Judgments of learning improve multiple-choice recognition but not short-answer recall of educational text passages

Judgments of learning (JOLs) can improve memory for cue-target word pairs (i.e., JOL reactivity). Prior research suggests that this effect does not extend to text passage learning, especially when memory is assessed using short-answer tests (e.g., Ariel, R., Karpicke, J. D., Witherby, A. E., & Tauber, S. K. (2021). Do judgments of learning directly enhance learning of educational materials? Educational Psychology Review, 33(2), 693-712. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09556-8). However, JOL reactivity is often moderated by test format and JOL phrasing, and recent findings suggest that reactivity effects are greater when recognition tests are used. We tested whether global and term-specific JOLs would improve text passage learning when memory was assessed using short-answer (Experiment 1) and multiple-choice tests (Experiments 2 and 3). Across test formats, global JOLs were non-reactive. However, term-specific JOLs produced negative reactivity on short-answer tests (Experiment 1) but positive reactivity on multiple-choice tests (Experiments 2 and 3). This positive reactivity effect was greater in Experiment 3 when term-specific JOLs used a target-present phrasing. Importantly, this effect was also observed relative to a restudy group, suggesting that positive JOL reactivity was not solely driven by increased exposure to the target information. Taken together, JOLs can improve text passage learning, but their effectiveness is linked to test format and JOL phrasing.