The effect of knowing the eventuality of retention trials has been tested with three different conditions and 56 female Ss. Ss who are told before training that they will be tested without KR do better than Ss who are either told after training or not told at all. These results cast considerable doubt on the conclusions drawn from previous studies that do not mention explicitly what instructions, if any, were given regarding retention. The results of other studies done on KR variables are also discussed.
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