LONG-TERM-MEMORY FOR KNOWLEDGE LEARNED IN SCHOOL

Three experiments examined students' long-term retention of knowledge learned in college courses. In Experiment 1 retention was measured 4 and 11 months after the term ended. Students retained a great deal of what they originally learned, and there were no differential forgetting effects as a function of level of original learning. Experiment 2 compared retention for recall test items and 3 types of multiple-choice test items: recognition, comprehension, and mental skills. Students performed poorer on recall items, but there were no differences among the multiple-choice items measuring the other types of tasks. Experiment 3 analyzed retention for student tutors. Tutors retained more after 4 months than the students they tutored. This suggests that tutoring, a type of overlearning, has positive effects that are maintained over time.