Influences on metamemory judgements

Abstract

The principal aim of the experiments was to examine the effects of context on metamemory judgements such as judgement of learning (JOL) and on object-level memory (recall) for meaningful complex material. Three other variables known to affect metamemory judgements for word lists—degree of learning, delay of JOL, and study-test retention interval—were also examined. In Experiment 1, learning sentences in or out of a story context did not affect either metamemory judgements for material that was to be tested 2 or 6 weeks later, or object-level memory (cued recall). JOL ratings were, however, sensitive to a within-subject manipulation of amount of learning. Subjects accurately judged that their memory would be better for overleamed material. Delaying JOL for 24 hours compared to same-session JOL allowed subjects to more accurately assess the deleterious effect of long retention intervals on memory. In contrast to the lack of effect of contextualisation in Experiment 1, when context was manipulated as a within-subjects variable in Experiment 2, a test of cued-recall performance 4 weeks later showed that memory was significantly better for sentences learned in a story context than those learned in the context of related sentences. Despite this improvement in recall due to contextualisation, JOL ratings indicated that they were not able to predict in advance that they would demonstrate better memory for contextualised sentences. In addition to the new manipulation of contextualisation, these results confirm earlier findings with respect to JOL timing, amount of learning, and retention interval on memory and metamemory, and extend these findings to real-world complex material.