Search fluency as a misleading measure of memory.
Abstract
Retrieval fluency can affect the metacognitive judgments people make about their memory. In a study by Benjamin, Bjork, and Schwartz (1998), participants predicted they would be better able to recall the answers to questions they retrieved more quickly than the answers to questions they retrieved more slowly, despite actual performance going in the opposite direction. In the present study, we examined the effects of retrieval fluency in the context of the Internet. Results from 3 studies suggest that participants misattribute the time it takes to find information online as being a predictor of the likelihood of actually being able to recall that information from memory. This finding shows how the metacognitive effects of retrieval fluency can extend beyond the context of one's own memory to encompass interactions with transactive memory partners like the Internet. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
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Search fluency is wrongfully taken as a cue of how well one will be able to remember information.
“A related study demonstrated that search fluency (i.e., how long it takes to find information online) is wrongfully taken as a cue of how well one will be able to remember information (Stone & Storm, 2021).”
From The Cognitive Architecture of Digital Externalization (2023) · cites this paper as Stone & Storm, 2021
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“The second stream of research suggests that people con fl ate online information storage and retrieval with their own memory capacities (e.g., Fisher et al., 2015; Stone & Storm, 2021; Ward, 2013).”
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“Furthermore, people judge online information found quickly as more likely to be remembered (Stone & Storm, 2021).”
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“…of the relationship between quick access and a feeling of knowing comes from laboratory studies that manipulated the speed at which web pages loaded in an online search task; the faster the page loaded, the better participants felt they could retain the information (Stone & Storm, 2019, EL: 3).”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Stone, S. M., & Storm, B. C.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- ORCID
- Storm, Benjamin C.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
- Published
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 53-64
- ISSN
- 0278-7393 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1285
- OpenAlex
- W2997272722
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Information Retrieval and Search Behavior
- Keywords
- retrieval fluency, metacognition, memory confidence, metacognitive judgments, transactive memory, web search
- MeSH terms
- Metacognition, Humans, Judgment, Mental Recall, Time Factors, Young Adult
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