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Research note No. 01September 2026

Memory Is Made in Recall

Every review in WordLinea is a question, a correct answer brings the word back, and you don’t grade yourself. Two classic studies of retrieval practice show the evidence behind these three designs.

WordLinea Team3 min read2 references简体中文繁體中文
In this note· 4 sections

A review in WordLinea does one thing: it makes you recall. Every review is a question, a correct answer brings the word back, and you don’t grade yourself. These three designs come from two classic studies of memory.

Judging yourself, or recalling
Self-rating card
lineaa line, a strokeKnew itUnsureDidn’t know
See the answer, then grade yourself
WordLinea
…lineam ex colore…What does it mean here?coloura line, a strokepanel
Recall first; right or wrong sets its return
Schematic. On the left you grade yourself after seeing the answer; on the right you recall before seeing it.

Every review is a question

In 2006, Roediger and Karpicke asked students to read two short passages. They read one of them a second time. For the other, they put the text away and wrote down what they could remember, with no one telling them what they got right. The final test came five minutes, two days or a week later, depending on the group.⁠[1]

Two passages, two ways to learn
ReadRecall in writing
Passage 1ReadRereadPassage 2ReadWrite from memory
Schematic. Each student read two passages, rereading one and writing down the other from memory; the final test came 5 minutes, 2 days or 1 week later. After the design of Roediger and Karpicke (2006), experiment 1.
The longer the wait, the further ahead the tested passage
Read againTested once
Share of the passage recalled in the final test. Data from Roediger and Karpicke (2006), experiment 1.

After five minutes, the reread passage was ahead. Given time, it reversed: a week later, students recalled 56% of the passage they had been tested on and 42% of the one they had reread.

WordLinea’s approachEvery review asks a question: recognise the meaning, put the word back in its sentence, or spell it from its sound. Answering is the act of recall.

A correct answer brings the word back

In 2008 they switched to 40 Swahili–English word pairs. Once a word had been answered correctly, some words kept coming back in the tests and others were no longer tested, though some of those kept being shown for study. At the end, each student estimated how many pairs they would remember a week later, then came back to be tested.⁠[2]

After a correct answer, testing keeps more
Share recalled a week later. Each group combines two of the paper’s conditions; figures from the paper’s text. Karpicke and Roediger (2008).

Words that kept being tested were about 80% recalled a week later; words that weren’t, about 35%. Words dropped from testing but shown for study every round came to 36%, close to the 35% average. Extra study after a correct answer added little; continued testing more than doubled what was remembered.⁠[2]

WordLinea’s approachA correct answer doesn’t take a word out of review. It comes back after a longer gap, with another question.

Each correct answer, a longer gap
Schematic. Each correct answer sends the word further out before it returns; a wrong answer brings it back sooner.

No self-grading

In the same experiment, estimates under both methods were alike, around half, while the results differed by more than double. People’s own sense of knowing couldn’t tell which method kept words better.⁠[2]

The same guess, twice the difference
Own estimate after learningActual, a week later
Under both conditions, people’s estimates sat around half (dashed rings); a week later the results differed by more than double. Figures from the text of Karpicke and Roediger (2008).

WordLinea’s approachWordLinea doesn’t ask “knew it, unsure, or didn’t know”. Whether you answer right or wrong decides when the word comes back.

One question, one recall

Plinius, Naturalis Historia 35.81

…lineam ex colore duxit summae tenuitatis per tabulam.

linea/ˈliː.ne.a/

What does it mean in this sentence?

You can answer this card here, as in the app. The sentence is from Pliny’s Natural History.

The question uses the sentence where you first met the word. Each answer is saved as it’s given, and words come back when they fall due.

References

  1. [1]Roediger, H. L., III, & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.xExperiment
  2. [2]Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L., III (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865), 966–968. doi:10.1126/science.1152408Experiment