The benefits of studying by production . . . And of studying production: Introduction to the special issue on the production effect in memory

Abstract

The production effect refers to enhanced memory for materials that were produced at study (e.g., those read aloud) relative to materials that were not produced (e.g., those read silently). The effect has generated a wave of interest since being named in 2010 (MacLeod, Gopie, Hourihan, Neary, and Ozubko, 2010)-likely because of the simplicity of production tasks and of the substantial memory improvements that they can yield. This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology brings together 10 new studies on the production effect in memory. Our introduction provides an expanded definition of the effect along with some examples to help orient readers. The present studies contribute to our understanding of the production effect and to memory more broadly. Just as important, they also raise new questions and provide a honed set of methodological tools that will help to guide further research and theorizing about memory. (PsycINFO Database Record