The impact of stereotype threat on episodic memory and metamemory in older adults: when study time matters

Metacognitive processes may play a key role in how stereotype threat negatively affects memory in older adults. However, few studies have examined the effects of stereotype threat on metamemory in ageing, and findings remain inconsistent. We explored whether stereotype threat affects the two main dimensions of metamemory: monitoring and control, focusing on learning self-regulation through study time adjustment. Ninety-two older adults, randomly assigned to a stereotype threat or to a control condition, completed a study time allocation task in which task difficulty was manipulated by varying the strength of association between word pairs. Monitoring was assessed using Judgments of Learning (JOLs), and control through study-time adjustments according to task difficulty. Results indicated that stereotype threat had no significant effect on JOLs predictions, their accuracy, or on study time adjustment according to task difficulty. However, overall study time was higher in the threatened group than in the control one. Stereotype threat biased learning self-regulation, leading older adults to allocate additional study time. This reduced processing efficiency, as the threatened group needed to mobilise supplementary resources to achieve the same level of performance as the control group.