The Production Effect Is Replicated in Numerous Studies

The production effect has been replicated in numerous studies spanning more than a decade. In one study, seven to 10 year olds were presented with a list of words and asked to read some silently and others aloud. They correctly recognized 87% of the words they'd read aloud, but only 70% of the silent ones. And adults aged 67 to 88 were given the same task, reading words either silently or aloud, before then writing down all those they could remember. When asked which ones they recognized, they were able to correctly identify 80% of the Words that had been read out loud. McLeod says even just silently mouthing the words makes them more memorable, though to a lesser extent.