Metamemory for narrative text

In this experiment, we investigated metamemory for narrative text passages. Subjects read two stories and made memory predictions for the idea units in one and rated the importance of ideas in the other. Half of the subjects were asked to recall the story immediately after reading the passages and half were asked to recall 1 week later; half received passages with single inconsistent idea units and half received passages with corresponding consistent idea units. All subjects made confidence judgments about the accuracy of their recall. Subjects’ prediction ratings were related to recall, as shown by significant prediction accuracy quotients. Importance ratings were related to recall on the delayed test but not on the immediate test. Memory prediction ratings predicted recall better than did importance ratings. The absolute level of memory predictions did not differ with delay, but subjects did give higher confidence judgments on an immediate than on a delayed test. Subjects recalled the inconsistent idea better than the consistent idea for one story but not for the other. For both stories, subjects predicted that they would remember the inconsistent ideas better, suggesting that they have avon Restorff-type view, rather than a schema view, of memory. We conclude that subjects can predict their memory for the idea units in narrative text.     

Can students evaluate their understanding of cause-and-effect relations? The effects of diagram completion on monitoring accuracy

For effective self-regulated study of expository texts, it is crucial that learners can accurately monitor their understanding of cause-and-effect relations. This study aimed to improve adolescents' monitoring accuracy using a diagram completion task. Participants read six texts, predicted performance, selected texts for restudy, and were tested for comprehension. Three groups were compared, in which learners either completed causal diagrams immediately after reading, completed them after a delay, or received no-diagram control instructions. Accuracy of predictions of performance was highest for learning of causal relations following delayed diagram completion. Completing delayed diagrams focused learners specifically on their learning of causal relations, so this task did not improve monitoring of learning of factual information. When selecting texts for restudy, the participants followed their predictions of performance to the same degree, regardless of monitoring accuracy. Fine-grained analyses also showed that, when completing delayed diagrams, learners based judgments on diagnostic cues that indicated actual understanding of connections between events in the text. Most important, delayed diagram completion can improve adolescents' ability to monitor their learning of cause-and-effect relations.     

阅读中的元理解监测与元理解调控

采用“阅读－关键词处理－元理解监测－测验1－选择文章重读－测验2”的流程, 探讨元理解监测对元理解调控与阅读理解成绩的影响。结果显示, 延迟写关键词相对于即时写和不写关键词更利于监测精 确性的提高; 延迟关键词组借助精确的监测能做出有效的元理解调控, 选出测验1中得分低的文章重读, 并在测验2中有较好表现, 而其他两组只能选出其认为难的、而非得分低的文章重读, 在测验2中表现不 佳。元理解监测的精确性影响元理解调控的有效性, 进而影响阅读理解成绩。     

Does aging influence people's metacomprehension? Effects of processing ease on judgments of text learning

In 2 experiments, the authors investigated whether age-related differences exist in metacomprehension by evaluating predictions based on the ease-of-processing (EOP) hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, judgments of how well a text has been learned are based on how easily each text was processed; easier processing results in higher judgments. Participants read either sentence pairs or longer texts and judged their learning of each immediately afterward. Although an age-related difference in the use of processing ease in judgments was observed with sentence pairs, for longer texts older and younger adults' judgments were similarly related to processing ease. In both experiments, age equivalence was also evident in the accuracy of the judgments at predicting performance on the criterion test. The overall pattern of results suggests that judging text learning remains largely intact with aging.     

Why do delayed summaries improve metacomprehension accuracy?

We showed that metacomprehension accuracy improved when participants (N = 87 college students) wrote summaries of texts prior to judging their comprehension; however, accuracy only improved when summaries were written after a delay, not when written immediately after reading. We evaluated two hypotheses proposed to account for this delayed-summarization effect (the accessibility hypothesis and the situation model hypothesis). The data suggest that participants based metacomprehension judgments more on the gist of texts when they generated summaries after a delay; whereas, they based judgments more on details when they generated summaries immediately after reading. Focusing on information relevant to the situation model of a text (the gist of a text) produced higher levels of metacomprehension accuracy, which is consistent with situation model hypothesis.     

