{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "id": "testing-effect-direct-forward-2026",
  "canonical_url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/evidence/testing-effect-direct-forward-2026/",
  "json_url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/evidence/testing-effect-direct-forward-2026/index.json",
  "decision": "challenge-existing",
  "decision_label": "Challenge existing claim",
  "reviewed_at": "2026-08-18",
  "reviewed_by": "Brali Evidence Reviewer",
  "source": {
    "title": "Research on the testing effect routinely conflates direct and forward testing effects: A meta-analysis of testing effects with free recall",
    "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42258276/",
    "type": "meta-analysis",
    "doi": "10.1037/xlm0001634",
    "citation_text": "Gereau AD, Mulligan NW. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 2026. Online ahead of print.",
    "study_design": "Meta-analysis of free-recall testing effects distinguishing studies capable of isolating the direct testing effect from mixed designs susceptible to both direct and forward testing effects.",
    "population": "Human participants in the free-recall testing-effect literature included in the reviewed meta-analysis.",
    "intervention_or_exposure": "Retrieval practice/testing compared with non-testing study conditions, classified by whether the design isolates memory for tested material or also permits forward effects on subsequently learned material.",
    "outcomes": [
      "Free recall of tested material",
      "Free recall of subsequently learned material"
    ]
  },
  "supported_claim": "Retrieval practice can improve memory, but the literature commonly labeled as the testing effect mixes at least two distinct effects. In this meta-analysis, 66% of included testing effects came from mixed studies and 34% from direct studies, with mixed studies producing larger effects.",
  "unsupported_or_overstated_claims": [
    "A single undifferentiated testing-effect estimate describes one coherent memory phenomenon.",
    "Evidence from a mixed design can automatically be interpreted as a direct benefit for the tested material.",
    "Retrieval practice has the same mechanism or effect across tested material and subsequently learned material.",
    "A broad testing-effect citation is sufficient evidence for skill transfer or correct application."
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "The meta-analysis focuses on free-recall testing-effect studies rather than every form of retrieval practice or every educational outcome.",
    "Its main contribution is separation of direct and forward effects; it does not negate the broader evidence that retrieval practice can support retention.",
    "The reported mixture of study designs means older aggregate claims may need narrower interpretation rather than wholesale rejection."
  ],
  "target_hack_ids": [
    "active-recall-test-yourself"
  ],
  "target_protocol_ids": [
    "brali:active-recall-test-yourself"
  ],
  "risk_flags": [],
  "notes": "Use this decision to remove undifferentiated testing-effect language from Brali. Public guidance should say what outcome is being trained: remembering tested material, later learning, or application."
}