As a mature-age student, it had been a long time since I had studied when I began my undergraduate degree. It took a little while to develop study techniques that worked for me. Fortunately, one of the first units I took was Introductory Psychology 1 (PSYC101), in which I learnt about retrieval practice, otherwise known as the testing effect. The testing effect describes the improvement in long-term memory that occurs when the learning process includes recall practice. This phenomenon has been extensively studied and, while the jury is still out regarding why it works, there is plenty of evidence that it does work. I feel that it greatly helped me in learning new information and preparing for exams.

            The testing effect can be utilised in numerous ways. There are plenty of free online quizzes covering various psychology topics. Also, textbooks often have optional online resources, which include multiple-choice practice questions. While this option generally costs a little bit more, I have found it to be well worth the investment. Another alternative is to write your own quiz questions drawn from your textbook readings, and flashcards are particularly useful for learning psychological terminology.

            To get the greatest benefit from retrieval practice, the questions should be difficult enough to require effort, but not so difficult that you get most of them wrong, and the correct answers should always be provided after testing. I hope that integrating retrieval practice into your study methods helps you as much as it has helped me. Good luck with your studies!           

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