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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
06:35
Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
The memorizing effort heuristic in judgments of learning: a developmental perspective
Asher Koriat1, Rakefet Ackerman, Kathrin Lockl
1Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. akoriat@research.haifa.ac.il
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|December 17, 2008
Summary
Young children
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Metacognition guides learning, but can also be influenced by task feedback.
- Judgments of learning (JOLs) in adults often decrease with increased study time (ST), suggesting a 'memorizing effort heuristic'.
- This heuristic posits that easier-to-learn items are mistakenly judged as more memorable.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate metacognitive monitoring in primary school children.
- To examine the relationship between study time (ST) and judgments of learning (JOLs) across different age groups.
- To explore the role of mnemonic cues and feedback in children's metacognition.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: Assessed JOLs and recall in relation to ST in first/second graders (7-8 years) and third/sixth graders (9-12 years).
- Study 2: Collected self-report data on children's beliefs about the relationship between ST and recall.
- Utilized a memorizing effort heuristic framework.
Main Results:
- JOLs decreased with ST in older children (9-12 years) but not younger children (7-8 years).
- Recall consistently decreased with ST across both age groups, supporting the memorizing effort heuristic.
- Children believed recall should increase with ST, contrasting with their actual performance and JOLs.
Conclusions:
- Metacognitive feelings in children are shaped by on-line feedback and mnemonic cues, not just metacognitive knowledge.
- The memorizing effort heuristic influences metacognitive judgments even in young learners.
- Age-related differences in metacognitive monitoring may stem from the interpretation of task performance feedback.
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