Testing effect (retrieval practice effect)

Biological Parallel

Predators improve hunting success through repeated retrieval practice—each failed strike refines the motor program. Young cheetahs have 5% kill success; adults reach 58% through thousands of practice hunts that strengthen neural circuits via active recall. Octopuses solving novel puzzles show 90% success on first re-encounter versus 40% on novel tasks—retrieval practice consolidates memory better than passive observation. Corvids (crows, jays) demonstrate the testing effect through cache retrieval: birds that actively search for hidden food remember locations 3x better than birds merely observing cache sites. Clark's nutcrackers retrieve seeds from thousands of cache sites months later with 70-80% accuracy—active retrieval during practice caching strengthens spatial memory. Honeybees learning waggle dance decode angles correctly after 50+ active attempts, but passive observation alone produces <30% accuracy. The pattern: retrieval strengthens memory better than encoding. Testing yourself beats re-reading because recall activates the same neural pathways needed for future performance.