The Effect of Questioning on Retention

30 fourth-grade children were exposed in pairs to a series of slides and invited to take turns asking questions. Each child's questions were answered. Retention was significantly better for information acquired through the child's own questions, as opposed to information acquired through his partner's questions. The children also asked significantly more questions related to their own rather than their partners' previous questions. A second study replicated this phenomenon with 24 children while eliminating the possibility that it was due to turn alternation and a concern with the generation of the next question.