The role of retrieval type and feedback in test-potentiated new learning

This study explored the effects of retrieval and feedback on test-potentiated new learning. Participants read a text divided into three parts, between which they engaged in either episodic retrieval, semantic retrieval, or rereading. Participants in the retrieval conditions were randomly assigned to either receive or not to receive feedback on their achievement. We administered multiple choice questions whose distractors were designed specifically to facilitate proactive interference. Planned analyses showed that participants in the episodic retrieval condition scored higher on the final test than participants in the other two groups. Feedback was found to have no bearing on new learning --- neither on its own, nor via interaction with the interpolated activity type. No effect regarding the number of proactive intrusions was found, although exploratory Bayesian analyses preclude rejecting an effect. Results are interpreted in terms of integration and metacognitive frameworks that have previously been suggested as explanations of the effect.