Testing effect

Testing effect, also referred to as retrieval practice, is the finding that attempts to retrieve something from our memory have the effect of strengthening that memory.

Where testing is often regarded as something separate from learning, a means of evaluating the success of our learning, retrieval practice turns that on its head by demonstrating that testing is in fact at the core of learning.

Retrieval practice yields far more durable knowledge uptake than passive study.

When retrieval practice is taken on as a learning methodology it generally takes the form of spaced repetition.