Definition
Improvements in test performance resulting from repeated exposure to testing content, paradigms, or settings.
Current Knowledge
Sources of Practice Effects
Sources of practice effects include deliberate practice/rehearsal, incidental learning, procedural learning, changes in an examinee’s conceptualization of a task, shift in strategy, or increased familiarity with the test-taking environment and/or paradigm.
Practice Effects and Time
Shorter test-retest intervals are typically associated with larger magnitude practice effects. Distributed practice (i.e., multiple practice sessions over an extended period) may be more effective than massed practice (i.e., concentrated into a short span of time) in facilitating long-term learning. When follow-up testing occurs over an extended period of time, practice effects may be obscured by cognitive decline (e.g., resulting from normal aging or disease). Practice effects are generally largest from the first to second administration.
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References and Readings
Lezak, M. D., Howieson, D. B., & Loring, D. W. (2004). Neuropsychological assessment (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
McCaffrey, R. J., Duff, K., & Westervelt, H. J. (Eds.). (2000). Practitioner’s guide to evaluating change with neuropsychological assessment instruments. In A. E. Puente & C. R. Reynolds (Series Eds.), Critical issues in neuropsychology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Payne, D. G., & Wenger, M. J. (1996). Practice effects in memory: Data, theory, and unanswered questions. In D. J. Herrmann, C. McEvoy, C. Hertzog, P. Hertel, & M. Johnson (Eds.), Basic and applied memory research: Practical applications (Vol. 2). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Strauss, E., Sherman, E. M. S., & Spreen, O. (2006). A compendium of neuropsychological tests: Administration, norms, and commentary (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
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McCabe, D.L., Langer, K.G., Cornwell, M.A., Borod, J.C., Bender, H.A. (2018). Practice Effects. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1139
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1139
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