How Does Taking a Test Before Studying Improve Long-Term Memory Retention?

Why Is Pretesting Effective for Boosting Student Focus and Motivation?

Explore the cognitive benefits of pretesting as explained by science consultant Ajdina Halilovic. Understand how attempting a quiz before learning new material acts as a metacognitive reality check that enhances focus, curiosity, and recall capabilities. Ready to optimize your study routine? Continue reading to master the specific techniques for creating effective pretests that turn wrong guesses into lasting knowledge.

Recommendation

If you occasionally wake up in a cold sweat due to the final exam nightmare — the one where you arrive late to a crowded exam hall, only to discover that the test is on a topic you’ve never studied, and, what’s more, you’re naked — then science consultant and writer Ajdina Halilovic’s enlightening treatise might put you on edge. She presents counterintuitive evidence to suggest that sitting a test on a topic before you have learned a thing about it supports deeper learning. “Pretesting,” says Halilovic, has the power to unlock students’ curiosity and capacity for recall.

Take-Aways

• Sitting a “pretest” on knowledge you have yet to learn might sound like a pointless exercise, but it yields numerous benefits.
• Pretesting enhances students’ curiosity, focus, and motivation to learn.
• Pretests reap the greatest benefits when they immediately precede the teaching of the material tested.

Summary

Sitting a “pretest” on knowledge you have yet to learn might sound like a pointless exercise, but it yields numerous benefits.

If a teacher were to give you a pop quiz on a topic that the class has not yet covered, you might consider it a futile exercise. After all, with no prior knowledge of the subject, your answers would be no more than wild guesses. However, research suggests that pretesting students on knowledge they haven’t yet learned significantly improves their subsequent learning of the topic.

“Pretesting acts as a metacognitive ‘reality check,’ highlighting what you do and do not know.”

The merits of testing — enhancing recall and deepening learning — are well documented, but most research studies focus on tests taken after learning. In the 1960s, a research study discovered the benefits of taking a test before learning, and this seemingly contrarian idea has gained traction in recent years.

Pretesting enhances students’ curiosity, focus, and motivation to learn.

Researchers examine the pretesting phenomenon by dividing a class of students who are about to undergo the same learning journey into two groups. The students in the first group sit a pretest, a quiz consisting of as many as several dozen questions, with no prior knowledge of the material. The second group acts as a control. Next, both groups of students learn about the topic and study the material. Finally, all the learners sit a test to assess their understanding of the material covered. In such experiments, the pretest group consistently outperforms the control group in the final test. The results hold true whether the students are children or adults, whether the material is simplistic or complex, whether the group learns from a textbook or a video, or whether the quiz is conducted on paper or on a computer.

“Even incorrect guessing followed by studying benefits learning.”

Steven Pan, a cognitive scientist at the National University of Singapore, believes that the mere act of guessing ignites learners’ curiosity and enhances how learners subsequently process the information as they learn it. Moreover, his team noticed increased focus and reduced daydreaming among subjects who conducted a pretest. Pretesting might also serve as a motivational device to encourage learners to improve. Additionally, pretests increase participants’ recall, a benefit that lasts several weeks beyond the test, according to research.

Pretests reap the greatest benefits when they immediately precede the teaching of the material tested.

Pretesting yields the best results if the questions address the subject that you’re about to teach. Feedback that explains the right answers after the pretest can also be beneficial, especially if the topic is complex. Pretest questions can have multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, or short-answer structures.

Keep the window between the pretest and the learning as short as possible, as the learning benefits of pretesting dwindle with time. For best results, have the students encounter the correct answers immediately after finishing the pretest, by exposing them to an explanatory video or text.

Create a pretest by turning to a textbook for inspiration. Often, textbooks provide quizzes at the end of each chapter to test learners’ progress. Alternatively, you could fashion a quiz by turning the book’s subheadings into questions. Artificial intelligence is also adept at writing questions on any topic.

“Pretesting, a strategy with almost no downsides, is unlikely to detract from any traditional post-learning tests you take and will likely improve your overall learning process.”

Research shows that pretesting is particularly useful for learning definitive facts, such as “Titan is Saturn’s largest moon.” However, pretesting also aids the absorption of “procedural knowledge.” For example, one recent study had a group of participants perform a medical procedure before watching a video on how to carry it out correctly. These students subsequently performed the procedure quicker and more successfully than the students who only watched the video. However, this branch of the research is in its infancy.

Considering all the advantages of pretesting, why isn’t it a more pervasive learning tool? The answer is simply that people frequently overlook the value of pretesting, “even after experiencing its benefits firsthand.” But with a growing body of evidence underscoring its benefits, why not give it a try?

About the Author

Science consultant and writer Ajdina Halilovic received an MPhil in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge.