---
title: "Test-Enhanced Learning (Roediger & Karpicke 2006)"
description: "The landmark testing-effect study: recalling a text from memory beat rereading it after 2 days and a week, though rereading felt more reassuring."
canonical: https://research.askpoppy.ai/papers/roediger-karpicke-2006-test-enhanced-learning/
last_updated: 2026-10-21
---

[Retrieval practice (the testing effect)](/topics/retrieval-practice/) [Metacognition: knowing what you know](/topics/metacognition/)

# The classic study: testing yourself beats rereading after a week

**In short:** Students who read a passage and then tried to recall it from memory remembered more two days and one week later than students who simply read it again. Rereading won only on a test five minutes later, and it made students more confident, which is part of why rereading feels better than it works.

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Paper | [Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests Improves Long-Term Retention](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x) |
| Authors | Henry L. Roediger III, Jeffrey D. Karpicke |
| Published | 1 March 2006 · Psychological Science 17(3), 249–255 |
| Study type | Lab experiments (landmark classic) · Peer-reviewed |
| What we read | Abstract only. Summary based on the published abstract only. |
| Summarized | 21 October 2026 |

## What they did

In two experiments, students studied short prose passages. Then they either took one or three free-recall tests with no feedback, or restudied the passage the same number of times. A final test came 5 minutes, 2 days or 1 week later.

## Who took part

University students in two lab experiments.

## What they found

- After 5 minutes, repeated studying beat repeated testing.
- After 2 days and 1 week, prior testing produced substantially better retention than restudying.
- Repeated studying made students more confident that they would remember, even though they remembered less later.

**Effect size:** Exact percentages are not in the abstract; see the paper.

## Limitations

- Lab studies with prose passages and university students.
- Free recall with no feedback; classroom results are covered by later meta-analyses such as Yang et al. (2021).
- We read only the abstract.

## What this means for learners and parents

- Close the book and write or say what you remember. It feels harder than rereading and works better a week later.
- Don't judge a study method by how confident it makes you feel the same day.

## Put it into practice (free tools)

- [Blurting: write what you remember, then check](https://learn.askpoppy.ai/blurt/)
- [Recall out loud on different days](https://learn.askpoppy.ai/learn-out-loud/)

## Citation

Henry L. Roediger III, Jeffrey D. Karpicke (2006). Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests Improves Long-Term Retention. *Psychological Science 17(3), 249–255*. <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x>

## Related summaries

- ["Your Brain on ChatGPT": what the MIT essay-writing study did and didn't show](/papers/kosmyna-2025-your-brain-on-chatgpt-cognitive-debt/) · Nataliya Kosmyna et al., 2025 · Lab experiment with EEG
- [With AI, people scored better on reasoning puzzles but overestimated how well they did](/papers/fernandes-2026-ai-makes-you-smarter-but-none-the-wiser/) · Daniela Fernandes et al., 2026 · Two online experiments
- [Quizzing boosts classroom learning: a meta-analysis of 222 studies](/papers/yang-2021-testing-boosts-classroom-learning-meta-analysis/) · Chunliang Yang et al., 2021 · Systematic review and meta-analysis
- [Prompting learners to explain to themselves helps: a meta-analysis of 64 reports](/papers/bisra-2018-inducing-self-explanation-meta-analysis/) · Kiran Bisra et al., 2018 · Meta-analysis

Summary by the Ask Poppy team, AI-assisted and checked against the paper. Summarized 21 October 2026. Spotted an error? [simon@askpoppy.ai](mailto:simon@askpoppy.ai) · [Editorial policy](/about/)

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