What is Retrieval Practice?
Retrieval practice is the strategy of bringing information to mind from memory, through self-testing, free recall, or answering questions, as a way of learning it more deeply. It is the mechanism behind active recall and the testing effect, and it outperforms rereading and many elaborate study methods in experiments.
The terms overlap by design: retrieval practice names the activity, the testing effect names the empirical result, and active recall is the popular label students use. In all three cases the core claim is the same. Retrieving a memory changes it, making it more durable and more flexibly connected than another exposure to the source material would.
The evidence base is broad. Roediger and Karpicke showed that recall tests beat restudying on delayed tests of prose passages. Karpicke and Blunt showed retrieval practice outperforming concept mapping on meaningful science learning, including inference questions. Effects appear across ages, materials, and test formats, which is why the Dunlosky review placed practice testing in its top tier.
Retrieval practice is also uncomfortable, and that is part of how it works: the effort of reconstructing an answer is the learning event. A practical loop for readers is highlight, close, recall, check. Write what you remember from a source, then use your highlights as the answer key and note what you missed.