The production effect: costs and benefits in free recall.

The production effect, the memorial benefit for information read aloud versus silently, has been touted as a simple memory improvement tool. The current experiments were designed to evaluate the relative costs and benefits of production using a free recall paradigm. Results extend beyond prior work showing a production effect only when production is manipulated within subject, not between, using a free recall paradigm. Furthermore, the results also indicate that the production effect is primarily driven by decreased memory for items read silently, not increased memory for items read aloud.