Effects of Problem Solving after Worked Example Study on Primary School Children's Monitoring Accuracy

Research on expository text has shown that the accuracy of students' judgments of learning (JOLs) can be improved by instructional interventions that allow students to test their knowledge of the text. The present study extends this research, investigating whether allowing students to test the knowledge they acquired from studying a worked example by means of solving an identical problem, either immediately or delayed, would enhance JOL accuracy. Fifth grade children (i) gave an immediate JOL, (ii) a delayed JOL, (iii) solved a problem immediately and then gave a JOL, (iv) solved a problem immediately and gave a delayed JOL, or (v) solved a problem at a delay and then gave a JOL. Results show that problem solving after example study improved children's JOL accuracy (i.e., overestimation decreased). However, no differences in the accuracy of restudy indications were found. Results are discussed in relation to cue utilization when making JOLs. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The enduring effect of availability

The present study addressed whether experienced ease of retrieval of autobiographical events affects trait judgments made immediately and after a delay (Experiment 1) and whether this influence is modulated by either of two discounting instructions (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, participants first attempted to retrieve 6 or 12 personal memories for different traits and then made ease of retrieval and self-trait judgments immediately or 1 week later. In Experiment 2, participants made immediate ratings and then delayed ratings under 3 instructional manipulations: a generic instruction to repeat these judgments, to make these ratings after they were reminded of their original recall total, or to make these ratings after they had their retrieval ease discounted or augmented. In each experiment, an enduring effect of availability was obtained in that the relationship between ease of retrieval and self-trait rating was only slightly affected by the delay. Being reminded of the original number of recalled memories nullified the relationship between ease of retrieval and trait rating. However, discounting or augmenting ease of retrieval, which altered ease of retrieval ratings, did not. Potential explanations for an enduring effect of availability are discussed.     

The rereading effect: Metacomprehension accuracy improves across reading trials

Guided by a hypothesis that integrates principles of monitoring from a cue-based framework of metacognitive judgments with assumptions about levels of text representation derived from theories of comprehension, we discovered that rereading improves metacomprehension accuracy. In Experiments 1 and 2, the participants read texts either once or twice, rated their comprehension for each text, and then were tested on the material. In both experiments, correlations between comprehension ratings and test scores were reliably greater for participants who reread texts than for participants who read texts only once. Furthermore, in contrast to the low levels of accuracy typically reported in the literature, rereading produced relatively high levels of accuracy, with the median gamma between ratings and test performance being +.60 across participants from both experiments. Our discussion focuses on two alternative hypotheses--that improved accuracy is an artifact of when judgments are collected or that it results from increased reliability of test performance--and on evidence that is inconsistent with these explanations for the rereading effect.     

Monitoring memory errors: the influence of the veracity of retrieved information on the accuracy of judgements of learning

The current study examined the degree to which predictions of memory performance made immediately or at a delay are sensitive to confidently held memory illusions. Participants studied unrelated pairs of words and made judgements of learning (JOLs) for each item, either immediately or after a delay. Half of the unrelated pairs (deceptive items; e.g., nurse-dollar) had a semantically related competitor (e.g., doctor) that was easily accessible when given a test cue (e.g., nurse-do_ _ _r) and half had no semantically related competitor (control items; e.g., subject-dollar). Following the study phase, participants were administered a cued recall test. Results from Experiment 1 showed that memory performance was less accurate for deceptive compared with control items. In addition, delaying judgement improved the relative accuracy of JOLs for control items but not for deceptive items. Subsequent experiments explored the degree to which the relative accuracy of delayed JOLs for deceptive items improved as a result of a warning to ensure that retrieved memories were accurate (Experiment 2) and corrective feedback regarding the veracity of information retrieved prior to making a JOL (Experiment 3). In all, these data suggest that delayed JOLs may be largely insensitive to memory errors unless participants are provided with feedback regarding memory accuracy.     

Does repeated reading predict reading development over time? A study of children from Grade 3 to 4

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether immediate gains in reading fluency achieved during repeated reading of text can predict long‐term reading development over and above traditional predictors of reading development. Eighty‐one Grade 3 children read texts three times consecutively and were instructed either to read as quickly as possible (speed‐focused repeated reading), or to retell the text afterwards (meaning‐focused repeated reading). Measures of text reading fluency, sentence reading fluency, and text comprehension were administered to the children in Grades 3 and 4 to assess their reading development over time. The results indicate that children's immediate response to repeated reading can contribute to the prediction of their development of reading fluency over time. Even after controlling for individual differences in general cognitive ability, word reading fluency, rapid automatized naming, and vocabulary, the experimental measure with meaning‐focused repeated reading remained a significant predictor.     

