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Updated: May 27, 2026

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
Published on: September 20, 2020
The effectiveness of updating metacognitive knowledge in the elderly: evidence from metamnemonic judgments of word
Jonathan G Tullis1, Aaron S Benjamin
1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. jtullis2@illinois.edu
Abstract:
Accurate metacognitive knowledge is vital for optimal performance in self-regulated learning. Yet older adults have deficiencies in implementing effective learning strategies and knowledge updating and consequently may not learn as effectively from task experience as younger adults. Here we assess the ability of older adults to update metacognitive knowledge about the effects of word frequency on recognition. Young adults have been shown to correct their misconceptions through experience with the task, but the greater difficulty older adults have with knowledge updating makes it unclear whether task experience will be sufficient for older adults. The performance of older adults in this experiment qualitatively replicates the results of a comparison group of younger subjects, indicating that both groups are able to correct their metacognitive knowledge through task experience. Older adults seem to possess more effective and flexible metacognition than sometimes suggested.
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