testing effect

the finding that taking a test on previously studied material leads to better retention than does restudying that material for an equivalent amount of time. Although testing is often conceptualized as an assessment tool, this finding suggests that testing (or retrieval practice) can also be considered a learning tool. Indeed, exams or tests seem to activate retrieval processes that facilitate the learning of study material and cause knowledge to be stored more effectively in long-term memory.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

January 26th 2025

congenital oculomotor apraxia

a condition, present at birth, in which a child is unable to fixate objects normally (see oculomotor apraxia). It is characterized by the absence of saccades and smooth-pursuit eye movements in the horizontal plane, but vertical eye movements are preserved: Children with this condition are often mistakenly thought to be blind. Between the ages of 4 and 6 months, they develop thrusting, horizontal head movements, sometimes blinking prominently or rubbing their eyelids when they attempt to change fixation. The cause of congenital oculomotor apraxia is unknown, but there is usually an improvement with age.