Basis of metamemory judgments for text with multiple‐choice,essay and recall tests

Accuracy of metamemory for text was compared for multiple‐choice, essay and recall tests. Essay and recall tests were scored with Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), number of correct idea units and number of word matches. Each measure was correlated with college students' predictions and posttest confidence judgments across texts to determine metamemory accuracy. Metamemory accuracy varied for different types of tests with multiple‐choice tests generally producing greater accuracy than essay tests. However, metamemory accuracy for essay and recall tests depended on the measure used to score them. Number of correct idea units produced the highest metamemory accuracy, word matches produced an intermediate level, and LSA produced the lowest accuracy. Students used the quantity of output in their judgments, so performance measures that related most strongly to quantity matched judgments better than measures based on answer quality. The results are compatible with an accessibility account of judgments about performance on text. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding the delayed-keyword effect on metacomprehension accuracy

The typical finding from research on metacomprehension is that accuracy is quite low. However, recent studies have shown robust accuracy improvements when judgments follow certain generation tasks (summarizing or keyword listing) but only when these tasks are performed at a delay rather than immediately after reading (K. W. Thiede & M. C. M. Anderson, 2003; K. W. Thiede, M. C. M. Anderson, & D. Therriault, 2003). The delayed and immediate conditions in these studies confounded the delay between reading and generation tasks with other task lags, including the lag between multiple generation tasks and the lag between generation tasks and judgments. The first 2 experiments disentangle these confounded manipulations and provide clear evidence that the delay between reading and keyword generation is the only lag critical to improving metacomprehension accuracy. The 3rd and 4th experiments show that not all delayed tasks produce improvements and suggest that delayed generative tasks provide necessary diagnostic cues about comprehension for improving metacomprehension accuracy.     

Semantic associations and elaborative inference

In this article, a theoretical framework is proposed for the inference processes that occur during reading. According to the framework, inferences can vary in the degree to which they are encoded. This notion is supported by three experiments in this article that show that degree of encoding can depend on the amount of semantic-associative information available to support the inference processes. In the experiments, test words that express possible inferences from texts are presented for recognition. When testing is delayed, with other texts and test items intervening between a text and its test word, performance depends on the amount of semantic-associative information in the text. If the inferences represented by the test words are not supported by semantic associates in the text, they appear to be only minimally encoded (replicating McKoon & Ratcliff, 1986), but if they are supported by semantic associates, they are strongly encoded. With immediate testing, only 250 ms after the text, performance is shown to depend on semantic-associative information, not on textual information. This suggests that it is the fast availability of semantic information that allows it to support inference processes.     

Monitoring memory errors: The influence of the veracity of retrieved information on the accuracy of judgements of learning

The current study examined the degree to which predictions of memory performance made immediately or at a delay are sensitive to confidently held memory illusions. Participants studied unrelated pairs of words and made judgements of learning (JOLs) for each item, either immediately or after a delay. Half of the unrelated pairs (deceptive items; e.g., nurse–dollar) had a semantically related competitor (e.g., doctor) that was easily accessible when given a test cue (e.g., nurse–do_ _ _r) and half had no semantically related competitor (control items; e.g., subject–dollar). Following the study phase, participants were administered a cued recall test. Results from Experiment 1 showed that memory performance was less accurate for deceptive compared with control items. In addition, delaying judgement improved the relative accuracy of JOLs for control items but not for deceptive items. Subsequent experiments explored the degree to which the relative accuracy of delayed JOLs for deceptive items improved as a result of a warning to ensure that retrieved memories were accurate (Experiment 2) and corrective feedback regarding the veracity of information retrieved prior to making a JOL (Experiment 3). In all, these data suggest that delayed JOLs may be largely insensitive to memory errors unless participants are provided with feedback regarding memory accuracy.     

