By Makenzie Cook
As an incoming student, you may be wondering how to make the best of your learning and retention of new information. Well lucky for you there are many cognitive processes that may help you learn and retain information, one of which is the generation effect. In this blog post, we will be exploring the basics of the generation effect in cognitive psychology, we will discuss its benefits, and even provide you with some tips you may add for good study habits.
What is Generation Effect?
The generation effect is a cognitive phenomenon that touches on the superior retention of information that is actively generated by the person learning compared to the information that we read or hear (Slamecka & Graf, 1978). This generation effect has been demonstrated upon numerous studies across different areas. This includes memory for words, pictures, and different concepts. An example of this would be the generation effects occur only if both reading and generating is done in the same list. Comparisons with unmixed reading controls reveal that the effect happens because the read words are remembered poorly, but the generated ones are no better than the controls (Begg, I., & Snider, A. 1987).
The generation effect has been seen in a variety of contexts and with different types of information, from simple word lists to a complex scientific concept. Researchers have also found out that the generation effect is stronger when the information that is generated is semantically related to the targeted information and when it requires more effortful processing.
How Does the Generation Effect Work?
The generation effect works by engaging learners in deeper processing of the information which then enhances encoding and retention. When you actively generate information, we must engage with the materials in a more meaningful way to help make connection to prior knowledge and elaborating on the new information. This whole process creates a stronger memory trace, which then makes it easier to recall the information later (Bertsch, Pesta, Wiscott, & McDanial, 2007).
Research on the Generation Effect
There have been countless studies done about the generation effect and its potential benefits for learning and memory. A few examples are:
- In a study done by Slamecka and Graf (1978), participants were asked to learn a list of words. Either by generating a sentence containing the word or by reading a sentence that was provided by the experimenter. The participants who generated their own sentences seemed to remember more words than the participants who read what was provided to them.
- A study done by McDaniel, Waddill, and Einstein (1988), found out that the generation effect can be enhanced when learners generate information that is semantically related to the targeted information. In this particular study the participants were asked to learn a list of words either by generating a related word or a non-related word. The participants who generated related words remembered more of the targeted words than those who generated non-related words.
- Another study that was done by Bertsch et al. (2007), found that the generation effect is effective for complex material. In this study participants were asked to learn a list of paired associates such as “chimney – smoke”. Participants who generated their own associates remembered more pairs than those who simply read the pairs.
- Lastly this experiment includes students who generated questions and students who used those student-generated questions. The results were significant, indicating that the generation effect and not potential confounding variables produced the results (Foos, P.W., Mora, J.J., & Tkacz, S. 1994).
Benefits of Generation Effect
Generation effect has a lot of benefits for learning information and even memory. A few examples are:
- Improved retention: like it was mentioned earlier, the generation effect leads to better retention of information compared to a more passive learning method.
- Enhanced understanding: We actively generate information then we are more likely to understand the material and remember the material because we have had to process it a little more.
- Transferability: The generation Effect can also enhance the transfer of knowledge to a new situation. When we actively generate information, we are more likely to apply it to different contacts (Butler & Roediger, 2008).
Tips for Incorporating the Generation Effect into Your Studying Habits
Here are a couple of tips that may help you to incorporate the generation effect into your studying habits.
- Create your own flashcards: Although it is nice to have pre-made flashcards, if you create your own flashcards and generate questions or prompts it will require you to actively recall the information.
- Use concept maps: concept maps are a great way to visually organize different information and actively generate connections between concepts.
- Practice explaining concepts to other people: When you explain a concept to someone else, you are once again actively generating information and it is helping enhance your understanding and retention of that material.
- Quiz yourself: Instead of just reading over your notes, try to quiz yourself on the material by generating some questions or prompts.
- Write your own summaries: Try not to rely on summaries provided by your textbook or instructor. This will help you to actively process the information which will eventually help you to remember better.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I’d say that the generation effect is a pretty powerful tool that can help enhance learning and memory. By actively generating information, it helps us engage in deeper processing and it creates a much stronger connection with new information and some already existing knowledge. For incoming college students, we can use this knowledge to improve our own learning and retention of information by creating our own study questions, summarizing information in your own words, practicing retrieval, and using flashcards with questions you create on your own. By incorporating the generation effect into your study habits it helps you to become more effective learners and achieve greater success.
References
- Slamecka, N. J., & Graf,P. (1978). The generation effect: Delineation of a phenomenon. Journal of experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory,4(6).
- Begg, I., & Snider, A. (1987). The generation effect: Evidence for generalized inhibition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13(4), 553–563. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.13.4.553
- Butler, A.C., Roediger, H.L. Feedback enhances the positive effects and reduces the negative effects of multiple-choice testing. Memory & Cognition 36, 604–616 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.3.604
- Bertsch, S., Pesta, B., Wiscott, R., & McDaniel, M. A. (2007). The generation effect: A meta-analytic review. Memory & Cognition, 35(2), 201-210.
- Foos, P. W., Mora, J. J., & Tkacz, S. (1994). Student study techniques and the generation effect. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(4), 567–576. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.86.4.567