The mismeasure of memory: When retrieval fluency is misleading as a metamnemonic index.

Abstract

The experiments address the degree to which retrieval fluency--the case with which information is accessed from long-term memory--guides and occasionally misleads metamnemonic judgments. In each of 3 experiments, participants' predictions of their own future recall performance were examined under conditions in which probability or speed of retrieval at one time or on one task is known to be negatively related to retrieval probability on a later task. Participants' predictions reflected retrieval fluency on the initial task in each case, which led to striking mismatches between their predicted and actual performance on the later tasks. The results suggest that retrieval fluency is a potent but not necessarily reliable source of information for metacognitive judgments. Aspects of the results suggest that a basis on which better and poorer rememberers differ is the degree to which certain memory dynamics are understood, such as the fleeting nature of recency effects and the consequences of an initial retrieval. The results have pedagogical as well as theoretical implications, particularly with respect to the education of subjective assessments of ongoing learning.

Cites (3)

1. The serial position effect of free recall.
   Murdock, Bennet B. · 1962 · Journal of Experimental Psychology
2. A comparison of current measures of the accuracy of feeling-of-knowing predictions
   Nelson, Thomas O. · 1984 · Psychological Bulletin
3. What determines initial feeling of knowing? Familiarity with question terms, not with the answer.
   Reder, Lynne M., Ritter, Frank E. · 1992 · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

Show all 3 references

Cited by (49)

1. The power of testing memory: Basic research and implications for educational practice
   Roediger, Henry L., Karpicke, Jeffrey D. · 2006 · Perspectives on Psychological Science
2. Flawed Self-Assessment: Implications for Health, Education, and the Workplace
   Dunning, David, Heath, Chip, Suls, Jerry M. · 2004 · Psychological Science in the Public Interest
3. Self-Regulated Learning: Beliefs, Techniques, and Illusions
   Bjork, Robert A., Dunlosky, John, Kornell, Nate · 2013 · Annual Review of Psychology
4. Monitoring one’s own knowledge during study: A cue-utilization approach to judgments of learning
   Koriat, Asher · 1997 · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
5. Learning Versus Performance: An Integrative Review
   Soderstrom, Nicholas C., Bjork, Robert A. · 2015 · Perspectives on Psychological Science

See all 529