Metamemory in older adults: The role of monitoring in serial recall.

Abstract

Older and younger adults were asked to think aloud while studying sets of pictures matched in difficulty for immediate serial recall. When instructed only to remember, young adults tended to study longer, rehearse more, and recall better than did older adults on the most difficult lists. Young adults were also much more likely to spontaneously test themselves during study in the most difficult condition. Older adult groups instructed either to study longer or to self-test, both showed improved recall. Only the older adults who had been instructed to self-monitor, however, recalled better on tests of short-term maintenance and generalization; overt rehearsal data showed that these older adults continued to test themselves. Metamemory deficits may be present with older adults when a strategy, like self-testing, is needed to generate metamemorial knowledge. Strategies such as self-testing can be easily taught, however, and they hold promise of being useful across situations.

Formal reasoning in late adulthood: The role of semantic content and metacognitive strategy

“…To address the concern about processing strategy, studies exploring metacognition and aging (e.g., Brigham, & Pressley, 1988;Murphy, Schmitt, Caruso, & Sanders, 1987) have indicated that older adults may be less efficient than younger adults in adopting processing strategies to solve cognitive tasks and that, once adopted, these strategies may not be used as efficiently compared to younger adults. However, if task-relevant strategies can be effectively adopted and utilized by older adults, these strategies can improve performance as well as generalize to tasks with similar elements.…”

Aging and inhibition: Beyond a unitary view of inhibitory processing in attention.

“…For example, Dustman et al (1984; see also Hawkins, Kramer, & Capaldi, 1992) found improvements in the performance of a number of tasks following the participation in a short-term program of aerobic exercise by a group of previously sedentary old adults. Similarly, training programs have been found to dramatically improve the performance of elderly adults on a variety of cognitive skills such as visual search (Ball, Beard, Roenker, Miller, & Griggs, 1988), fluid intelligence (Baltes, Sowarka, & Kliegel, 1989), memory (Murphy, Schmitt, Caruso, & Sanders, 1987;Verhaeghen, Marcoen, & Goossens, 1992), and dual-task processing (Baron & Mattila, 1989;Larish, Kramer, DeAntonna, & Strayer, 1993). Thus, this research suggests that it may be feasible to improve the inhibitory functions of the elderly through training.…”

Do students use testing and feedback while learning? A focus on key concept definitions and learning to criterion

“…Two approaches have been used, including surveys to obtain students' selfreported use of testing (Carrier, 2003;Gurung, 2005;Hartwig & Dunlosky, 2012;Karpicke, Butler, & Roediger, 2009;Kornell & Bjork, 2007;Kornell & Son, 2009;McCabe, 2011;Wissman et al, 2012) and laboratory observation studies that examine how students spontaneously use testing (Bottiroli, Dunlosky, Guerini, Cavallini, & Hertzog, 2010;Karpicke, 2009;Kornell & Bjork, 2008;Kornell & Son, 2009;Murphy, Sanders, Gabriesheski, & Schmitt, 1981;Murphy, Schmitt, Caruso, & Sanders, 1987;Son, 2005). The present study uses the latter approach, but evidence from both is relevant.…”