"Self-regulated learning of important information under sequential and simultaneous encoding conditions": Correction to Middlebrooks and Castel (2018).

Abstract

Reports an error in "Self-regulated learning of important information under sequential and simultaneous encoding conditions" by Catherine D. Middlebrooks and Alan D. Castel (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2018[May], Vol 44[5], 779-792). In the article, there was an error in the computer programming used to present the items to participants in the sequential condition in Experiment 1, such that participants in this condition were inadvertently shown only 18 items in each list instead of the intended 20 items. Participants in the simultaneous condition were shown 20 items during study, as intended, and Experiment 2 was not impacted by this coding error. The Procedure subsection in Experiment 1 has been modified to explain this error and the difference in study experience between the simultaneous and sequential conditions. The overall recall and value-directed remembering analyses in Experiment 1 have also been conducted again, and their respective Results subsections have been updated to reflect this missing data. Table 1 (viz. the row pertaining to the sequential condition in Experiment 1), Table 2 (viz. the column pertaining to Experiment 1), and Figure 2a have also been updated. The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2017-49129-001.) Learners make a number of decisions when attempting to study efficiently: they must choose which information to study, for how long to study it, and whether to restudy it later. The current experiments examine whether documented impairments to self-regulated learning when studying information sequentially, as opposed to simultaneously, extend to the learning of and memory for valuable information. In Experiment 1, participants studied lists of words ranging in value from 1-10 points sequentially or simultaneously at a preset presentation rate; in Experiment 2, study was self-paced and participants could choose to restudy. Although participants prioritized high-value over low-value information, irrespective of presentation, those who studied the items simultaneously demonstrated superior value-based prioritization with respect to recall, study selections, and self-pacing. The results of the present experiments support the theory that devising, maintaining, and executing efficient study agendas is inherently different under sequential formatting than simultaneous. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).