TEST EXPECTANCY AND TEST APPROPRIATE PROCESSING IN THE RETENTION OF PROSE
Abstract
An analysis of test expectancy is presented in which test expectancy is viewed as a form of transfer appropriate processing. Study strategies employed by people in preparation for a test may depend on specific properties of that test. Practice study-test sequences enable the people to acquire strategies specifically suited for the practice tests. While practice tests may directly influence study strategies, they may also lead to interference effects, and they greatly reduce the generality of the obtained effects of test expectancy. The hypothesis that different test expectancies lead to the storage of different types of information is derived from an analysis of previous reserch. Two experiments are reported in which this hypothesis is tested. Test expectancy was induced by instructions alone. The effects of recall and recognition test expectancies were observed on recall and recognition tests. In Experiment 1, unrelated sentences were used as the to-be-remembered materials. Several versions of a short essay were used as the materials in Experiment 2. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that a recall test expectancy leads to greater recall than a recognition test expectancy. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that people expecting recall and recognition retain different types of information. Experiment 2 tested the additional hypothesis that people expecting recall organize the to-be-remembered material to a greater extent than people expecting recognition. The effects of test expectancy were analyzed as a function of structural importance and rated centrality of sentences. Test expectancy was not found to interact with these variables. Several other means of assessing organization effects failed to indicate qualitative differences between the test expectancy groups. The results were discussed in terms of the effects of test expectancy and test received on motivation, and in terms of the effects of expectancy on organization.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Psychology|Experiments
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