Adults recall more biologically primary knowledge words than biologically secondary knowledge words in a paired vocabulary learning task¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Participants recalled more primary knowledge words (M = 7.29, SD = 3.99) than secondary knowledge words (M = 6.08, SD = 4.17), d = 0.49. → Kate M. Xu 2024

Evidence¶

Kate M. Xu 2024¶

Kate M. Xu, Sarah Coertjens, Florence Lespiau, Kim Ouwehand, Hanke Korpershoek, Fred Paas, David C. Geary. (2024). An Evolutionary Approach to Motivation and Learning: Differentiating Biologically Primary and Secondary Knowledge. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09880-3

q3 · i2 · causal · r2

Paired-sample t-test within a randomized controlled trial in which 144 first-year psychology students learned 32 Dutch-fictional word pairs, half primary and half secondary. The article reports "recalled more primary knowledge words than secondary knowledge words" with d = 0.49.

"They also recalled more primary knowledge words than secondary knowledge words (t = 5.85, p < 0.001, d = 0.49; M = 7.29, SD = 3.99 for primary knowledge words; M = 6.08, SD = 4.17 for secondary knowledge words)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Learning biologically primary words is perceived as less difficult and less effortful than learning biologically secondary words — related
• Learning biologically primary words is rated as more enjoyable and more interesting than learning biologically secondary words — related
• A short growth mindset intervention raised growth mindset belief but produced no significant difference from control in recall performance, interest, enjoyment or perceived difficulty and effort, for either knowledge type — related
• Related word pairs were far better recalled than unrelated pairs, while younger and older adults recalled a similar overall proportion of pairs — related