On the educational relevance of immediate judgment of learning reactivity: No effects of predicting one’s memory for general knowledge facts.

Abstract

Several studies revealed that predicting one's memory during learning has reactive effects on memory performance: making judgments of learning (JOLs) improved cued-recall performance for related word pairs and recognition memory for single words but impaired or did not impact cued recall for unrelated word pairs. Very little is known, however, about the generalizability of JOL reactivity to educationally relevant study materials and test conditions. The three experiments reported here examined whether making JOLs affects performance in multiple-choice and short-answer tests on general knowledge facts of varying difficulty. Neither experiment revealed reliable effects of making JOLs on performance, and the same was found in a continuously cumulating meta-analysis that included data from all experiments. These results indicate that soliciting metamemory predictions does not affect test performance for general knowledge facts. Further research will be needed to examine whether this holds for educationally relevant materials and tests in general.

Judgments of Learning Following Retrieval Practice Produce Minimal Reactivity Effect on Learning of Education-Related Materials

“…Another possible explanation for the divergent reactivity effects on learning of simple and complex materials is the natural difference between simple (e.g., word pairs and word lists) and complex (e.g., text passages and general knowledge facts) materials. As noted by Schäfer and Undorf (2023), word pairs and word lists used in many previous reactivity studies typically lack interitem relations (i.e., relations among different items), whereas knowledge points stated in text passages are always interrelated and mastery of these materials involves constructing relations among pieces of information (Rohrer et al 2020). Two recent studies consistently showed that although making JOLs reactively enhances item memory (i.e., memory of the item itself), it concurrently impairs interitem relational mem-ory (i.e., memory of interitem relations) (Zhao et al 2023).…”

“…Besides Ariel et al (2021) and the current study, another recent study explored whether making JOLs reactively facilitates learning of another type of educationally representative material, that is, general knowledge facts (Schäfer and Undorf 2023). In the same line, Schäfer and Undorf (2023) found no reactivity effect of JOLs on learning of general knowledge facts. It is intriguing that making JOLs reactively enhances learning of simple materials, such as related word pairs (Witherby and Tauber 2017), word lists (Zhao et al 2022), and visual images (Shi et al 2023), but does not affect learning of complex materials such as text passages (Ariel et al 2021) and general knowledge facts (Schäfer and Undorf 2023).…”

“…In the same line, Schäfer and Undorf (2023) found no reactivity effect of JOLs on learning of general knowledge facts. It is intriguing that making JOLs reactively enhances learning of simple materials, such as related word pairs (Witherby and Tauber 2017), word lists (Zhao et al 2022), and visual images (Shi et al 2023), but does not affect learning of complex materials such as text passages (Ariel et al 2021) and general knowledge facts (Schäfer and Undorf 2023). The current study further established that making JOLs following overt retrieval attempts, which is expected to prompt covert retrieval during monitoring (DeCaro and Thomas 2020), still fails to facilitate text learning.…”

Does Interactive Imagery Influence the Reactive Effect of Judgments of Learning on Memory?

“…In addition to the theoretical implications discussed previously, another reason researchers have been interested in JOL reactivity is because of the potential applied implications (e.g., Ariel et al 2021;Schäfer and Undorf 2023). Specifically, given that JOLs have been shown to improve memory in some contexts in laboratory studies, it is possible that they could also be used in educational settings to improve learning.…”

Exploring the Role of Attentional Reorienting in the Reactive Effects of Judgments of Learning on Memory Performance

“…In the current investigation, we focus on the reactive effect of making immediate JOLs on memory performance. Such JOL reactivity has been investigated for a variety of materials, including single words (e.g., Begg et al 1989 ; Halamish 2018 ; Li et al 2022 ; Senkova and Otani 2021 ; Tauber and Rhodes 2012 ; Tekin and Roediger 2020 ; Yang et al 2015 ; Zechmeister and Shaughnessy 1980 ; Zhao et al 2022 ), word pairs (e.g., Arbuckle and Cuddy 1969 ; Chang and Brainerd 2023 ; DeYoung and Serra 2021 ; Dougherty et al 2005 , 2018 ; Halamish and Undorf 2022 ; Janes et al 2018 ; Kelemen and Weaver 1997 ; Maxwell and Huff 2022a , 2022b ; Mitchum et al 2016 ; Myers et al 2020 ; Rivers et al 2021 , 2023 ; Soderstrom et al 2015 ; Tauber and Witherby 2019 ; Witherby and Tauber 2017 ; Zhao et al 2023 ), pictures (e.g., Shi et al 2022 ; Sommer et al 1995 ), general knowledge facts (e.g., Schäfer and Undorf 2023 ), and educational texts (e.g., Ariel et al 2021 ; Dobson et al 2019 ; Ha and Lee 2023 ). This research has typically revealed a memory benefit (i.e., positive reactivity) for cued recall of pairs with a semantic relationship (e.g., coat – jacket ), positive reactivity for recognition of single words or pictures, no recall benefit for cued recall of unrelated word pairs (e.g., dog – spoon ), and mixed results for educational material.…”