Practice testing protects memory against stress

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/tuhs-ptp111716.php

Public Release: 24-Nov-2016
Practice testing protects memory against stress
Learning by taking practice tests, a strategy known as retrieval practice, can protect memory against the negative effects of stress
Tufts University, Health Sciences Campus

Learning by taking practice tests, a strategy known as retrieval practice, can protect memory against the negative effects of stress, report scientists from Tufts University in a new study published in Science on Nov. 25.

In experiments involving 120 student participants, individuals who learned a series of words and images by retrieval practice showed no impairment in memory after experiencing acute stress. Participants who used study practice, the conventional method of re-reading material to memorize it, remembered fewer items overall, particularly after stress.

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"Our results suggest that it is not necessarily a matter of how much or how long someone studies, but how they study," said Amy Smith, graduate student in psychology at Tufts and corresponding author on the study.

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