When people’s judgments of learning (JOLs) are extremely accurate at predicting subsequent recall: the “Displaced-JOL effect”

Judgments of learning (JOL) made after a delay more accurately predict subsequent recall than JOLs made immediately after learning. One explanation is that delayed JOLs involve retrieving information about the target item from secondary memory, whereas immediate JOLs involve retrieval from primary memory. One view of working memory claims that information in primary memory is displaced to secondary memory when attention is shifted to a secondary task. Thus, immediate JOLs might be as accurate as delayed JOLs if an intervening task displaces the target item from primary memory, requiring retrieval from secondary memory, prior to making the JOL. In four experiments, participants saw related word-pairs and made JOLs predicting later recall of the item. In Experiment 1, delayed JOLs were more accurate than JOLs made shortly after learning, regardless of whether a secondary task intervened between learning and JOL. In Experiments 2–4, the secondary task demands increased and JOLs made shortly after learning with an intervening task were just as accurate as delayed JOLs, and both were more accurate than immediate JOLs with no intervening task (Experiment 4). These results are consistent with a retrieval-based account of JOLs, and demonstrate that the “delayed-JOL effect” can be obtained without a long delay.     

Word length and articulatory suppression affect short-term and long-term recall tasks

In six experiments, subjects were required to recall (either serially or freely) lists of short and long words either immediately or after a study-test filled delay ranging from 30 to 60 sec. In three of these experiments, we investigated the effect that articulatory suppression had in modulating the word length effect in both immediate and delayed free recall. The results suggested that the effects of word length and articulatory suppression were comparable in the immediate and delayed recall tasks. The theoretical relevance of these findings is discussed.     

理解评估与成绩预测：两种不同的元理解监测形式

探讨理解评估与成绩预测与各种强化元理解监测线索的认知任务的关系。结果发现,理解评估与成绩预测的判断值偏离标准测验成绩的程度受监测线索强化方式的调节;主动强化监测线索比被动强化更能提高理解评估和成绩预测的精确性;精确的理解评估或成绩预测所需的线索不同,利用同一线索评估理解或预测成绩,其精确性也不同。这一结果挑战了元理解监测的一维观,表明理解评估与成绩预测涵盖了元理解监测不同方面的心理特征     

延迟学习判断研究的发展与展望

延迟学习判断是学习判断的一种形式,是指在材料学习完以后间隔一段时间才发生的学习判断。在与即时学习判断的对比研究中发现,延迟学习判断具有较高的相对准确性,这种现象被称为延迟学习判断效应。研究者进行了大量的研究并提出了多种理论来解释这种延迟学习判断效应。随着研究的不断深入,延迟学习判断的研究从研究指标、研究方法甚至是研究的理论基础都在不断更新。延迟学习判断的研究进展,包括主要理论和相关实验,以及最新研究成果将被介绍。最后,文章梳理了延迟JOL的研究进程,并指出了未来的研究方向。     

Developmental trends in children's memory monitoring: Evidence from a judgment-of-learning task

Two experiments were conducted to explore young children's memory monitoring abilities on a judgment-of-learning (JOL) task. Recent research on adults' JOLs has shown that predictions about subsequent recall for items that have been recently studied have never been very accurate immediately after learning but have been very accurate when judgments were delayed. One of the major goals of the present studies was to investigate whether the delayed-JOL effect could be observed in children of different ages. A secondary goal of the study was to compare individual-item JOLs with aggregate JOLs based on all items of a given list. If young children possess basic monitoring skills, both their delayed JOLs and their aggregate judgments should be comparably realistic. Our two experiments confirmed this assumption for all age groups involved (kindergartners, second and fourth graders). That is, JOLs were much more accurate when given after a delay of about 2 min than immediately after study, and overconfidence was typically larger for item-by-item JOLs than for aggregate-item JOLs. In fact, the pattern of findings for the older school children was very similar to that found for adults. Overall, these findings support the position that developmental trends in children's procedural metamemory are not due to differences in basic monitoring skills but attributable to developmental changes concerning the interplay between monitoring and self-regulation activities.     

Effects of retention interval and modality on sensory and semantic trace information

Subjects studied a long list of individual words that were presented either visually or auditorily. Recall was tested immediately or after a filled delay by using either word endings or taxonomic categories as extralist retrieval cues. Two interactions were of particular interest. First, word ending cues were just as effective as taxonomic cues on the immediate test. On the delayed test, however, ending cues were less effective. This result suggests that sensory information encoded about a word decays at a faster rate than semantic information. Second, although modality had no observable influence on the taxonomic cues, word ending cues were more effective when all items were shown visually than when they were presented auditorily. Taken together, these findings indicate that the visual features of words are encoded at study and that this information can be accessed during test if it is recapitulated by the retrieval cue shortly after acquisition.