Sometimes their recall was tested, and they were asked to produce the word. For example, “Tell me about the truck. The truck is very___” or “Tell me about the table. The table is very___” and they needed to finish the sentence. Sometimes they were tested with multiple-choice; they were shown four pictures and were asked to point to which one was one the adjective (e.g., show me the one that is zogi).

The Results:

Overall, the results showed that retrieval practice was better for learning the novel adjectives than studying, for both groups of children. Retrieval practice also led to better generalization; the children were better at recognizing new objects that illustrated the adjective when they learned the word with retrieval practice rather than studying. These effects held across time, too.

The sample size in this experiment was small, but these effects have been generally replicated by this research group across a few experiments (2-4). Thus retrieval practice seems to be an effective strategy that could be implemented with teachers, parents, or those who work with children during language intervention. While more research on retrieval practice with more diverse samples is welcomed, overall, looking at the vast research base we do have, it seems like retrieval practice is a powerful strategy for many types of individuals.

If you liked this post, you may be interested in this one: Retrieval Practice Improves Learning, but Will it Help ALL of my Students?

References:

 (1) Leonard, L. B., Deevy, P., Karpicke, J. D., Christ, S., Weber, C., Kueser, J. B., & Haebig, E. (2019). Adjective learning in young typically developing children and children with developmental language disorder: A retrieval-based approach. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(12), 4433-4449. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-19-0221

(2) Leonard, L. B., Karpicke, J. D., Deevy, P., Weber, C., Christ, S., & Haebig, E., Souto, S., Kueser, J. B., & Krok, W. (2019). Retrieval-based word learning in young typically developing children and children with developmental language disorder I: The benefits of repeated retrieval. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(4), 932-943. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-18-0070

(3) Leonard, L. B., Deevy, P., Karpicke, J. D., Christ, S. L., & Kueser, J. B. (2020). After initial retrieval practice, more retrieval produces better retention than more study in the word learning of children with developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(8), 2763-2776. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00105 

(4) Leonard, L. B., Christ, S. L., Deevy, P., Karpicke, J. D., Weber, C., Haebig, E., & Kueser, J. B., Souto, S., & Krok, W. (2021). A multi-study examination of the role of repeated spaced retrieval in the word learning of children with developmental language disorder. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 13, 20: 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-021-09368-z