Feeling-of-knowing judgments and strategy selection in spelling

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• Metacognitive processes, including self-monitoring and strategy selection, are crucial for skilled performance in various domains.
• The role of metacognition in spelling accuracy and strategy use is not fully understood.
• Understanding these processes can inform educational interventions for spelling improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between metacognitive monitoring accuracy and spelling strategy selection in college students.
• To determine if skilled spellers possess accurate knowledge of their spelling abilities.
• To examine how the task structure (simultaneous vs. separate) affects the prediction of spelling accuracy from metacognitive judgments.

Main Methods:

• College students completed Feeling-of-Knowing (FOK) judgments for word spellings.
• Participants then spelled the same words, indicating whether they used phonological (sounding out) or orthographic (memory retrieval) strategies.
• Correlational and predictive analyses were used to assess the relationship between FOK accuracy, spelling accuracy, and strategy choice.

Main Results:

• Feeling-of-Knowing ratings showed a moderate correlation with actual Spelling Accuracy.
• FOK accuracy was a stronger predictor of Spelling Accuracy when judgments and spelling tasks were performed concurrently.
• Individuals with higher accuracy in monitoring their spelling knowledge tended to select more appropriate spelling strategies.

Conclusions:

• Skilled spellers demonstrate some ability to monitor their spelling knowledge, but this metacognitive accuracy is imperfect and variable.
• The accuracy of self-monitoring in spelling is linked to the selection of congruent and effective spelling strategies.
• These findings highlight the importance of metacognitive awareness in developing proficient spelling skills.