Downstream consequences of collaborative recall: Testing the influence on new learning and protection of original learning

Collaboration influences memory during group recall (e.g., collaborative inhibition) and downstream, impacting individual recall (e.g., retrieval gains) and memory convergence (e.g., collective memory) following the interaction. The current study tested the scope of this downstream reach as we examined whether prior collaborative recall, compared with individual recall, improves subsequent learning. Further, we assessed whether group recall protects original learning—that is, if collaboration helps individuals distinguish learning episodes and if postcollaborative effects persist even as new learning occurs. In two experiments, participants worked individually or in collaborative groups to recall a word list. Next, participants studied a new list of words that were semantically related to the original list before recalling the most recently studied list (noncumulative recall; Experiment 1) or both lists (cumulative recall; Experiment 2). Interestingly, collaborative and individual retrieval influenced subsequent learning of new material similarly. However, collaboration protected original learning; former collaborators recalled fewer prior-list intrusions (Experiment 1), and they were better at identifying when words appeared on the original list (Experiment 2). Moreover, postcollaborative retrieval gains and collective memory for the originally studied material persisted as new learning occurred (Experiment 2). These novel findings suggest that while collaborative retrieval may not readily improve subsequent learning compared with individual retrieval, group recall confers a downstream source-monitoring advantage and postcollaboration effects are resilient in the face of subsequent learning. We discuss how these findings align with relevant theoretical accounts that emphasize the importance of contextual dynamics and highlight the potential for more applied research on this topic.