Related Experiment Videos
Judgments of learning: evidence for a two-stage process
1Department of Psychology, Barnard College, New York, New York 10027, USA. lson@barnard.edu
Memory & Cognition
|February 25, 2006
Summary
People do not always judge future memory by first trying to recall information. New research suggests a two-stage model for judgments of learning (JOLs) that includes a pre-retrieval stage.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Metacognition
- Memory Research
Background:
- Judgments of Learning (JOLs) are predictions about future memory recall.
- Previous theories suggested JOLs are primarily based on retrieval fluency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the underlying processes of JOLs.
- To test the hypothesis that JOLs are made by first attempting retrieval.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments were conducted.
- Participants made JOLs under different instructional conditions (instructed retrieval vs. uninstructed JOLs).
- Reaction times (RTs) and memory performance were measured.
Main Results:
- When instructed to retrieve first, RTs showed monotonic increases with decreasing JOLs, aligning with retrieval fluency.
- Uninstructed JOLs exhibited inverted U-shaped RT functions, with low JOLs made quickly.
- Memory performance improved, particularly for low-JOL items, when retrieval was instructed.
Conclusions:
- Retrieval fluency alone does not fully explain JOLs.
- A two-stage model of JOLs is proposed, incorporating a pre-retrieval stage.
- This model better accounts for the observed reaction time patterns and memory performance differences.