Free-recall retrieval practice tasks for students with ADHD: whole-text versus section recall

Introduction: The present study examined the relative effectiveness of two free recall-
based retrieval practice methods for text learning among students with ADHD.
Method: Participants with and without ADHD read texts and practiced them by freely
recalling the information either after reading each section or after reading the whole
text. Two days later, participants completed a free-recall criterion test on the texts.
Results: The results suggested that although more idea units were recalled during
practice in the section recall condition than in the whole-text recall condition,
the whole-text recall condition outperformed the section recall condition on the
criterion test in terms of the proportion of idea units recalled, although neither
retrieval practice conditions outperformed restudying. These findings were
obtained for both groups. Exploratory analyses further demonstrated a benefit of
the whole-text over section recall also in terms of the order in which idea unites
were recalled and suggested that the recall of ADHD participants was less well
ordered compared with participants without ADHD.
Discussion: Based on these findings, when using retrieval practice, whole-text
free-recall can be recommended for students with ADHD, along with implementing
strategies to enhance the mental organization of the studied materials.