Descriptive reactivations significantly improve free recall of images compared with distractor and no-reactivation controls¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2018 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Participants given three descriptive reactivations remembered significantly more images than those given distractor reactivations or no reactivation. → MacLeod 2018

Evidence¶

MacLeod 2018¶

MacLeod, S., Reynolds, M. G. & Lehmann, H. (2018). The mitigating effect of repeated memory reactivations on forgetting. npj Science of Learning 3:9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-018-0025-x

q3 · i? · causal · r2

In the 3×4 between-subject ANOVA (n = 167 analyzed after exclusions and trimming) of correctly recalled images, the reactivation main effect was significant, F(3, 155) = 5.50, p = 0.001. Pairwise comparisons showed the Descriptive group beat both controls, "demonstrating mitigated forgetting".

"the participants in the Descriptive group remembered signi ficantly more images than the participants in the Distractor group ( p < 0.001) and the no reactivation Control group (p < 0.05), demonstrating mitigated forgetting."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Component (category-cueing) reactivations mitigate forgetting relative to distractor controls but do not beat no-reactivation controls on image recall — related
• Only descriptive reactivation improves memory precision (correct details per recalled image) — related
• Descriptive reactivations increase correct details recalled; component reactivations increase details only versus distractor — related
• At the 28-day retention interval, both descriptive and component reactivations outperform both controls, with relative gains of 58.8–67.2% for images and over 100% for details — related
• Reactivations do not increase false memories: no reactivation effect on falsely recalled images or details — related
• Retention declines with interval (time-dependent forgetting) across images, details, and details-per-image measures — related
• Weekly brief reactivations during a 30-day retention interval reduce forgetting of numeric facts relative to controls — related