Competitive, hard-to-guess answer options generally enhance vocabulary retention (Experiments 3a and 3b).¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Retention was generally enhanced by competitive, hard-to-guess answer options in Experiments 3a and 3b. → van den Broek 2023

Evidence¶

van den Broek 2023¶

van den Broek, G., Gerritsen, S. L., Oomen, I. T. J., Velthoven, E., van Boxtel, F. H. J., Kester, L., & van Gog, T. (2023). Optimizing multiple-choice questions for retrieval practice: Delayed display of answer alternatives enhances vocabulary learning. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000810

q3 · i? · causal · r?

In the two online experiments with competitive answer options, retention was "generally enhanced" by the hard-to-guess options. The hedge generally and the restriction to Experiments 3a and 3b are kept; no effect size is printed.

"Moreover, retention was generally enhanced by competitive, hard-to-guess answer options (Experiments 3a and 3b)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The stepwise-MCQ benefit is most robust for questions with noncompetitive answer options and for learners who report trying to retrieve the answer during the delay. — reports the opposite
• Stepwise-MCQ benefits generalize across translation directions and across both easy-to-guess (noncompetitive) and hard-to-guess (competitive) answer options. — related
• Answering MCQs benefits learning when learners retrieve knowledge from memory to evaluate plausible alternatives, but such retrieval may not occur with easy-to-guess answers. — related
• Stepwise MCQs, which delay answer options by 4 s, enhance vocabulary retention significantly compared to standard MCQs in three of four experiments, measured days after practice. — related