Did retrieval practice beat elaborative concept-mapping (a mind-map-style technique) in a head-to-head study?

Yes — Karpicke & Blunt (2011) found retrieval practice outperformed making elaborate concept maps.

Karpicke & Blunt (2011) pitted retrieval practice against elaborative concept-mapping — drawing rich diagrams of how ideas connect, which intuitively feels like "deep" processing.

Retrieval practice won, even on later tests that required drawing inferences. The surprise is that a technique which feels shallow (just recalling) beat one that feels deep (organizing). The reason: concept-mapping is usually done with the material open, so it never exercises unaided retrieval. Effortful pulling, not elaborate arranging, is what builds durable memory.