Proportional Manipulation of Produced Words Tests the Distinctiveness and Strength Accounts of the Production Effect

The production effect occurs when producing items enhances memory relative to reading items silently. Although the most common mode of production used in research has been “reading aloud”, singing, mouthing, whispering, writing, typing, and spelling out also produce a memory advantage. Distinctiveness and strength of encoding have both been offered as explanations for the memory enhancement. Production, relative to silent reading, makes items distinctive and therefore, memorable. Production increases memory traces at encoding (strength). Two experiments (N = 272) tested the distinctiveness and strength accounts by manipulating the proportion of words produced at study. Experiment 1 involved the production method of reading aloud in a classroom setting. Experiment 2 involved the production method of writing, tested in a classroom setting, small groups, and individuals. Our results were consistent with both accounts; however, neither account can explain our full data pattern.