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D011932:Reading; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: learning text; memory; spacing; test practice