Like Livers and Lizards: The Generation Effect

Let's play a memory game [1]. I'm going to give you two lists of words. For each list, there's going to be two phases: a study phase and a test phase. For the first list, try to remember each word and its partner. For the second list, I will give you a word, and your job is to come up with its antonym. I will also give you the first letter of the second word (because I'm such a nice guy). Ready? Here we go:

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Now that you've played: 

• Which list was easier to memorize? 
• Which list did you spend more time with? 
• Which list of words were you better able to recall? 
• Did you use any strategies to memorize either list?

Learning by Generating

In a previous post, we talked about ways to enhance our memory by exploiting the nature of memory and how it works. Specifically, we talked about adding additional and related information. You'd think that by adding information we would make memory worse (after all, there's more to remember). But if the additional information is inter-connected and relevant, then it can give your memory a boost by creating multiple retrieval routes to the new memory.

There's another feature of memory that's worth knowing about. It's called the generation effect, which states that memories are superior when we create them ourselves [2]. That might sound a little conceited, but it's true. To the mind, there's nothing more interesting than our own personal history. For example, in a previous post we drew the distinction between episodic and semantic memories. One way to create an enduring memory is to infuse some of your own biographical information into the memory creation process. In other words, when attempting to memorize the words in the second list, you infused that memory of the items with information about the event itself (e.g., I was studying the list on a computer, in my living room, on a sunny spring day).

Another reason why the generation effect works is that there is some benefit to investing effort into creating the memories. Actually, that's not entirely accurate. The type of effort (or processing) seems to matter more than the amount of effort. For example, you could spend half an hour repeating the words to yourself. Alternatively, you could read the words, construct a rule that connects them (e.g., the first word is a synonym or antonym of the second word), cover up the target item, and try to generate it. Both processes are effortful, and you could design an experiment where they both take the same amount of time. But I am willing to bet large sums of money that the method of generating the items will result in better recognition and recall. 

The STEM Connection

The benefit of the generation effect on the learning process is obvious. While it is true that students can learn by reading, it's also the case that students employ many different processing strategies while reading. Some strategies are highly superficial (e.g., re-reading or paraphrasing the text), whereas other strategies are highly effortful and engaging (e.g., trying to explain the material to one's self). The goal is to move students away from the former processing strategies toward the latter. But how? 

One way to provoke students into employing effortful processing strategies is to design the learning situation where students take on more responsibility for generating the to-be-learned information. For example, we can show students how to prove the Pythagorean theorem. According to this resource, there are over 100 ways to prove this famous theorem. One could probably fill a 45-minute lesson on any one of these proofs, and then you could say that you "covered" the Pythagorean Theorem. 

Alternatively, you could pose the problem to the class as a conjecture (i.e., you had a dream last night that a^2 + b^2 = c^2), and you want your students to convince you that it is true (or not!). Another idea is to combine the two approaches. Demonstrate the Pythagorean Theorem, and then ask the students to think of a different way to prove it [3].

The generation effect is a powerful learning mechanism. Intuitively, I think we all know that investing our own mental energy into a task lends itself to a more robust memory for that content. Of course, the next challenge, as instructional designers, is to be creative enough to employ it judiciously in the lessons that we create. But I know, collectively, we are up to the challenge! 


Share and Enjoy!

Dr. Bob

For More Information

[1] Thanks again to Josh Fisher who put together this wonderful memory game.

[2] Slamecka, N. J., & Graf, P. (1978). The generation effect: Delineation of a phenomenon. Journal of experimental Psychology: Human learning and Memory, 4(6), 592.

[3] In fact, I took a class in college where we spent a couple of weeks talking about the various approaches to proving the Pythagorean Theorem. Doing so gave me an appreciation for explanatory depth, as well as the benefit of solving the same problem in multiple ways.