CUE TEST SPECIFICATIONS

(updated 06/15/2005)

 

What type of information is learned during cued-recall intervening tests, as opposed to re-study opportunities, that contributes to better long-term retention?

 

Task: Learn to associate paired-associate items à cued-recall test vs. re-study à final test over all items.

 

Stimuli: 40 paired associates. Found in CueTestList.xls

 

Word 1 and Word 2 randomly assigned to be cue or target, word pairs randomly assigned to Test or Study.

 

 

Item #

Word 1

Word 2

Trial

1

angle

corner

Test

2

author

poetry

Test

3

beach

blanket

Test

4

block

street

Test

5

chain

fence

Test

6

child

mother

Test

7

cloth

table

Test

8

coffee

morning

Test

9

college

student

Test

10

curve

shape

Test

11

engine

machine

Test

12

factory

product

Test

13

frame

window

Test

14

group

meeting

Test

15

guard

prison

Test

16

lunch

supper

Test

17

master

owner

Test

18

nation

state

Test

19

native

foreign

Test

20

nature

trail

Test

21

novel

story

Study

22

object

symbol

Study

23

office

doctor

Study

24

paint

picture

Study

25

people

world

Study

26

quarter

dollar

Study

27

range

rifle

Study

28

report

weather

Study

29

sheet

cover

Study

30

slave

worker

Study

31

smile

teeth

Study

32

sound

speaker

Study

33

station

radio

Study

34

stick

branch

Study

35

store

general

Study

36

taste

touch

Study

37

throat

voice

Study

38

train

plane

Study

39

vehicle

truck

Study

40

pencil

point

Study

 

Design:

 

·        2 within-subjects trial conditions:

(1)   Test: Present cue à subject attempts retrieval of target + feedback

(2)   Study: Present cue and target together

 

·        4 between-subjects final test conditions:

(1)   Cued-recall of target when given cue

(2)   Cued-recall of cue when given target

(3)   Free-recall of target

(4)   Free-recall of cue

 

 

Presentation phase: Present all 40 pairs, for 6 sec each, followed by blank screen with “continue” button (6 sec x 40 pairs = 4 min).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Test phase: Present 20 pairs with cue only for 5 sec, with instructions to attempt covert retrieval of target, followed by cue + target for 5 more sec (10 sec per pair total x 20 pairs = 3.33 min).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


    Cue:           Target:
 
Study phase: Present the other 20 pairs with cue + target for 10 sec (10 sec per pair x 20 pairs = 3.33 min).

 

 

Dog
 

Cat
 
 

 

 

 


Final test: 24 hours after test/study phase. One of 4 types of final tests:

 

 

Dog
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total time to complete: 3 min for consent and instructions + Presentation phase (4 min) + Test phase (3.33 min) + Study phase (3.33 min) + Final test (6.67 min) = 20.33 min.

 

 

 

 

 

Hypothesis:

 

A cued-recall intervening test enhances retention beyond additional study because of two factors: (1) greater reliance on cue-target associations (which is more necessary in test as opposed to study), and (2) strengthening of item-specific information for those items that have been retrieved (which takes place only during retrieval and not re-exposure).

 

If cue-target associations are strengthened by tests, then on a final test of cued-recall, items subjected to intervening test trials should be retained better than items subjected to intervening re-study trials. This should hold whether the target is recalled from the cue, or the cue is recalled from the target. TT > ST for both cue and target when final test is cued-recall.

 

If item-specific information of only the retrieved target is strengthened by tests, then previously-tested target items should be retained better than re-studied target items on a final test of free-recall (because these target items were previously retrieved), but previous cues on the intervening test trials should NOT be retained better than re-studied cues on a final test of free-recall (because these cue items were not previously retrieved). TT > ST for just target (not cue) when final test is free-recall.

 

 

Subjects: 80 web-based lottery subjects (20 per final test condition).

