Ongoing Research Projects

Check out my recent publications below!

Smith-Peirce, R. N., & Butler, A. C. (2025). A scoping review of research on individual differences in the testing effect paradigm. Learning and Individual Differences, 118, 102602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102602

Butler, A. C., Smith-Peirce, R. N., & Arney, M. B. (2025). Instruction based on feedback. In R. E. Mayer, P. A. Alexander & L. Fiorella (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction (3rd ed., pp. 283-299). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003484776-17

Kim, Y., Smith-Peirce, R. N., & Butler, A. C. (2026). Planning the use of learning and motivational strategies: Do students take context into account? Metacognition & Learning, 20(1), 44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-025-09448-8

Read about my Master’s Thesis work that is currently under review for publication here: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/2976/

Coming soon! A manuscript on individual differences in the magnitude of the testing effect.

Abstract: A large body of research has shown the testing effect (i.e., the benefit of retrieval practice compared to re-studying) to be a robust phenomenon that generalizes across different populations of learners (Rowland, 2014). Yet, even though the testing effect is reliably obtained at the group level, not every learner benefits to the same extent or even at all. Across two experiments, we explored how learners’ individual differences in need for cognition and structure building influence the testing effect. Two parallel versions of the testing effect paradigm differed in the complexity of the to-be-learned materials (word pairs versus passages) to test the hypothesis that these two individual difference constructs will influence the mnemonic benefits of testing for complex but not simple materials. Experiment 1 revealed a negative relationship between structure building and the magnitude of the testing effect, but only for the passages. However, need for cognition did not moderate the magnitude of the testing effect nor interacted with the complexity of the to-be-learned materials. In Experiment 2, we replicated the negative relationship between structure building and the testing effect for the passages, and explored whether the number of practice trials (one versus three) moderates this finding. The number of practice trials did not moderate the association between structure building and the testing effect. Investigating how structure building ability interacts with the testing effect can generate knowledge about the optimal implementation of retrieval practice to ensure that all learners can benefit from this effective learning strategy.

This project was presented at Psychonomics in 2024 and you can view the poster here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iX_atevQdBQgjvfpKJnIEPAcow8HdWoC/view?usp=sharing