Exams at classroom have bidirectional effects on long-term memory of an unrelated graphical task

CHISARI LUCIA; RAMIREZ BUTAVAND DANIELA; VIOLA HAYDEE; LOPES DA CUNHA PAMELA; BALLARINI FABRICIO

Berlin

Congreso; 11th FENS Forum of Neuroscience; 2018

Learning and memory are cognitive brain functions of fundamental importance in our educational context. The formation of a stable memory trace goes through a gradual process susceptible to factors that could improve or impair it. Some novel, arousing or stressing situations could impact on memory formation and their effects depend on their duration, intensity and moment of application.Exams constitute mild stressors used as routine tools for assessment means. Here, we studied the effect of an exam on long-term retention (LTM) of an unrelated graphical memory task acquired at the classroom. The results showed that when control students (who did not have any exam) had a weak memory, only the exam one hour after learning improved their LTM. However, in schools which control students showed strong LTM, exam effect was negative and the retention score decreased. The present findings reveal the impact of scholar stress on student LTM.