 

 

 

Instructions:

 

Instructions 1:

 

In this experiment we are going to try and teach you pairs of words. You will learn several word pairs, which will be presented side-by-side as in the example below:

 

Cue:              Target:

Dog
 

Cat
 
 

 

 

 


We use the terms ‘cue’ and ‘target’ to identify which word is which. The first word, on the left-hand side, is the cue. The second word, on the right-hand side, is the target. So in this example, Dog is the cue and Cat is the target.

 

The word pairs will be presented one at a time, for 6 seconds each. When you see each word pair, try to associate the cue and target in order to remember the word pair.

 

Click ‘continue’ to begin.

 

 

 

Instructions for intervening test and study trials:

 

Now things are going to get more interesting!  We are going to present the word pairs again, only this time they will be presented differently.

 

For some of the word pairs, you will see both the cue and target again (for example, dog: cat) for 10 seconds. Again, we would like you to try and associate the cue and target in order to remember the word pair.

 

For other word pairs, you will see only the cue (for example, dog: ____) for 5 seconds, and we would like you to try and remember the correct target that goes with that cue (the correct target is cat, in this example). After the cue is presented alone for 5 seconds, the correct target will be presented for an additional 5 seconds, so you can see whether or not you remembered the correct target. Please do your best to try and remember each target.

 

Click ‘continue’ to begin.

 

 

 

Instructions for final test – cued recall of targets:

 

Now we are going to quiz you over what you learned yesterday. Each of the cues will be presented, one at a time, and we would like you to type in the correct target that goes with each cue.

 

This is the same type of test you completed yesterday. Yesterday, we quizzed you over some of the word pairs by giving you the cue and asking you to remember the target. Today, we are quizzing you over all of the word pairs by giving you the cue (the word on the left-hand side) and asking you to remember the target (the word on the right-hand side).

 

For example, you will see a cue by itself like the one below:

 

Cue:                 Target:

Dog
 

 
 
 

 

 

 


For this cue, you would type in the correct target word, which is cat.

 

You have unlimited time to remember each target. Although some of them might be difficult to remember, please try your best, and enter a response even if you are uncertain.

 

Click ‘continue’ to begin.

 

 

Instructions for final test – cued recall of cues:

 

Now we are going to quiz you over what you learned yesterday. Each of the targets will be presented, one at a time, and we would like you to type in the correct cue that goes with each target.

 

This is a different type of test from the one you completed yesterday. Yesterday, we quizzed you over some of the word pairs by giving you the cue and asking you to remember the target. Today, we are quizzing you over all of the word pairs by giving you the target (the word on the right-hand side) and asking you to remember the cue (the word on the left-hand side).

 

For example, you will see a target by itself like the one below:

 

Cue:                 Target:

 
 

Cat
 
 

 

 

 


 For this target, you would type in the correct cue word, which is dog.

 

You have unlimited time to remember each cue. Although some of them might be difficult to remember, please try your best, and enter a response even if you are uncertain.

 

Click ‘continue’ to begin.

 

 

Instructions for final test – free recall of targets:

 

Now we are going to quiz you over what you learned yesterday. We would like you to type in all of the correct targets you can remember.

 

This is a different type of test from the one you completed yesterday. Yesterday, we quizzed you over some of the word pairs by giving you the cue and asking you to remember the target. Today, we are quizzing you over just the target words (the word on the right-hand side).

 

For example, yesterday if you learned the word pair dog: cat, today you would type in only the correct target word, which is cat. 

 

You have unlimited time to remember each target. Although some of them might be difficult to remember, please try your best, and enter all the responses you can.

 

Click ‘continue’ to begin.

 

 

 

Instructions for final test – free recall of cues:

 

Now we are going to quiz you over what you learned yesterday. We would like you to type in all of the correct cues you can remember.

 

This is a different type of test from the one you completed yesterday. Yesterday, we quizzed you over some of the word pairs by giving you the cue and asking you to remember the target. Today, we are quizzing you over just the cue words (the word on the left-hand side).

 

For example, yesterday if you learned the word pair dog: cat, today you would type in only the correct cue word, which is dog. 

 

You have unlimited time to remember each cue. Although some of them might be difficult to remember, please try your best, and enter all the response you can.

 

Click ‘continue’ to begin.