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Updating knowledge about encoding strategies: a componential analysis of learning about strategy effectiveness from
1Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 27402-6164, USA. dunlosky@uncg.edu
Psychology and Aging
|October 3, 2000
Summary
Older and younger adults updated their knowledge about learning strategies, but this was not reflected in absolute prediction accuracy. Both age groups learned strategy effects, demonstrating effective knowledge updating.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience of Aging
Background:
- Previous research suggests age-related deficits in learning from experience, particularly in metacognitive judgments.
- Absolute accuracy of metacognitive judgments has been a primary metric, potentially obscuring other learning indicators.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age differences in learning the effects of encoding strategies (imagery vs. repetition) from task experience.
- To examine whether age deficits in metacognitive learning are solely due to absolute judgment accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Forty older and 40 younger adults completed two study-test trials using paired associates.
- Participants employed imagery or repetition encoding, predicted recall, attempted recall, and postdicted recall accuracy.
Main Results:
- Recall was significantly better with imagery than repetition, an effect not fully captured by initial predictions.
- While postdictions for Trial 1 were accurate in both age groups, absolute prediction accuracy for Trial 2 showed minimal improvement.
- Both age groups showed increased correlations between predictions and recall across trials, indicating updated knowledge of strategy effectiveness.
Conclusions:
- Both older and younger adults demonstrated learning and updating of knowledge regarding the relative effectiveness of encoding strategies.
- Age deficits in metacognitive learning may not be solely attributable to absolute accuracy, as relative accuracy (correlations) improved in both groups.