Self-generated retrievals while multitasking improve memory for names

We used a translational research paradigm to investigate whether distributed retrievals could benefit name learning in social situations. Undergraduates (N=64) were trained to generate distributed retrievals while they were multitasking. Students learned to generate distributed retrievals according to either an expanding or a uniform schedule. Their self-generated distributed retrievals while they were multitasking were effective in improving name recall for both retrieval schedules. The increase with self-generated retrievals while multitasking was greater (η²=.76) than the increase that Helder and Shaughnessy (2008 Helder, E. and Shaughnessy, J. J. 2008. Retrieval opportunities while multitasking improve name recall. Memory, 16: 896–909. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) found with experimenter-controlled retrievals while multitasking (η²=.42). These findings provide evidence that the beneficial effect of distributed retrievals can extend to learning names in a social situation.