Study Time Allocation, Retrospective Confidence, Gender, and Recall Performance: Does MemorySelf-Efficacy Matter?

Abstract

We examined factors associated with self-regulated learning in a multitrial verbal learning task. Eighty males and 80 females (ages 18–25 years) completed a memory self-efficacy (MSE) questionnaire before being administered a Swahili-English memory task, in which participants received an unlimited amount of time to study each translation and complete cued recall tests across three study-test trials. We hypothesized that MSE, gender, and subsequent study time allocation (STA) based on prior recall performance and retrospective confidence judgments (RCJs) would be related to memory performance. There were gender differences in recall rates on subsequent trials, but no other gender effects were observed. Our results suggested that general beliefs about memory capabilities (MSE), control processes (STA), and monitoring processes (RCJs) are related to recall performance in a multitrial self-regulated learning task, and that the influence of these variables differs by recall trial and whether individuals are in more extreme MSE groups.