Metamemory, the ability to interrogate the contents of one's permanent memory, may be an important factor in using one's knowledge to cope with the environment. Metamemorial accuracy and efficiency can be assessed. Metamemory is accurate if it returns correct information about the contents in store. It is efficient if it appropriately controls search durations so that more time is allocated to seeking information actually present, less to information actually absent. Adult subjects in three age groups answered questions on heterogeneous topics, and their responses were timed. Next, metamemorial judgments were made for each subject's set of unanswered questions. The same items were then attempted in multiple-choice format, and confidence ratings in the answers were taken. All age groups showed comparable ability to retrieve answers from memory. All showed accurate and efficient metamemory, with no age differences in either. A signal detection analysis raised the possibility that metamemorial sensitivity increases with age. The data also suggested caution among the elderly in suppressing available but lowconfidence answers.
Codability of pictures was measured by average uncertainty U of the distribution of names given as responses by a normative sample. Reaction time (RT) to name the displays sharply increased at U > 2 bits for independent 5s. But, U covaries with frequency and age of acquisition of lexical responses. Ten new 5s were treated as 10 independent experiments and their RT scores partitioned on frequency and age covariates. High U produces different functional stimuli among 5s and precludes pooling of data. Partitioned RTs to name high-U pictures were between 200 and 970 msec, longer than to name low-U pictures. Possibly, high U increases RT by intra-5 heuristic processes. Multiple regression analysis showed that RT for 6 5s is predicted by age and frequency, 2 by age alone, 1 by frequency, and 1 by neither. Specific sets of predictor variables must be ascertained separately for each 5. The structure of lexical storage and search algorithms to access its contents may differ in individuals of a language community although the content of storage is similar.
A TRAINING LIST OF WORDS WAS PRESENTED IN A MEANINGFUL SYNTACTIC ORDER OR IN RANDOM ORDER. IN EXP. I, A RECOGNITION TEST WAS ADMINISTERED CONTAINING AN EQUAL NUMBER OF DISTRACTER WORDS OF HIGH OR LOW THEMATIC ASSOCIATION (TA). THE TA WORDS WERE PRESELECTED BY JUDGES. IN EXP. II, THE TA WORDS WERE INTERPOLATED BETWEEN TRAINING AND A FREE-RECALL TEST. PREDICTED INTERACTIONS BETWEEN WORD ORDER AND TA WERE OBTAINED IN BOTH STUDIES. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE MEANING OF CONNECTED DISCOURSE MAY BE STORED AS SURROGATE STRUCTURES (THEMES, IMAGES, SCHEMATA, AND WORDS) AND THAT LEXICAL ASSOCIATIONS TO THE SURROGATE SYSTEM MAY OCCUR DURING RETRIEVAL.
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